Standing to Pin or Strangle
Mat mode
5:00
Tell the roomStart standing and disconnected.
Show full gameHide full gameRules · how to win · coach notes
BOTH PLAYERS
TOP PLAYER and BOTTOM PLAYER share these rules.
POSITION
Both players inside a 4m × 4m area, facing each other. No grips, no contact. Either player can initiate.
OBJECTIVE
Start standing and disconnected. Both players win by pinning the hips for 5 seconds or finishing any arm strangle. The pin only counts if the bottom is not actively escaping or threatening a submission.
CONSTRAINTS
No leg-lock submissions. Pin and strangle are the only finishes. No jumping guard pulls. Getting taken down onto your back is fine; sitting down voluntarily is not. Stay inside the area. Step fully out and the round resets to the center with no score. Reset when either player pins the hips to the mat for a continuous 5 seconds; when either player finishes any arm strangle — rear naked, head-and-arm front or back, or arm-in guillotine — on a tap or a two-second hold against a verbal refusal; or when a player steps fully out and the round resets to the center with no score. 5-6 min rounds.
WIN CONDITION
Pin the hips to the mat for a continuous 5 seconds; or finish any arm strangle: rear naked, head-and-arm front or back, arm-in guillotine. Strangle counts on a tap, or a two-second hold against a verbal refusal.
BOTTOM PLAYER
POSITION
Both players inside a 4m × 4m area, facing each other. No grips, no contact. Either player can initiate.
OBJECTIVE
Start standing and disconnected. Both players win by pinning the hips for 5 seconds or finishing any arm strangle. The pin only counts if the bottom is not actively escaping or threatening a submission.
CONSTRAINTS
Same no-leg-lock, no-jumping-guard-pull, stay-inside-the-area, and named reset rules. 5-6 min rounds.
WIN CONDITION
Pin the hips to the mat for a continuous 5 seconds; or finish any arm strangle: rear naked, head-and-arm front or back, arm-in guillotine. Strangle counts on a tap, or a two-second hold against a verbal refusal.
Grapplers Collective, Standing to Pin or Strangle. 5-6 min rounds.
Problem
Free standing engagement with both players winning by pin or any arm strangle.
Tell the room
Start standing and disconnected. Both players win by pinning the hips for 5 seconds or finishing any arm strangle. The pin only counts if the bottom is not actively escaping or threatening a submission.
Setup
Start standing in the center. Both players inside a 4m × 4m area, facing each other. No grips, no contact. Either player can initiate.
Score
Both players score the same way.
- Pin the hips to the mat for a continuous 5 seconds
- Finish any arm strangle: rear naked, head-and-arm front or back, arm-in guillotine
- Strangle counts on a tap, or a two-second hold against a verbal refusal
Rules
- No leg-lock submissions. Pin and strangle are the only finishes.
- No jumping guard pulls. Getting taken down onto your back is fine; sitting down voluntarily is not.
- Stay inside the area. Step fully out and the round resets to the center with no score.
Adjust
Easier
Drop the pin to 3 seconds and count locked back control with a seatbelt grip as a score.
Harder
Add a 90-second clock per exchange; if nobody scores, the coach awards the better position.
If it stalls
If athletes fall back into single-phase habits, ask between rounds: “What did the last round teach you?”
engagement