The Knee on Belly (stomach) is one of BJJ’s most dominant positions. Not only will it grant you 2 points if you stay in it for 3 seconds in an official tournament, but it’ll also be your platform to transition into even more dominant positions, such as back mount—and finish the fight from there.
The beautiful thing about Knee on Stomach is that different grapplers will use it for different purposes. Some might look to finish the fight by going for a submission, such as the Armbar.
Others, however, will try to gain more control while frustrating the opponent. These grapplers will not go for a submission before they see that their opponents are tired.
And some might look to transition into more dominant positions and finish the fight from there, such as side control, back mount, and full mount.
All these grapplers have one thing in common. They all want to gain more control using the Knee on Belly. This is what this article will cover: how to gain as much control while remaining dynamic and ready to attack using this position.
Here’s what this article will cover:
- How to gain more control using Knee on Belly
- Set-ups
- Attacks
- Tips
- Escapes
- Q&A
Knee on Belly – Control your opponent better
Jiu-Jitsu is all about controlling your opponent. Get more control in fights, and your win-loss ratio will skyrocket, even in training.
This is why I placed this part as the first one in this article. It’ll cover 7 fundamentals you must know and implement to gain more control using the Knee on Belly position.
Implementing these essentials will allow you to 1. get into the position more often and 2. win more fights using it.
I encourage you to read each section of this article, even if it seems obvious. I always include ninja tips in my articles, so read each section to ensure you fully understand them.
I recommend bookmarking this article to ensure you implement the tips properly. You can always come back to re-read one section if you’re having trouble implementing it.
Alright, let’s dive into the first one!
Have a straight posture
The first essential is to have a straight posture. Being overly leaned in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is rarely a positive attribute. Your opponent will do anything to knock you off balance. As a result, you want to strive to be as balanced as possible.
Keeping your posture straight is the first step to a flawless Knee on Belly. Your goal is to have your heel in line with your forearm. That’s an excellent ninja tip many grapplers follow to remind themselves of this fundamental.
What do you think will happen if you are off-balanced in this position? First, the opponent will likely sweep you and gain a more dominant position, such as closed guard. Then, he can finish from there.
So keeping your posture straight will allow you to avoid the opponent escaping while giving you more options from now on.
Sit on your heel
The following fundamental is to sit on your heel. When I was in the military and learned to shoot while crouching, one of the most important things I had to do was sit on my heel. Now that’s difficult when you’re wearing 50 pounds of gear. But I became more flexible with time.
So why do you need to sit on your heel when shooting? Well, because it gives you more control and keeps you more balanced. The same applies to Jiu-Jitsu.
You want to sit on your heel to maintain as much balance as possible. In addition, doing so will allow you to control your opponent better, giving you more options.
So although it can be difficult at first, sitting on your heel will get easier with time (you’ll become more flexible.)
Try sitting on your heel when you’re on the Knee on Stomach. See how that feels and notice how you’re more balanced.
Transition to a dominant position if the opponent tries to escape
Next, you want to focus on practicing transitioning to different positions if the opponent attempts to escape. And trust me, he will.
So what does that look like?
You can transition to all dominant positions from the Knee on Belly. The primary point here is to try to force the opponent to move. For example, you can transition into the full mount position if the opponent turns to your side.
Likewise, you can do the same with the back mount position if he twists away from you. He can also bridge and allow you to use windshield wiper and take advantage of the openings you see, such as going for the Kimura.
Here’s a good example of a few basic transitions:
Rest your shin for more pressure
The dominant position I’m currently reviewing is called the Knee on Belly. However, what it really is—is Shin on Belly. You don’t want to place your knee directly on the opponent’s stomach.
Instead, you’ll be placing your shin across the opponent’s hip area without making contact with any part lower than that—or you’ll get disqualified.
Resting your shin will allow you more control than if you were only to use your knee. It can be more than frustrating to the opponent when they have someone on top of them not letting them move around.
And control is the only factor in this position. Get more control, and you’ll have more success using it. Thus you want to use your shin and not your knee.
Place your foot on the opponent’s hips
The following fundamental is to place your foot on the opponent’s hips. Unfortunately, most novice grapplers plant their feet on the mat (both feet.) And therefore, they have less control when the opponent moves, and he will try his best to knock you off balance by moving around.
You must be ready for that. So what’s the most effective thing you can do to counter that?
You want to plant your foot on the opponent’s hips. It’ll look like the top of your foot will be directly on top of the opponent’s hips. Then, assuming the opponent tries to twist, you’ll be much more balanced than if it were on the mat.
