--- title: Principle 1 — Get your back on the floor description: The first of three overarching principles for defending front headlock and turtle. Verbatim from Volume 01. section: body tags: [bjj, principle, front-headlock, turtle, back-to-floor] genre: reference stability: stable lastUpdated: 2026-04-18 url: https://fardiniqbal.com/docs/body/mat/principles/back-to-floor --- **Source:** Volume 01, §5.1 —   ([full transcript](/docs/body/mat/sources/only-way-out/volume-01#51-principle-1--get-your-back-on-the-floor)) *** ## Verbatim from the transcript [#verbatim-from-the-transcript] I mentioned it before, but the idea of **putting your back on the floor** is a very jiu-jitsu approach to managing this problem. When it comes to integrating your defense from front headlock and turtle with the rest of your jiu-jitsu, one of the best things you can learn is to put your back on the floor whenever you're facing someone in front headlock and turtle position. The reason is simple: **we would always much rather have someone in a top pin — believe it or not — or facing our frames than having chest-to-back contact.** There's just so much risk of strangle, improved position, and pressure whenever someone is floating around off to the side in turtle, or in front of you in front headlock. So a big part of what we'll do involves **getting your back to the floor**. The idea is that, even if you're in a situation where you're not yet sure of the technical means to accomplish your goal, you still have this idea in mind: *if you're in trouble, getting your back to the floor is usually a good idea*. Even if your guard is not amazing, even if you end up in something like a **cradle** (which we'll talk about shortly), it's still a better position in so many ways than front headlock or turtle. > **Caveat:** There are some positions where if you just try to put your back on the floor, you're leaving your neck vulnerable or leaving yourself susceptible to other attacks. So we do want this principle partnered with **grip fighting** (next section). But generally speaking — if he's in front headlock and I can manage to get my back to the floor *even if he doesn't unlock his hands, even if he keeps his grips* — once my back is on the mat, my ability to create Kuzushi and off-balance is greatly improved. Even if I go to step up and he switches to a **cradle position**, locking his hands, when I move from that position to one where my back (or in that case, my side) is on the ground, we're able to: * Create space between ourselves and our partner. * Use our arm as a frame. * Use our leg to form a connection. * Extend our head and take it away from our partner. All of those things become available once you're on the ground. That's one method (sitting back). Another is **rolling** — he's in front headlock, I separate his hands, switch from him being in front to being on the side, and we put our back on the floor via a rolling method. That's also a good way of doing it. > \[!PRINCIPLE] **Back to the floor** > When in doubt, get your back to the floor. It forms a through-line to the rest of your jiu-jitsu — half guard, closed guard, butterfly guard — whichever you prefer to play. Even before you know the specific technique, this gives you a **general sense of direction** when things go wrong. *** ## Connections [#connections] * **Partnered with:** [Fight for inside position](/docs/body/mat/principles/inside-position). Glick's caveat: if you try to put your back on the floor without controlling grips, you leave your neck exposed. * **Enabled by the skills:** [The shoulder roll](/docs/body/mat/skills/shoulder-roll) is the primary method for getting here from front headlock. [Standing up](/docs/body/mat/skills/standing-up) is the alternative when rolling isn't available — you still end up creating the separation that lets you put your back down. * **Through-line to the rest of jiu-jitsu:** once your back is on the mat, you're in half guard, closed guard, butterfly guard, or any other bottom game you already play. This is why Glick calls it the "general sense of direction when things go wrong."