Types of grappling positions

48 grappling positions with their own page, 5 Japanese terms and 2 Chinese terms.

Japanese names of grappling positions

Martial arts terms from the JMdict Japanese dictionary whose English meaning matches.

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

Martial arts terms from the CC-CEDICT Chinese dictionary whose English meaning matches.

Term	Pinyin	Meaning
龟息	guī xī	(Daoism, qigong etc) to breathe extremely slowly and faintly, in imitation of a turtle; (fig.) to remain in a state of minimal activity
教师爷	jiào shī yé	master of martial arts, in former times often employed by a landlord to teach fighting skills and guard the house; (fig.) sb who arrogantly and condescendingly lectures others

Data: Wikipedia (English) (CC BY-SA 4.0); Wikidata (CC0 1.0); JMdict (CC BY-SA 4.0); CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.