Make sure to plant your foot on the opponent’s hips and not place it on the mat. This is the #1 mistake novice grapplers make, costing them more losses and fewer victories.
Bend your other leg
The 6th fundamental is to bend your other leg.
Most novice grapplers (typically white and even blue belts) keep their other legs straight. But unfortunately, they also place their other leg too far, making it more difficult to attack.
You want to bend your leg and place it somewhere not far away from the opponent. Your opponent will be more capable of sweeping you if you set it too far away or close.
That’s the mistake many novice grapplers make. Ensure you 1. place your other leg not too far away and 2. bend it.
Use your body weight
The last basic, which will give you more control and ability to attack, is to use your entire body weight on the opponent. You want to apply as much force as possible to your shin.
This will make it much more difficult for the opponent to escape your Knee on Belly position. It’ll also make you more dominant in the fight, which is something we always want to accomplish.
How do you use your body weight? First, keep your posture as straight and balanced as possible while leaning on your heel and driving attention to your shin. Think about your shin being the primary source of your pressure. Do that—and your positioning will come naturally.
More practically, you want to distribute your weight entirely on your shin (the one that’s on the opponent’s hips) and lean your body weight on it. It might look like leaning forward for some people.
The 7 fundamentals I’ve covered in this article will allow you to gain more control over the opponent. You want to start implementing them one by one and not simultaneously. That will make the muscle memory process quicker.
Setting up the Knee on Belly
The 2nd part of the article will be about setups. However, I’ll include only two because I want you to start learning about the attacks as soon as possible. By this point, you already know the fundamentals and can maintain this position for a long time, especially against a non-grappler.
You can now maintain this position for extended periods and frustrate your opponent by putting him in an uncomfortable and inferior position. You have control, so you have the advantage.
But how do you get into it? What entry points do you have to get into this position more smoothly? Here are two of my favorites.
Set-up #1 – Side Control
The most common way to get into the Knee on Belly position is from side control. If you want to learn more about the side control position and how to get into it more often, follow this link.
Anyways, what you need to do is that you want to be in side control. Then, in one swift motion, you pop up (like you’re surfing) and plant both legs in position. Make it a quick movement, as that’s when you’re most vulnerable.
You want to focus on this setup more than on the next one. You’ll succeed more with it, as it’s much more effective and less risky than the following one.
On the other hand, knowing both will allow you to keep broadening your knowledge and make you a better grappler.
Set-up #2 – North-South
The last set-up I’ll cover in this article is from the North-South position. The side control is definitely the most known and used one, and for a good reason: it’s more effective.
However, you can also transition to the Knee on Belly from the North-South position.
You want to control your opponent from this position to do so effectively. You then want to try and finish the fight from your current position. If you cannot do so, you can, if you wish, transition to the side and pop to the Knee on Belly.
This has to be quick, as the opponent will have an opportunity to escape. You definitely want to try going for the North-South Choke if you can. You can use this setup if you cannot do so and want to transition into another effective position.
What’s beautiful about these two positions, you can transition back into the North-South Choke from the Knee on Stomach position. Here’s how you can do it:
Let’s now dive into the 3rd primary part of this article: attacks.
Attacks from Knee on Belly
Attacks from Knee on Belly are perhaps the 2nd most critical thing you want to know regarding this position. The first is maintaining it for longer, as you can imagine.
That said, you don’t want just to receive the 2 points in a competition associated with this position. Instead, you want to finish fights from this dominant place.
So here are 5 attacks you want to know, understand, and master—to become a competent user of the Knee on Stomach position.
Here it goes!
Attack #1 – Armbar
The Armbar is perhaps the mother of all arm submissions. You will learn it, and that I can guarantee before you even consider learning the Knee on Belly.
So I’m assuming you know its basics by this point. If you don’t and want to learn about it, follow this link to read an Armbar 101 walkthrough I wrote.
Anyways, here’s how to perform the Armbar from the Knee on Belly position:
- Start in Knee on Belly
- Lock the opponent’s close arm
- Shift your other leg to the opponent’s far shoulder
- Lean back while maintaining your grip
- Hyperextend the opponent’s arm
- Wait for the tap
Attack #2 – Kimura
This 2nd attack will be the Kimura. I’m a big fan of it because of its simplicity and effectiveness. Simple isn’t easy, however, as many grapplers think.
Although the Kimura is a submission you’ll learn in your first few weeks of training, and there’s no way you’ll perfect it in the following 5 years of your training. This is because while it’s an essential submission, it’s incredibly complicated.
