Reverse De la Riva
Reverse De la Riva in no-gi: the inside hook as a transition hub between DLR, K-guard, and leg entanglements.
Adapted from the original page. Grappling.Games did not write this. Sources.
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(RDLR) is an open guard hook position in which the bottom player’s outside leg threads to the inside of the top player’s lead leg, with the foot hooking behind the same-side knee or lower thigh. This is the mirror image of the standard DLR hook, which wraps the outside of the lead leg. The difference in hook placement creates a different leverage angle and, critically, a different set of exit routes.
Like DLR, RDLR is covered here for its no-gi utility only. Neither position is a sustained control position without a gi — the hook geometry is the same, but the grip that would anchor it (collar grip in gi) does not exist. RDLR’s no-gi value is as a transitional position: a junction point from which the bottom player routes to K-guard (a seated leg entanglement position), standard DLR, leg entanglements, or the reverse tripod sweep.
This distinction matters. Practitioners who approach RDLR as a position to hold will find it does not hold. Those who approach it as a moment to move from will find it useful.
K-guard entry — the most important no-gi use of RDLR; creates inside heel hook geometry
Reverse tripod sweep — pulling the lead leg back while extending the free leg
Inversion to 50/50 — rotating under when the passer steps over
Transition back to DLR — when the passer retreats or repositions