Alias · Top Positions
Head-to-foot position
Also known as North-South — Top — the canonical term used on this site.
Training background: descriptive
Descriptive — the head-to-foot north-south orientation
Head-to-foot position is a descriptive name for the north-south position — naming the orientation, the attacker’s head toward the opponent’s feet.
Etymology. “Head-to-foot” describes the attacker facing down the opponent’s body, head over their hips and toward their feet; “position” names the control. The label foregrounds the reversed orientation of north-south.
Mechanics. Chest contact alone does not hold the pin unless it also covers the hips: from the head-to-foot orientation the attacker must keep weight over the opponent’s chest and shoulders, since a pin that lets the hips escape lets the opponent turn and spin out. Controlling the hips with the chest pressure is what makes the position stick.
Cross-reference. “Reverse chest-to-chest pin” and “Top kimura position” are sibling aliases. Full mechanical coverage on North-South — Top.