Also known as: Turtle Position · All Fours · Referee’s Position (wrestling)
Knees and elbows down, head tucked — the position you take to concede nothing after a takedown or a nearly-passed guard. The turtled player is safe from points but not from the clock: the attacker hunts the seatbelt, the clock choke, and the crucifix, while the defender looks to granby out, sit out, or stand up.
Gi & No-gi · Category: Turtle
What can you do from Turtle?
Attacking player (positional score +6/10)
Submissions
Clock Choke — The classic gi attack on the turtle: a deep collar grip plus your bodyweight walking around their head like a clock hand until the strangle closes.
Back Takes
Back Take from Turtle — Convert the turtle into the sport’s best position: lock the seatbelt, insert a hook or sit through to your hip, and roll them into back control.
Transitions
Crucifix Entry — From the side of the turtle, wedge your near knee inside their elbow, capture the arm between your legs, and roll them into the crucifix — both of their arms neutralized.
Truck Entry — From behind the turtle, hook one of their legs with a figure-four of your own legs ("twister hook") and tip them sideways into the truck.
Turtled player (positional score -6/10)
Escapes
Granby Roll — The wrestling shoulder roll that saves the turtle: roll across your upper back underneath the attacker’s pressure and come out facing them in open guard.
Sit-Out — The wrestler’s exit from bottom turtle: shoot one leg through to sit facing away, clear their grip, and turn back to neutral — often ending behind the over-committed attacker.