The rare side wins: lateral biases and the negative frequency-dependent advantage in half-guard passing in Brazilian jiu-jitsu

Abstract

This study examined the negative frequency-dependent advantage with a specific focus on half-guard passing in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, a grappling-based martial art that emphasizes ground techniques. We analyzed video footage of Brazilian jiu-jitsu competitions, focusing on half-guard situations, in which guarders (bottom players) entangle one of their opponent’s legs while passers (top players) attempt to disentangle the guard to establish dominant control. Both guarders and passers exhibited lateral preferences: guarders were more likely to entangle their opponent’s right leg, while passers predominantly passed to their left (i.e., the direction opposite to the entangled leg). Moreover, guard passes initiated to the right were more successful in terms of scoring the point (36.70%) compared to those initiated to the left (19.67%). As the attacks to the less common side (i.e., right) were associated with greater success in Brazilian jiu-jitsu competitions, these findings can be taken as evidence for the negative frequency-dependent advantage of lateralized behaviour in real-world combat scenarios.