Lines (Shoulders and Hips)
Introduction
To apply any technique (what we call tools) it is first necessary to position yourself correctly in relation to your opponent. This positioning is not random; it depends on a biomechanical reading of both your own body and your opponent's.
Based on this idea, we developed ways to interpret the body and its movements. The first one involves analyzing the hip line and the shoulder/head line, which are essential for understanding control and dominance during combat.
🔧 Hip line: the engine of the body
The hip represents the center of the body, separating the upper and lower limbs. Because it is one of the body's most mobile joints, it allows flexion, extension, abduction, adduction, and rotation, functioning as the engine of nearly all movement.
Controlling your opponent's hips (through space filling and weight distribution) is essential for limiting their mobility. Likewise, protecting your own hip line is key to maintaining your freedom of movement.
This principle applies to all stations of combat.
Visualizing the hip line
Imagine a line that runs across the hips from one side to the other (both in the front and in the back). That line defines the transition point between stability and vulnerability.
Practical examples:
- To immobilize the opponent: you must first surpass the legs (guard pass) and then fill the opponent's hip line with your trunk, arm, or shin, preventing movement. From there, you can progress toward the shoulder/head line.
- For the one being immobilized: creating space along the hip line allows movement for guard recovery or submission attempts.
- When playing guard: controlling the opponent's hips lets you manipulate the entire body and access their central point of balance.
Thus, the hips function as a checkpoint (a constant reference for attention and control).
🧭 Shoulder and head line: the rudder of the body
If the hips are the engine, the head is the rudder, guiding direction and rhythm. Whoever controls the head usually controls the rest of the body.
Likewise, for controlling the shoulders, an underhook serves as a "window" to the back of the body, allowing you to isolate the opponent's arms and redirect their body axis.
However, to reach this level of control, you must first overcome the previous lines (feet → legs → hips).
Control over the shoulders and head represents reaching the "command base" (as in a battle, it is equivalent to taking over the opponent's headquarters).
Relationship between the lines
The body's lines should be seen as progressive stages of dominance. Each line you surpass opens access to the next:
feet → legs → hips → shoulders/head
Understanding and controlling these lines means understanding the structural logic of Jiu-Jitsu itself:
- Create space when in a defensive position.
- Fill space when pursuing dominance.
Reading the body this way transforms movement into strategy.
Conclusion
The hip and shoulder/head lines form the fundamental axes of body reading.
Hip control provides mechanical control, while shoulder and head control offer direction and command.
Knowing when to fill or release these lines is what separates a technical fighter from an instinctive one.
"He who controls the hips controls movement. He who controls the head controls the fight."