De la Riva
Also called: de la riva, de laiva, deaha, deahiva, deiva guard, dela heva
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The chapter
De la Riva is what you get when you wrap your foot around the outside of their lead leg and hook behind the knee. It looks like a small thing — one foot on one leg — but that hook plus a grip on the ankle owns the leg their base lives on.
The position isn't something you have to hunt for. Anyone who wants to open or pass your guard eventually has to put a leg in the center, and the moment they do, the outside of that leg is available. De la Riva is the toll they pay for stepping in.
It's honest to say De la Riva finishes almost nothing by itself. It's a launch position: the hook off-balances them, and the points get scored somewhere else — a sweep, the back, X-guard. The best competitors treat it as the front door of a whole system.
Playing bottom
Everything here runs off one engine: a hook that never goes passive and an ankle that never gets its freedom back — off-balance them with those, then cash out toward the direction their weight is already falling.
Wrap your foot around the outside of their lead leg until the hook bites behind their knee, and control the same ankle with your hand (or your other leg) so the foot can't step out.
WhenThe instant a leg steps into the center of your guard — before their grips land. A hook without the ankle is just a foot resting on someone.
Kick your hook toward your own head to drag their trapped leg forward while your body walks off to the side, so your head crosses their leg and your hips get ahead of their foot.
WhenBefore every attack, not during it. If they're settled and heavy, nothing below works — make them step first, then attack the step.
One leg hooks behind their knee, the other foot posts on the far hip or foot; push with both legs while your hand pulls the ankle, and their standing structure sits down behind them.
WhenThey're standing at range, weight tall — the push-pull works because the ankle you already own can't step back to catch them.
Push their free leg away as you sit up, come off your back toward their hooked leg, and swap your De la Riva hook for feet on the hip and thigh — now their whole leg is on your legs.
WhenTheir weight shifts off the hooked leg, or they pull it back to clear your hook — the space they make is the room you slide under.
Use the hook and ankle to rotate yourself behind their hooked leg — climbing around it, or rolling under it berimbolo-style when their weight sits down onto you.
WhenThey sit their weight back or down onto the hooked leg to smash the guard — the weight coming off their far foot is what lets you spin under.
When an arm comes across your legs, feed it between their own legs or past your hip, then spin your free leg over the shoulder line into the triangle or omoplata.
WhenThey reach in to fight your grips or push your knee — a reaching arm inside your legs is the entry, and from De la Riva it comes fast.
Also worth knowing
- Underhook De la RivaWhenThe standard grips stall out — swapping the ankle grip for an underhook on the leg changes what they have to defend.
- Switch to reverse De la RivaWhenThey turn their knee in and force an angle that kills the outside hook — bend the knee and re-hook on the inside instead of losing the leg.
- Add the lapelWhenIn the gi, when your grips keep getting broken — the lapel is a handle they can't strip, wrapped onto the guard you already have.
Why you keep failing here
“My hook gets peeled off within seconds.”
WhyA passive hook — a foot that's resting behind their knee instead of pulling — comes off with one hand.
FixKeep constant upward pressure through the hook, like you're trying to kick your own foot over your head; a hook under tension has to be fought, not just lifted.
“They pin my free leg to the mat and walk into headquarters.”
WhyYour other leg went idle. The hook alone doesn't stop them advancing — the free foot on their hip or bicep is what holds the range, and a stuffed free leg is the standard route into headquarters.
FixGive the free foot a full-time job — hip, bicep, or knee — and the moment it gets stuffed, treat that as the trigger to sit up or switch guards, not to hold on.
“I push with everything and they just don't move.”
WhyLegs pushing while your torso lies flat means your limbs fight their whole body — the power never arrives.
FixMove your upper body with your lower body: sit up, curl in, and let your legs and torso pull on them as one piece.
“When they back away and wiper their leg out, my whole guard resets to zero.”
WhyAll your control lived on one leg — once they windshield-wiper it free at range, there's no connection left to attack through.
FixHave a reconnection habit ready: throwing the lasso the moment the leg escapes keeps a line attached while you rebuild the hook.
Your game
Where does De la Riva 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.