Here’s how to perform the Kimura from Knee on Stomach:
- Start in Knee on Belly
- Step behind your opponent while spinning
- Wait for the opponent to reveal his arm
- Lock both your arms with a Kimura grip
- Finish by applying pressure backward
- Wait for the tap
If you want to learn more about the Kimura grip and how to perform it flawlessly, follow this link.
Attack #3 – Cross Collar Choke
The 3rd attack we’ll cover is the Cross Collar Choke. Again, it’s simple and effective, meaning that you can learn it as the first attack from the Knee on Belly position and succeed with it.
Here’s how to perform it:
- Start in side control
- Grip the opponent’s back collar
- Transition to the Knee on Belly position
- Place your other hand close to his collar
- Lasso around with your first hand
- Finish by either going to mount or back to side control
- Wait for the tap
This is one of the simplest variations of the Cross Collar Choke you’ll see. I encourage you to learn it as one of the first submissions you learn from this dominant position.
Here’s a video that demonstrates it flawlessly:
Attack #4 – Baseball Bat Choke
The Baseball Bat Choke is a more advanced submission. That said, it’s stealthy, so you want to use it against more advanced opponents.
Advanced grapplers will think about the grips you’re using and will utilize them against you. This submission uses stealthy grips, which the opponent won’t feel until it’s too late. That’s why the Baseball Bat Choke is exceptionally effective against novice and advanced grapplers.
Here’s how to perform it:
- Start in Knee on Belly
- Grip the opponent’s collar
- Grip the opponent’s hip with your other hand
- Slide your hand (that grips the hips) into the opponent’s collar (thumb inside)
- Cut your knee over the opponent’s shoulder
- Turn into the North-South position
- Squeeze your hands
- Wait for the tap
Attack #5 – Kneebar
Leg locks are fantastic. However, it’ll be best not to start with them. You want to learn chokes and various armbars before considering learning leg locks.
However, I had to include one leg lock in this part of the article because they’re so effective. Here’s how to perform the Kneebar:
- Start in Knee on Belly
- Step and land beside the opponent’s far leg
- Grab the opponent’s leg and lean back
- Lock it
- Apply pressure
- Wait for the tap
And that’s it! Watch the following video as well.
These are the 5 attacks you want to learn as your first ones. Notice how simple and effective they are. It’ll be difficult to escape if you know what you’re doing.
So make sure to start learning them, and let’s move into the next part of this article:
Escaping.
How to escape the Knee on Belly
Alright, so you want to escape the Knee on Stomach; let’s examine a standard way you can use it, even if you’re a white belt. It’s a common escape, as it’s so effective. However, before diving in, we also want to prevent further Knee on Belly so that the escape will include a prevention step as the final one. Here’s what it looks like:
First, you want to keep your elbows real tight to escape the Knee on Belly position. Then you want to get your elbow in front of his knee (the close one.) The next step is to twist in the opponent’s direction, allowing you to escape. The final step is to make a knee and elbow connection.
Connecting your knee and elbow is another thing you want to emphasize. You’ll be capable of getting into a solid frame all the time if that connection exists.
If your knee and elbow are connected, the opponent will find it extremely difficult to get into side control, let alone Knee on Belly. Ensure you remember that. That’s the prevention step I mentioned in the first paragraph, so you must frame up after escaping.
There are other ways to go about it. Different coaches will teach different things, so make sure to keep your eyes and ears open for new ways to go about it. Here’s another example:
Why is the Knee on Belly so dominant
The Knee on Belly is one of BJJ’s most dominant positions because it allows you to control the opponent’s hips while having the ability to transition into other more dominant positions or attack with many chokes, armbars, and leg locks.
Do you get points for Knee on Belly?
You get 2 points for being in the Knee on Belly position for over 3 seconds. BJJ competitions, including IBJJF official tournaments, embrace this position because it’s a highly dominant one. You can go for many submissions and finish the fight, while your opponent has no tangible ways of attacking.
Final words
The Knee on Belly is extremely effective. It can be a hustle to escape once you’re at the bottom. However, it can be simple to finish a fight when you’re on top.
You can keep note of all the basics I reviewed in this article or even bookmark it. That way, you’ll be able to return to it to re-read the fundamentals and keep honing your Knee on Stomach.
Your grappling skills will skyrocket once you master this position. In addition, it will give you more control over the fight, which is what Jiu-Jitsu is all about control.
I didn’t mention this detail in the article, but you can also strike from this position while using leverage to generate more force. That’s more for an MMA environment, but you can also do that in street fights and self-defense situations.
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Here are other articles you’ll enjoy if you’re interested in BJJ:
BJJ’s Most Dominant Positions – Effective to Winning More!