In combat sports, the north–south position (also known as north/south or four quarter) is a ground grappling position where one combatant is supine, with the other combatant invertedly lying prone on top, normally with their head over the bottom combatant's chest. The north–south position is a dominant position, where the top combatant can apply effective strikes such as

knee strikes A knee strike (commonly referred to simply as a knee) is a strike with the knee, either with the kneecap or the surrounding area. Kneeing is a disallowed practice in many combat sports, especially to the head of a downed opponent. Styles such as ...

to the head, or easily transition into various

grappling hold A grappling hold, commonly referred to simply as a hold that in Japanese is referred to as ''katame-waza'' ( "grappling technique"), is any specific grappling, wrestling, judo, or other martial art grip that is applied to an opponent. Grapplin ...

s or more dominant positions. Transitioning into

side control In grappling, side control (often also called side mount, cross mount, 100 kilos) is a dominant ground grappling position where the top combatant is lying perpendicularly over the face-up bottom combatant in such a way that the legs are free and ...

can be done by first switching into a particular hold known as ushiro-kesa-gatame (後袈裟固) or reverse scarf hold, where the chest points to the side, and the opponent's arm is controlled similarly to kesa-gatame. The

north–south choke The North–south choke is a choking technique in grappling, employed exclusively from the north–south position, and classified as an air choke-hold. It closely resembles one of the seven mat holds, or osaekomi-waza, of Kodokan Judo, Kuzu ...

is employed exclusively from this position.

Kami shiho gatame

Kami shiho gatame (上四方固, "upper four quarter hold down"), and its variations kuzure kami shiho gatame (崩上四方固, "broken upper four quarter hold down"), are the most common

pinning hold A grappling hold, commonly referred to simply as a hold that in Japanese is referred to as ''katame-waza'' ( "grappling technique"), is any specific grappling, wrestling, judo, or other martial art grip that is applied to an opponent. Grappli ...

s applied from the north–south position in

combat sport A combat sport, or fighting sport, is a competitive contact sport that usually involves one-on-one combat. In many combat sports, a contestant wins by scoring more points than the opponent, submitting the opponent with a hold, disabling the oppon ...

s using a gi. Kami shiho gatame involves pinning the opponent's arms to his or her side, typically by grabbing the opponent's belt and using the arms to press the arms of the opponent inwards. Kuzure-kami-shiho-gatame is similar, except that one or both arms of the opponent aren't pinned to the side, but can be controlled by for instance pinning them in between an upper arm and a knee. Kami shiho gatame is one of the seven mat holds,

Osaekomi-waza A grappling hold, commonly referred to simply as a hold that in Japanese is referred to as ''katame-waza'' ( "grappling technique"), is any specific grappling, wrestling, judo, or other martial art grip that is applied to an opponent. Grapplin ...

, of Kodokan

Judo is an unarmed gendai budō, modern Japanese martial art, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyclopedia Nipponi ...

. In grappling terms, it is categorized as a north–south hold. Shiho gatame is also one of the 25 techniques of

Danzan Ryu Danzan may refer to: * Danzan-ryū, a jiujitsu school Danzan ( mn, Данзан) is a Mongolian personal name. Notable persons with this name include: ;as proper name * Soliin Danzan (1885–1924), Mongolian revolutionary and political leader, * ...

's constriction arts, Shimete, list.

Technique description

Graphic
from http://judoinfo.com/techdrw.htm A straight over

throw Throwing is an action which consists in accelerating a projectile and then releasing it so that it follows a ballistic trajectory, usually with the aim of impacting a remote target. This action is best characterized for animals with prehensil ...

naturally leads to kami shiho gatame. Exemplar Videos
Demonstrated
from https://web.archive.org/web/20060913144731/http://www.abbotsfordjudo.com/techniques/5thkyu.ht
Instructional Video

Escapes

*Ebi (Shrimp) Kami-Shiho-Gatame Escape *Circling Bridge/Roll-over Kami-Shiho-Gatame Escape

Included systems

Systems: *

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ; pt, jiu-jitsu brasileiro ) is a self-defence martial art and combat sport based on grappling, ground fighting (ne-waza) and submission holds. BJJ focuses on the skill of taking an opponent to the ground, control ...

* Kodokan

Judo Lists Like many other martial arts, Kodokan judo provides lists of techniques students must learn to earn rank. For a more complete list of judo techniques by technique classification, including Japanese kanji, see the article judo techniques. Ukemi (b ...

Danzan Ryu Lists Danzan may refer to: * Danzan-ryū, a jiujitsu school Danzan ( mn, Данзан) is a Mongolian personal name. Notable persons with this name include: ;as proper name * Soliin Danzan (1885–1924), Mongolian revolutionary and political leader, * ...

Lists: *

The Canon Of Judo The Canon of Judo is a book that was originally published in 1956, and written by Kodokan 10th dan, Kyuzo Mifune (1883-1965). The book covers almost all of the Kodokan recognized techniques, adds variations and new techniques, including Do-Jime in ...

Judo technique This is a list of judo techniques. They are categorized into throwing techniques (''nage-waza''), grappling techniques (''katame-waza''), body-striking techniques (''atemi-waza)'', blocks and parries (''uke-waza''), receiving/breakfall techni ...

Similar techniques, variants, and aliases

Japanese aliases: *Sei kami shiho gatame(正上四方固) English aliases: *Upper four quarter hold down *Top four corner hold *The NSFW(Not Safe For Work) Position Variants: * DZR's Shiho-Gatame *Sitting Kami-Shiho-Gatame *Embracing Kami-Shiho-Gatame *

Kuzure kami shiho gatame is one of the seven mat holds, Osaekomi-waza, of Kodokan Judo, a variation of Kami shiho gatame. In grappling terms, it is categorized as a north-south hold. Technique description Executing the Kuzure-kami-shiho-gatame is similar to Kami sh ...

References

* Løvstad, Jakob
The Mixed Martial Arts Primer
''www.idi.ntnu.no''. URL last accessed March 6, 2006. (DOC format) * Ohlenkamp, Neil

''judoinfo.com''. URL last accessed March 6, 2006. * Page, Nicky

''homepage.ntlworld.com''. URL last accessed March 4, 2006.

External links

Contains images of kami-shio-gatame and six variations of kuzure-kami-shiho-gatame. (Dutch)

North–south position
Image of the north–south position without a gi.
North–south to Mount Transition
{{DEFAULTSORT:North-south position Grappling positions Brazilian jiu-jitsu techniques