Scarf hold

Scarf hold is the literal English translation of the Japanese kesa gatame — the top-position pin in which the attacker controls the opponent’s head and one arm from the side, with the attacker’s torso laid across the opponent’s chest in a diagonal line.

Etymology. The term renders kesa (the Buddhist priest’s draped robe or scarf, worn diagonally across the body) + gatame (“hold”) into English. The judo naming captures the diagonal geometry: the attacker’s body crosses the opponent’s torso the same way a Buddhist kesa drapes across the wearer’s body. “Scarf hold” appears in older English-language judo translation conventions and in regional contexts; the Japanese kesa gatame predominates in modern no-gi and BJJ vocabulary.

Mechanics. The pin destabilises the opponent’s escape mobility by controlling the head and one arm simultaneously — the diagonal body-line across the chest prevents the opponent from rotating either toward or away from the attacker without losing one of the two control points.

Cross-reference. “Headlock control” is a more abstract descriptive name for the same configuration. Full mechanical coverage on Kesa Gatame.