The Principle
The De La Riva (DLR) system is built on a single hook: the bottom player’s near-side foot wraps around the back of the standing opponent’s lead leg, with the heel of the hooking foot pressing into the opponent’s hip. The hook’s role is twofold — it controls the opponent’s lead-leg base by denying backward retreat, and it provides a fixed point around which the bottom player can rotate to attack angles. Reverse DLR (RDLR) inverts the mechanic: the hook wraps inside the lead leg from below, controlling forward pressure rather than backward retreat.
Both DLR and RDLR are open-guard positions — the opponent is standing or in a passing stance. The system is most prominent in no-gi when the opponent is upright and pressuring forward; the hook denies them the lead-leg pass and forces them to either commit to a different pass entry or step back. Both responses generate an attack window: forward commitment opens the back take; stepping back opens the sweep.
Invariables Expressed
Attack angle is created by off-setting the body from the opponent’s centreline.
DLR’s hook gives the bottom player a stable point to rotate around. Every DLR attack — back take, sweep, leg-lock entry — relies on rotating the body to a 90-degree or greater offset from the opponent’s centreline. The hook is what makes the rotation possible without losing the position.
Sweeps require destabilising the opponent in a direction they cannot post.
DLR sweeps destabilise the opponent in the direction of the hooking foot — the back of the lead leg becomes the levered direction. The required post (backward, around the hooking leg) is denied because the hook is wrapped around the leg the post would need to use.
Open guards depend on at least one point of leg contact with the opponent.
DLR is the canonical single-hook open guard. The hook is the only guaranteed point of contact; the second point (free foot, knee, shin) is added as the attack develops. A DLR with no auxiliary contact is unstable; a DLR with the hook plus shin or grip is a complete attack platform.
Every leg entanglement exposes one player’s back more than the other’s.
DLR’s primary attack — the back take — is a direct expression of this invariable. The hook configuration places the bottom player rotationally behind the opponent’s lead leg; commitment to the rotation lands them on the back. The DLR-to-back sequence is one of the cleanest examples of leg-position-driven back exposure.
The Techniques in This System
Deploying the System
When to enter
De La Riva is the correct system when your opponent has stood up to pass and their lead leg is within reach of your outside hook. Three entry triggers. First — a failed X-guard or butterfly where the opponent popped to feet: the DLR hook is the bridge back into offence. Second — a deliberate guard pull from standing where the opponent is squared up: the DLR hook stops the pass from starting. Third — the spider-hook-alternative: in no-gi ruleset, DLR functions as the standing-opponent guard that spider does in gi, so any guard-retention problem against a standing passer points at DLR as the default.
DLR is the wrong system against a kneeling or knee-cut passer — without a standing lead leg, there is no hook configuration available and the system has no purchase. It is also wrong when the opponent is already walking past your knee line; the hook has to attach before their hip crosses your centreline, not after. Reverse DLR is the alternative when the opponent changes angle or cuts their knee through, and a DLR player should be equally comfortable in both.
Live reads inside the system
Four reads govern which attack fires. First — where is the opponent’s weight? Forward on your hook leg is back-take range; backward off the hook is sweep range; neutral means create weight commitment before launching. Second — is the opponent’s free hand posting on your leg or reaching for your collar? Post on leg is leg-drag threat (counter it); hand reaching high is the window for a berimbolo-style back take or a kiss-of-the-dragon. Third — is the lead leg bent or straight? A bent lead leg can be re-hooked deeper; a straight lead leg invites the hook-sweep or the X-guard transition. Fourth — is the opponent cutting their knee to pass? Cutting knee opens the reverse-DLR swap; knee still tall opens the back-take entries.
When the system stalls
The canonical stall is the free-foot kick-out: opponent steps their trapped leg back and away while using their free leg and base to drive around. Without a grip on the hook-side pants or ankle (harder in no-gi than gi), the hook can be stripped. The tactical response is to commit to a back-take or X-guard transition before the hook is stripped, not to hold the hook against a walking opponent. A second stall is the knee-cut through the middle: if the opponent drops their cutting knee onto your bottom thigh, the DLR hook is compromised and you must either scoot hips out to reverse-DLR or accept the pass into side-control escape. A third stall is the standing-and-waiting opponent who will not commit — if the passer stalls at distance, re-enter to seated guard and trade stall for hand-fight; DLR is an active-opponent system.
How the System Creates Dilemmas
Sweep vs back take
The central dilemma of DLR. Committing to the sweep loads the opponent backward; the structurally correct defence is to step the hooked leg back (which collapses the hook). Stepping the leg back rotates them away from the bottom player, exposing the back. The opponent’s defence to the sweep is the back-take entry. The Berimbolo is the canonical sequence that capitalises on this.
DLR vs leg-lock entry (RDLR)
From RDLR, the leg-lock branch becomes available when the opponent’s hip is in proximity to the bottom player’s chest. The choice between sweeping with RDLR and entering ashi garami for the heel hook is a sweep-vs-finish exchange similar to the X-guard dilemma. RDLR sits adjacent to X-guard in this respect.
DLR vs standing pass
When the opponent steps the lead leg back to defend the DLR hook, they sometimes move it far enough back that the hook releases and a new pass entry opens. The bottom player must transition rather than hold — typically to butterfly, X-guard, or a single-leg attempt. DLR is mobile by design; static DLR loses to step-back passing.
Progression by Ability Level
- Foundations: DLR position itself — the hook, the sleeve grip (or wrist control in no-gi), and the basic tripod sweep.
- Developing: RDLR variant. The sweep-vs-back-take dilemma. Tripod and outside tripod sweeps.
- Proficient: Berimbolo and inversion-based back takes. RDLR-to-leg- lock entries. The bridge to X-guard.
- All levels: DLR and RDLR as transitional positions rather than terminal positions — using them as bridges to other guards rather than holding them.
How This Connects to Other Concepts
The DLR system intersects the X-guard system at the heist / berimbolo transitions and the leg lock system via RDLR-to- ashi entries. It serves the guard bottom objectives through its sweep and back-take branches, and connects to back-take sequences documented in back take scrambles.