De La Riva Guard in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu

What It Is

The De La Riva Guard in Brazilian jiu jitsu is a classic open guard position, especially common in gi competition but increasingly relevant in no-gi. You’re on your back, using your legs to hook one of your opponent's legs (usually the outside leg), while your hands and your other foot manage distance, posture, and grips. The main feature is that deep hook with your outside leg, your shin wraps behind your opponent’s knee, foot laced around their thigh, hamstring, or even hip, with your knee flared outward. Meanwhile, your other foot is live, posted on their hip, thigh, or mat, always moving.

The De La Riva Guard is a staple for anyone looking to play an aggressive open guard game, especially against standing opponents. It thrives on off-balancing (kazushi), constant angle shifts, and grip fighting. If your school works a lot of top player passing on the feet, you'll run into this guard, and if you train gi, in tournaments or hard rounds, you're already seeing its importance.

Why It Works

At its core, the De La Riva Guard in Brazilian jiu jitsu works because it disrupts your opponent's base and posture from a distance. That outside leg hook creates a strong point of control on their far side, making it tough for them to settle their weight or drive straight through you. With the right grips (typically a sleeve, ankle, or belt in gi; ankle or wrist in no-gi), you can steer, drag, or tip them off balance at will.

The constant threat of sweeps, like the basic tripod, technical stand-up, or berimbolo, keeps the passer from smashing forward or completely squaring up. Any time someone stands with a narrow or upright stance, De La Riva gives you levers to turn them, expose their back, or set up submissions.

Key Details

• Leg Hook: Your outside leg needs an active hook behind their knee, with your toes flexed and knee angled outward. Dead feet or straight knees kill your control fast.
• Grip Distinction: In the gi, a cross-sleeve grip and same-side ankle (or pant leg) grip are bread and butter. In no-gi, you’ll often use an ankle and a wrist, or switch to a collar tie.
• Hip Mobility: Your hips need to move, not get pinned. Scoot your hips out, switch angles, and never stay square too long.
• Posting Foot: Your inside foot posts on their hip or thigh, never just dangling. This foot is your emergency frame against pressure.
• Constant Kazushi: Don’t just hang on the position. Use your grips and leg hook to off-balance. Rock them, pull, and tip until they step or shift.
• Protect Your Knee Line: Never let your knee get dragged across their body (the leg drag threat), and don't let your hook get stapled to the mat.

Common Mistakes

• Inactive Hook: People forget to flare or flex their hooking leg, so the opponent kicks free easily.
• Gripping Too Hard, Too Long: Burning your grips early, especially in hard rounds or tournaments, leaves your forearms shot before you get a sweep.
• Flat Hips: Not moving your hips or getting stuck square, a passer can easily collapse you and start threading their knee for knee cut or leg drag.
• Letting Them Control Your Other Leg: If you let your opponent treat your posting foot like a limp noodle, they’ll smash it to the mat, clear your line, and start passing.
• Getting Smashed: Failing to frame with your arms or inside foot allows your opponent to drive their weight forward, flattening your knees and hips to the mat.
• Ignoring Off-Balances: Sitting in De La Riva just holding on is pointless. You need to constantly try to off-balance or threaten, not camp out and hope.

When To Use It

The De La Riva Guard is your best weapon against standing, mobile passers, especially when they’re trying to step around or use speed to pass. If your opponent’s stance is staggered or narrow, you can set up De La Riva quickly. It excels in the gi, but you do see plenty of no-gi players using it to enter leg entanglements and sweeps.

Specific moments to use it:

• After breaking closed guard and your opponent stands to start passing
• When you’re playing open guard and want to attack from distance
• Against opponents who avoid engaging tight or are heavy on their feet
• During scrambles, to regain control or enter sweep setups

Training Tips

• Drill Hip Movement: Work shrimping and side-to-side hip mobility into your warm-ups. Static DLR is worthless; you need dynamic angles.
• Build Grip Endurance: Use grip trainers or gi pull-ups, but more importantly, drill with real grip transitions so your hands and forearms don’t blow up in a tournament setting.
• Isolation Rounds: Start rounds with De La Riva locked in and make your partner try to pass, focus only on maintaining and recovering the position under pressure.
• Learn recovery Pathways: Drill reguarding to recover De La Riva if they try to staple your leg or clear your hook.
• Mix Entries and Exits: Don’t live in De La Riva, transition to single leg-x, X-guard, or basic sit-up guard as needed. Fluid guard work keeps good passers confused.
• Competition Footage: Watch high-level matches, especially in the gi. See how top athletes chain sweeps and constantly adjust grips and angles.

Final Takeaway

The De La Riva Guard in Brazilian jiu jitsu is about control at distance, relentless off-balancing, and using your hooks and grips as active weapons, not just anchors. If you’re serious about performing in hard rounds or competition settings, you need a live, attacking De La Riva, not just a pose. Drill the details, focus on transitions, and don’t let your guard get static or flat. Work at live speed, get used to grip burn, and treat De La Riva as a launch pad, never a resting place.

Athletes To Study

• Mica Galvao
• Nicholas Meregali

Official Pages

• De La Riva Europe HQ