POSITIONNEUTRAL

Turtle

Sources and other names

Also called: open-turtle, sixpoint, tight-turtle, turtle, turtle position, turtle-position

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23 gi · 14 no-gi

Start with the example · Attacking the turtle

Turtle is the position you pick when the alternatives are worse. Compared to being flattened under side control it keeps you off your back and mobile — which is exactly why it gets recommended to smaller players facing big opponents.

The chapter

The rent is your back. The moment you stop moving, a hook slides in and a chest settles onto your spine — high-level matches turn on a turtle that paused for one beat too long.

For the player on top, a turtled opponent is an invitation, not an obstacle: coaches teach forcing the turtle on purpose, because the shell has doors — the back behind it, the neck in front of it, the arms underneath it.

Attacking the turtle

Contact buys everything else: chest glued to their back and hips heavy before you spend a single hand on attacks. Then work the doors — the back behind them, the neck in front, the arms underneath.

1Chest-to-back contact first
Close the distance and stay glued — chest heavy on their back, hips low, your balance riding theirs — so their stand-ups and rolls die before they start.
WhenBefore any attack. Spinning around an unweighted turtle is how they stand up or granby out mid-attempt; connect first, then choose.
2Take the back
Wrap the seatbelt — one arm over the shoulder, one under the armpit — then feed a hook inside their thigh and tip them onto a hip so the second hook can follow.
WhenThe moment your chest is set and they hunker down to defend the neck — a turtle that's only covering up is a back mount in progress.
3Switch to the front headlock
As you slide toward their head, wrap the chin and settle your chest and armpit onto the back of their neck — you trade the back attack for the whole front strangle menu.
WhenWhen you feel yourself slipping off the top toward their head, or they back their hips away from you. Don't fight back to the side — take the front.
4Crucifix the near arm
Pinch their near elbow, slide your knee in behind the arm and lever it away from their body with your leg — once the arm is trapped between your legs, ride up or roll them into the crucifix.
WhenTheir elbow drifts off their knee — a posted hand or a wide elbow is the whole entry, and it appears whenever they base to resist your pressure.
5Darce when the shell cracks
Shoot your arm under their neck and out past the far armpit, scissoring your legs to drop your weight as the hand comes through, then lock and squeeze at the side of their head.
WhenTheir elbow-to-knee gap opens on the near side, or they start to come up into you — some instructors treat a turtled opponent as a standing invitation to this choke.

Also worth knowing

Clock choke (gi)WhenGi only: over-and-under collar grips with your hip weighting the back of their head — then walk toward the head like a clock hand.
Attack the near ankleWhenThey stall in a tight shell — a shin on the achilles forces movement, and the movement opens every other door.
Peruvian necktieWhenFrom a front-headlock wrap with your weight on their shoulder — leg over the head, create the pocket, and drag them down over it.

Why you keep failing here

“They just stand up and walk away from all my attacks.”
WhyNo wrestling control. Without chest connection and something wrapping their hips, nothing is actually keeping them on the ground while you shop for submissions.
FixRide first, attack second — establish contact and hip control before you spend either hand on a choke.
“I attack the turtle and somehow end up in their leg entanglement.”
WhyAttacking from turtle parks your legs inside their reach, and a bottom player who sits back into them starts the leg lock exchange on their terms.
FixTrack your feet the whole time you attack — keep them out of range or accept that leg lock defense is your next position.
“Every time I circle for the back, they granby roll away.”
WhyRacing the corner without weight on them leaves the roll open — an unweighted turtle can always dive under your attack.
FixFollow the roll instead of chasing it: you usually land on the other side facing a turtle again, with the same menu in front of you.