1
Months 1–2
Understand the map
Learn the positional ladder and what each position offers before learning any finish. Survival, breathing and awareness come first, and every later skill is described in this vocabulary.
Beginner pathway
A first year on the mat, in order
Grappling is layered: you cannot attack from a position you cannot hold. Each stage assumes the one before it still works when a partner is genuinely resisting rather than cooperating.
5 stages12 guides available
2
Months 2–4
Hold the top positions
Practice keeping side control and mount against genuine escape attempts, then add back control with a correct seatbelt and hook placement.
3
Months 4–7
Build a bottom game
Closed guard first for the control it offers, then half guard with an underhook or knee shield, then the open guards that ask for finer timing.
4
Months 7–9
Stop losing position
Add retention so guards get rebuilt rather than surrendered, and learn pressure passing so you understand the same exchange from both sides of it.
5
Months 9–12
Finishes and the first exchange
Introduce chokes before joint locks, keep every application slow and controlled, and work the standing phase so you can choose how the match reaches the mat.
Where to next
Browse by category
Once the pathway feels comfortable, work through a single category end to end.
GrappleGuide.TV
Grappling explained as mechanics, not mystique.
Grappling is one subject taught under many flags. Positions, guard, passing, submissions and takedowns are treated here as shared mechanics — named where the arts genuinely disagree, and explained once where they do not.