The four questions and their answers
Every situation asks the same four things. The answers on offer are different in each one, because a guard at range and a grip in the clinch are not the same question in disguise.
The questions
| Intent | What the fighter tries to make happen here — and, because each intent leads somewhere, where that sends them next. |
|---|---|
| Level | How they carry themselves: upright, forward, crouched, low, postured, flat. |
| Hands | Where the hands are. A guard height at distance; a grip in the clinch; frames and guards on the mat. |
| Weight | Where their base is: front foot or back foot standing; hips in or hips back attached; knees, feet or hips heavy on top. |
Stance is not a question
Orthodox, southpaw or switch is a fact about the fighter, not about a situation. It is set once, next to the description, and never asked eight times.
Intents, column by column
The arrow says where the intent tends to lead. ↺ means the fighter is trying to stay where they are.
| Out of range | Pressure → Kicking · Hold range ↺ · Feint ↺ · Reset ↺ |
|---|---|
| Kicking range | Attack directly ↺ · Close → Boxing · Counter ↺ · Exit ← Out of range |
| Boxing range | Attack ↺ · Counter ↺ · Close → Clinch · Exit ← Kicking |
| Clinch | Neutralise ↺ · Damage ↺ · Takedown → Takedown · Break ← Boxing · Wall → Standing grapple |
| Takedown | Shoot → Top · Sprawl → Standing grapple · Counter → Top · Concede → Bottom |
| Standing grapple | Neutralise ↺ · Progress → Top · Damage ↺ · Break ← Boxing |
| Top position | Attack ↺ · Progress ↺ · Submit ↺ · Hold ↺ · Stand up ← Boxing |
| Bottom position | Stand up ← Boxing · Sweep → Top · Submit ↺ · Survive ↺ · Wall walk → Standing grapple |
Level, hands and weight, column by column
| Out of range | Level: upright · bouncing · crouched — Hands: high · mid · low — Weight: front foot · back foot · balanced |
|---|---|
| Kicking range | Level: upright · forward · crouched — Hands: high · mid · low — Weight: front foot · back foot · balanced |
| Boxing range | Level: upright · forward · crouched — Hands: high · tight · shell · long — Weight: front foot · back foot · balanced |
| Clinch | Level: upright · head inside · bent — Hands: collar tie ×1 · collar tie ×2 · underhooks · overhook · bodylock — Weight: hips in · hips back · square |
| Takedown | Level: low · level · upright — Hands: frames · hand-fight · underhook · whizzer — Weight: hips back · hips in · sprawled |
| Standing grapple | Level: upright · bent · low — Hands: underhooks · overhook · bodylock · wrist control — Weight: square · staggered · driving |
| Top position | Level: postured · low · standing over — Hands: wrist control · head control · hips · posting — Weight: knees · feet · hips heavy |
| Bottom position | Level: hips up · flat · on the side — Hands: frames · closed guard · open guard · half guard — Weight: hips active · flat · shrimping |
Every term is explained in place
Nobody is assumed to know what a whizzer or a frame is. Every word the app shows can be hovered for its full name and tapped for a plain-English explanation. If a term on this page is new to you, that is the app's job to fix, not yours.