Alias · Front Headlock
Breakdown position
Also known as Four-Point Position — the canonical term used on this site.
Wrestling — broken-down four-point base
Breakdown position is the wrestling-vocabulary name for the four-point base after the attacker has begun to break the bottom player from their stable turtle posture — the partial-collapse state in which the bottom player is no longer fully based but has not yet exposed the back.
Etymology. “Breakdown” is the wrestling-vocabulary term for the structural collapse of the bottom player’s defensive base; “position” attaches the configuration category. The label predominates in folkstyle wrestling contexts.
Mechanics. The position is transitional — the bottom player has lost the full four-point base but is fighting to recover it rather than expose the back. Most submission threats from this state require the attacker to commit further breakdown pressure before the back-exposure pivot opens.
Cross-reference. “All-fours (partial)” is the descriptive alternate. Full mechanical coverage on Four-Point Base.