Back Mount
Also called: aggressive move to the back, attacking the back, back, back attack, back attacks, back base
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The chapter
Back control sits at the top of the positional food chain for one blunt reason: the person underneath is fighting someone they can't see. Every strike of offense you have points at their neck, and almost nothing they have points back at you.
The position is not the hooks. Beginners count hooks like points, but the thing that actually holds the back is your chest glued to their back — lose that connection and the hooks come off on their own.
For the person caught in it, this is a hand fight before it is an escape. Nobody shrimps their way out of a finished strangle; the defenders who survive here are the ones whose hands never stop working.
Attacking the back
The order matters: connection first, then control that frees your hands, then the strangle — every submission on this list is downstream of a chest that never leaves their back.
One arm over the shoulder, one under the armpit, hands locked on their chest — and the choking hand hides underneath so their grip-stripping starts a move behind.
WhenThe instant you arrive behind them, in any configuration — turtle, standing, mid-scramble. The seatbelt is what keeps the back while everything else is still loose.
Keep your chest locked on their upper back and your hips pulled into theirs, so every escape they attempt has to move your whole body weight before it moves them an inch.
WhenContinuously — and urgently the moment they start scooting or turning, because when the connection breaks the back is already leaving.
Not unanimous: Wim Deputter warns that chasing chest-to-back drags some players too high on the shoulders, which is exactly where the high-side escape appears.
Hand fight until one arm makes a V under their neck, elbow at the centerline of the throat, then lock up behind their head and squeeze.
WhenIt's the whole point of the position — the hand fight starts the moment you land, and the finish is on the instant your forearm slips under the chin.
Swap the second hook for a shin locked across their waist, figure-foured with the other leg — your legs hold the position by themselves and both hands go back to choking.
WhenAs they start stripping or sliding off your hooks: control one of their legs, pull them back in, and lock the triangle instead of chasing the hook you just lost.
One hand grips deep in the collar, the other grabs the pants at the knee; fall to the side pulling with the arms and pushing with the legs, like drawing a bow.
WhenIn the gi, when the naked-choke hand fight stalls — they're busy fighting your bare hands while the lapel sits there as a second handle. The gi chokes and the RNC cover each other's failures.
Trap the defending arm — the kimura grip transfers almost automatically — swing your top leg over their head, and rotate them into the armbar.
WhenThey win the hand fight by locking both hands to their chest: the arms saving their neck are parked in armbar range, and they can't do both jobs at once.
Also worth knowing
- CrucifixWhenThey tuck the chin and hunker down — drop a foot over the near arm and their choke defense becomes your crucifix entry.
- Trade to mountWhenThe escape is winning — abandon the back one move early and land in mount instead of half guard.
- Triangle from the backWhenThey push off your hooks and turn into you — the turn feeds their head and arm into a classical triangle, locked on top.
- Sliding collar chokeWhenGi rounds, the moment your hooks land — the collar grip is strongest before their hand fight gets organized.
Why you keep failing here
“I get the back, start choking, and they slide out the bottom.”
WhyYour chest came off their back the moment you reached for the finish — once their head pops off your chest, the position is bleeding out under the submission attempt.
FixAttack without surrendering the connection: the chest stays glued, and any time you feel their head escaping your chest, fix that before you fix the choke.
“I cross my ankles to hold on and get ankle locked.”
WhyCrossed feet in the middle of their legs are a submission you handed to the bottom player — they just fall on your top foot.
FixKeep real hooks, or upgrade to the body triangle — the leg lock that holds harder and doesn't donate your ankles.
“When they get flat on their back on top of me, my strangles die.”
WhyFlat is their strongest alignment — the neck is buried between their shoulders and your choking arm has no lane under the chin.
FixFight the alignment, not the neck: tilt them onto one side and keep them there, and the choke reopens on its own.
“They spin inside my arms and end up facing me.”
WhyFlared elbows. Every inch of space between your elbows and their body is rotation room, and turning into you is the escape that erases all your offense.
FixPin the elbows to their torso as they rotate — retention here is squeezing the frame shut, not re-gripping after they've already turned.
“The moment they clear my bottom hook, the whole position collapses.”
WhyOne hook gone doesn't lose the back — following them down flat does, because from under them you have no base to chase with.
FixPull the elbow out, post the ball of your foot, and tripod up over them — chase the back from on top instead of hugging from underneath.
Your game
Where does Back Mount show up in your rolls?
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The map
Connections describe what coaches teach across 2,044 indexed videos — not what's objectively best. A row backed by one video is weak evidence; ✓ marks connections taught by 2+ independent channels.