North–south position
Ground grappling position
ノースサウス・ポジション · 上四方固
- Type
- Grappling positions, Joint locks, Holds and pins
- Martial arts
- Brazilian jiu-jitsu, Judo, Jujutsu
- Japanese
- 上四方固
- Meaning
- Upper four quarter hold down
- Classified as
- judo technique
- Listed in
- Osaekomi-waza (Kodokan judo), Osaekomi-waza (judo techniques), Positional grappling (Brazilian jiu-jitsu), Shime Te –Shoden level (Danzan-ryū jujutsu)
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 to the head, or easily transition into various grappling holds or more dominant positions. Transitioning into side control 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 is employed exclusively from this position.
Kanji in 上四方固
Other Brazilian jiu-jitsu grappling positions
- Armlock
- Ashi garami
- Back mount
- Chokehold
- Daki age
- Guard
- Half guard
- Mount
- Overhook
- Rear naked choke
- Rubber guard
- Side control
- Sprawl
- Triangle choke
- Tsubame gaeshi
- Wristlock
- Underhook
- Knee-on-stomach
- Kawazu gake
- North–south choke
- Guillotine choke
- Collar tie
- Hooks
- Turtle flip over
- Daki wakare
- Gogoplata
Japanese terms for grappling positions
| Term | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 下手 | shitate | humble position; inferior |
| 前捌き | maesabaki | battling to knock away the hands of one's opponent, in order to achieve an advantageous position |
| 死に体 | shinitai | losing posture; falling position from which it is impossible to recover |
| 変わり身 | kawarimi | change of attitude (stance, position) |
| 座り相撲 | suwarizumou | wrestling performed in a sitting position |
External links
Facts from Wikidata Q7060540 (CC0); text quoted from English Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0); kanji data KANJIDIC2 and KanjiVG. Data retrieved 2026-10-22.
Data: Wikidata (CC0 1.0); Wikipedia (English) (CC BY-SA 4.0); KANJIDIC2 (CC BY-SA 4.0); KanjiVG (CC BY-SA 3.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.