Within the gi circuit, the truck is frequently associated with the Mendes broth-
ers (Rafael and Guilherme) and their style, particularly in relation to the berim-
bolo and the crab ride position.
THE TRUCK IN WRESTLING
The truck control and many of its variations and entries date back to wrestling,
a combat style that was using this position on a competitive platform many
years prior to jiu jitsu. In wrestling, one of the more common entries for the
truck is the famous leg ride, a position that
is used to expose the back of the adversary,
while being a strong hold to secure a pin.
Two of the more common uses for the leg
ride control in wrestling are the wrestling
guillotine (known in jiu jitsu as the twist-
er) and the banana split positions. Both of
these are intended to be pins, not submis-
sions (though that line is often crossed while
battling for control).
THE TRUCK IN JIU JITSU
Eddie Bravo learned the wrestling leg ride/
guillotine set up during high school. The
now famous Jean Jacques Machado black
belt started applying this position under jiu
jitsu rules when he was a blue belt, perfect-
ing the setup from side-control to achieve
not a pin, but a tap – back when jiu jitsu’s
rule book was still unclear as to where it
stood with regard to spinal locks.
Once the sport of jiu jitsu, particularly the
International Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Federation
(IBJJF), started distancing itself from knee
twisting locks and attacks to the vertebral
column, Bravo went on to focus solely on the
nogi circuit, where he continued developing
his own ideas on a separate route from that
of the sport’s mainstream. Among those ide-
as was the truck position, which he enhanced
and instilled in nogi culture as well as a few
of his students – particularly Geo Martinez.
While Bravo carried on developing the truck
for his grappling program, other athletes
such as Ryan Hall, Leonardo Vieira, André
Galvao and a few others started using a sim-
ilar ‘twister roll’ in gi and nogi competitions
around the early/mid 2000s; a position Ryan
Hall labelled at the time as the “rolling back
attack”. As the name suggests, the use of
this control leaned towards establishing back
control and not the submission, and was
achieved mainly from half and 1/4 guards.
Only a few years later, galvanized by the
growth of the berimbolo, crab ride and
the leg drag – set by Rafael and Guilherme
Mendes during the late 2000s, the truck po-
sition started truly flourishing under BJJ’s gi
environment. The generation that followed
the Mendes’, and their style, carried on the truck’s legacy as a set up for
guard passes and back takes. Two of those who explored the potential of the
truck control, not only from the crab ride but also from the leg drag, were the
Miyao brothers.With the truck prospering in both a points environment and under the sub-
mission only platform, we expect to see plenty of enhancements to this posi-
tion in the forthcoming years.POSITION STUDY
THE TRUCK CONTROL
The truck is a grappling position often used in the sport of jiu jitsu as both a transition to a back control or a control
position in itself, from which one may submit an opponent. In nogi rules the truck is commonly associated with Eddie Bravo
and the 10th Planet system, as Bravo and his students were the first known to develop a program around the position and
showcase it to the submission grappling community.
ILLUSTRATION: GARTISTA WORDS: ANDRE BORGES EDITOR AT WWW.BJJHEROES.COM