Under scarf hold

Under scarf hold is a colloquial name for the kesa gatame bottom position — describing being pinned beneath the scarf hold.

Etymology. “Under scarf hold” names the predicament plainly: caught under kesa gatame. The label is informal, foregrounding the position from the trapped player’s side rather than the formal name.

Mechanics. Escape requires destabilising the controlling player’s settled weight first: bumping and turning into them unsettles the head-and-arm pin so the bottom player can begin to move, since a heavy, based scarf hold smothers any escape attempt until its balance is disturbed and a gap appears.

Cross-reference. “Scarf hold bottom” is a sibling alias. Full mechanical coverage on Kesa Gatame — Bottom.