What the body lock pass is
The body lock pass is a pressure pass in which you clasp your hands around your partner’s waist or lower back, pin their hips and work past their legs without letting go. It belongs with the pressure passes in our guide to BJJ guard passing. With your hands locked, you cannot post them on the mat, so your head and legs do more of the work of balance and control.
Passers use it mainly against seated and butterfly guards, where the guard player sits up into them with hooks under their legs. It is widely used in no-gi, where Nicky Rodriguez and Gordon Ryan both pass with it, and Lachlan Giles teaches it as a pass built in stages.
The lock and the setup
You cannot lock your hands while your partner keeps their arms and elbows in front of their body, so the setup is about getting past the arms. A common approach is to push your partner back or off balance until they post a hand on the mat behind them, which opens the space between that arm and their waist. Nicky Rodriguez also times the entry for the moment a partner sits up from their back, or pushes off the mat after being driven backward.
Instructors differ on where the lock belongs. Many keep it low, around the waist or lower back, so the hips cannot move, and some treat a lock up on the ribcage as a mistake. Others use a high body lock, under the ribs or around the mid-back, on a partner who is already flat, because it gives more control of the upper body.
Grips, gi and no-gi
- Locks the hipsHands clasped around the waist or lower back, often in a gable grip or an S-grip, with the elbows tight.
- Pins the upper bodyYour head drives into their chest or shoulder on the side you are passing, so their arms cannot push your legs away.
- Traps the legsYour legs pin theirs, either with their heels folded against their buttocks or with one of their legs held to the mat by your knee between their legs.
Without the gi
The lock goes around the body rather than the cloth, so the grips stay the same without the gi.
How the bottom player counters it
- Arms in frontElbows and forearms stay between you, so your hands cannot reach around the waist.
- Frames on the head or shouldersHands or forearms push your face or shoulders away to keep space.
- Stiff armA straight arm stops you as you step over the bottom knee.
- Half guard or knee shieldThey trap your leg or raise a knee between you as you step.
- GuillotineCatches a head that drifts out of line as you pass.
- KimuraCatches an arm whose elbow flares away from your body.
Getting past the legs
With the lock set, drop your weight, flatten your partner’s hips and work to one side. Trap their legs as the sheet shows, or, against a butterfly guard, step straight over one of their knees.
To pass, bring their bottom knee as close to the mat as you can before you step over it. The step either completes the pass or leaves you in chest-to-chest half guard. From there, pinch your knees together, work your feet inside their leg and pull your knee free, then settle in side control or mount.
Some passers also use a high tripod: they come up on their feet in a wide stance, with an underhook and their head posted on their partner, which lets them move from side to side and change angles. It is mostly taught for no-gi, and Jozef Chen is known for it. Gordon Ryan’s body lock passing moves between the lock, the high tripod and half guard depending on how the guard player reacts.
When the guard player fights the lock
Against frames on your head or shoulders, keep the lock and adjust your angle a little at a time rather than forcing through the frame.
When a stiff arm stops your step over the knee, one answer is to unlock your hands, parry the arm aside with your elbow and step over. You land in half guard with a near-side underhook, which keeps hold of the upper body once the lock is gone.
Some guard players turn away to turtle rather than concede the pass. Follow them as they turn and settle on top of the turtle.
Common body lock mistakes
Letting your hips rise while you step is the first. Raised hips give their butterfly hooks room to lift you into a sweep.
Losing control of their feet is the second. A foot that slips free can come back in as a hook or set up a triangle.
Letting go of the lock to reach for side control before the legs are clear is the third. With the hips free, your partner can escape their hips and put the guard back between you.
What a reviewer looks for in your body lock passing
In your footage, a black belt checks how you reached the lock, whether your hips stayed low as you stepped, and whether the bottom knee was down before you stepped over it. They also note when you let go of the lock and where your head was when a frame or a choke came. In a roll review, a verified black belt marks each of those moments with a timestamp and sets homework drills for the stage where your pass stalls.