Belt Grip

Kevin Secours emphasizes that head position relative to your opponent is more important than hip position in clinching range. You should position your head to one side of your opponent and try to get lower than them regardless of your relative height.

Rather than relying on bicep contractions, Kevin Secours teaches using the longest available levers by pushing with the length of the elbow to liberate the grip. Using your free hand to strike or stabilize your opponent's wrist fulcrum also creates a leverage advantage.

Kevin Secours recommends gripping at the furthest expanse of the firm lever — the bone groove and condyle area — rather than wasting energy on the fingers unless you have a very large hand. This enveloping grip facilitates both rotation and compression.

The Belt Grip family covers clinch positions where the attacker grips the opponent's belt (obi) as a primary control point, providing direct access to the opponent's hip line through the sturdy belt material. Belt grips are fundamental in judo, sambo, and Georgian wrestling, where the belt serves as a reliable anchor point that cannot be easily stripped.

Belt gripping has been central to judo since its inception, with the obi (belt) serving as one of the primary grip targets in classical kumi-kata. Georgian wrestling (chidaoba) and sambo traditions particularly emphasise belt grips due to the jacket styles worn in these arts.

Unified MMA: разрешён — Legal — clinching is integral to MMA; IJF: разрешён — Legal — kumi-kata (grip fighting) is fundamental to judo; IBJJF: разрешён — Legal — standing grip fighting and clinch work permitted; IFMA: разрешён — Legal — the clinch is a core element of Muay Thai, clinch dominance is highly…; WBC/Boxing: ограничен — Holding is technically a foul — referee breaks clinch, excessive holding resu…; K: ограничен — 1/GLORY — One attack from clinch allowed, then referee breaks; WAKO: ограничен — Clinch generally broken by referee — limited or no clinch fighting in most fo…; UWW: разрешён — Legal — clinch is fundamental to wrestling, the primary position in Greco-Roman

Оценка опасности 2/10. Low — grip fighting is primarily positional; finger/wrist strain risk

Стандартная цепочка подготовки: Close Distance → Establish Primary Grip → Position the Hips → Apply Pressure.

Стандартные контрприёмы: Pummeling — fight for inside position by swimming arms under opponent's grips / Frame and Push — create distance using forearm frames against the chest or neck / Grip Break — systematically strip the opponent's controlling grips / Posture Up — straighten the spine and drive the hips forward to break clinch control.

Распространённые варианты: Standard variation (primary clinch configuration from the most common entry); Gi variation (adapted with collar and sleeve grips for gi-based grappling); No-gi / MMA variation (modified for no-gi or cage fighting conditions); Offensive variation (configured to set up strikes, takedowns, or submissions f…).

Belt grips are fundamental in judo competition and were the primary grip in many historical wrestling styles.

Основные ошибки, на которые стоит обратить внимание: Gripping the belt loosely — the belt grip must be firm and deep (fingers hooked under the belt) for maximum control / Pulling the belt without moving your feet — the grip creates opportunities that your footwork must exploit / Relying only on belt grips when the opponent defends them effectively — transition to other grip types / Not pulling the belt upward for lifting throws — the upward pull (tsuri) is what makes belt-grip throws distinctive.

Belt Grip также известен как Obi-dori, Obi-Kumi, Belt Control, Georgian Grip, Mawashi Grip.