De la Riva Guard
De la Riva guard in no-gi: the DLR hook and shin grip as an entry platform to leg entanglements, tripod sweeps, and back takes.
Adapted from InGrappling, De la Riva Guard. System Games did not invent this curriculum.
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De la Riva guard is historically a gi guard built around a collar grip and an outside hook. In no-gi, the collar grip does not exist. This changes the position fundamentally — and it is worth stating this plainly before anything else.
On this site, De la Riva is covered for its no-gi utility only: the DLR hook combined with a shin grip creates an entry platform for leg entanglements and a disruption tool against standing passers. It is not a sustained control position in no-gi. Without the collar, the bottom player cannot pin the top player’s posture or prevent them from simply stepping out of the hook. The value of DLR in no-gi is in the transitions it creates, not in the hold it provides.
The DLR hook itself is always the same: the bottom player’s outside leg wraps around the outside of the top player’s lead leg, with the foot hooking behind the knee or lower thigh. The inside hand takes a shin grip on the same leg. These two points of contact — hook and grip — define the position.
Tripod sweep against a standing passer who has not broken the foot line
Ashi garami entry via inverting into the space between the legs
No-gi berimbolo (crab ride entry) via shin/ankle grip and inversion
INV-G01Invariant "The bottom player must maintain their feet between or at the line of the top player's knees. Losing this line allows the top player to advance without engaging the guard."