Submission Chain: your BJJ game plan, animated

Position map

What leads here, and where this position leads.

North-South

5 out · 3 in

Side Control

32 out · 82 in

Finished

Submission — the exchange ends here

Open Guard

39 out · 12 in

Your hips sit above their head, not on it: the weight goes through their shoulders and chest.
Control the near arm — north-south without arm control is a position they simply turn out of.
Keep your knees close to their shoulders so there is nowhere for them to slide their head out.
It is a hub, not a destination: kimura, north-south choke, armbar and the return to side control all leave from here.
Keep your hips low and your base wide to absorb the bridge, with your weight forward onto their upper body — never sitting back toward their feet.

Sitting your weight directly on their face or head.
Why it failsIt is unsafe for the training partner and your base is on a round, mobile object.
FixShift the weight onto the shoulders and chest, with your hips just past the crown of their head.
Keeping both arms free while you settle in.
Why it failsThey frame on your hips, spin out to guard, and you have controlled nothing.
FixTrap at least the near arm — under your armpit or with a grip at the elbow — before you settle.
Sitting your weight back toward their feet so your hips leave their shoulder line.
Why it failsA gap opens by their head and they slip out sideways to turtle or guard.
FixBring your knees back in toward their shoulders and close the space around their head.