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
A sequence that introduces grappling skills in the order they depend on each other. Advance when the current stage holds up against a resisting partner, not when the calendar says so.
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.
A discipline-neutral grappling guide: positions, guard, passing, submissions and takedowns treated as shared mechanics rather than as the property of any single art, with the small details that decide whether control actually holds.