Glossary of Terms

Below is an alphabetized list of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu terms, words, and phrases you’re likely to encounter on the mats. We’ve also created lists of the common BJJ Positions and Submissions, complete with pictures, descriptions, and our favorite video resources, almost all of which you can watch for free!

Americana – A common submission in BJJ. Click the link to find out more.

Arm Triangle Choke – A common submission in BJJ. Click the link to find out more.

Armbar – A common submission in BJJ. Click the link to find out more.

Ashi Garami – A common position in BJJ, especially No-Gi. This is the starting point for many leg-lock submissions.

B

Back Mount – A common position in BJJ. Click the link to find out more.

Bow and Arrow Choke – A common submission in BJJ. Click the link to find out more.

Bridging – This is a very important movement in Jiu-Jitsu. In this movement, the person is laying on their back with their feet planted on the mat as close to their butt as they can get them. They will then elevate their hips and spine by pushing off the mat with their legs and engaging most of the muscles in their legs and core. When done properly, the only parts of the body that are touching the mat are their toes and the tops of their shoulder (or sometimes the top of the head!), and their body will be arched and shaped like an upside-down “U”. This shape is extremely strong and can support a tremendous amount of weight without collapsing, which is why so many bridge supports are engineered using this shape.

Butterfly Guard – A common position in BJJ. Click the link to find out more.

D

D’Arce Choke – A common submission in BJJ. Click the link to find out more.

De La Riva – A common position in BJJ. Click the link to find out more.

E

F

Full Guard – A common position in BJJ. Click the link to find out more.

Full Mount – A common position in BJJ. Click the link to find out more.

G

Gi- The traditional (and sturdy!) attire for Brazilian Jiu-jitsu. The outfit is comprised of long pants and a long-sleeved top that is open down the front but crossed across the front of the body and secured with a colored belt to indicate your rank in the sport. During a match, the opponents will grip each other’s Gi to gain leverage or control over the other person. For this reason, a low-quality gi will quickly break down under the strain.

Guard Pass – A move or set of moves that allows one opponent to advance into a superior position out of another opponents guard. There are many types of guards, most of which involve controlling an opponent with your legs. A guard is considered passed when one opponent disentangles themselves from the legs of the other and secures a new dominant position above the opponent’s legs.

H

Half Guard – A common position in BJJ. Click the link to find out more.

Heel Hook – A common submission in BJJ. Click the link to find out more.

Hooks – (Not to be confused with Overhook or Underhook). Most often used as another word for feet. When a coach says “Get your hooks in!”, this usually means to make sure your feet are hooked around an opponent’s legs or hips for control.

I

J

K

Kesa Getame – A common position in BJJ. Click the link to find out more.

Kimura – A common submission in BJJ. Click the link to find out more.

Knee on Belly – A common position in BJJ. Click the link to find out more.

Kneebar – A common submission in BJJ. Click the link to find out more.

L

Lasso Guard – A common position in BJJ. Click the link to find out more.

M

N

No-Gi – A type of Jiu-Jitsu where the opponents are not wearing a Gi. In this style, neither opponent is allowed to use the fabric on the opponent for any kind of control or submission.

North-South – A common position in BJJ. Click the link to find out more.

Nutella – Renzo Gracie claimed nutella was not real chocolate, and he only like real chocolate. This term has come to describe somebody that is soft and not considered a real representation of their belt. A nutella blackbelt, for example, is one that does not deserve the belt and may have been promoted prematurely.

O

Omoplata – A common submission in BJJ. Click the link to find out more.

Oss – Sometimes “Ossu” is most frequently used as a form of congratulations or agreement in BJJ. It is also frequently used as a form of encouragement for somebody who is showing a lot of heart on the mat when under intense pressure.

Overhook – (See also: Underhook) A type of arm control where the attacker wraps their arm over and around the defenders arm. The attacker will have the defender’s shoulder in their armpit.

P

Position – The key to BJJ is controlling the opponent, and control starts with the relative position of both opponents. Click the link for a list of the most common positions in Jiu-Jitsu. Mastery of these positions should be the highest priority for any student.

Porrada – Literally translated as “beating” or “brawling”, this word is most often used to mean training as hard as you can. This style of training requires you to go hard for every single roll. See also Nutella.

Q

R

Rear Naked Choke – A common submission in BJJ. Click the link to find out more.

Reverse De La Riva – Sometimes called “kiss of the dragon”, this position is as it sounds, a reversal of the control points of De La Riva guard. Originally this guard was created as a response to the knee-cut guard pass, it is now a position that many grapplers actively seek to get to.

Rolling – The act of grappling with another person in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. If you watch two experienced grapplers, their fluid movement and positional transitions resemble a ball rolling across the floor.

S

Shrimping – (Sometimes call Snakey Move or Hip Escape), this is one of the most critical movements in BJJ. The purpose of this movement is to quickly and efficiently move the hips away from the opponent in order to evade a negative position, create space, or affect the balance of the opponent. To do this move, the person typically begins by laying on their side on the mat. In one fluid motion, they lift their hips off the mat by supporting their weight on their foot and shoulder and they scoot their hips backward by straightening their legs.

Side Mount – A common position in BJJ. Click the link to find out more.

Spider Guard – A common position in BJJ. Click the link to find out more.

Straight Ankle Lock – A common submission in BJJ. Click the link to find out more.

Submission – A way to defeat an opponent. In a submission, the attacker has created a painful situation that the defender can not escape and so must tap out in order to prevent injury. Click the link for a list of the most common submissions in BJJ.

Sweep – This is an attack or movement that transitions somebody that is in a weaker position into a more dominant position. For example, if an attacking player has somebody in their Full Guard, and they are able to roll the defending person over into a less neutral or less dominant position such as Full Mount, the attacking person has executed a sweep. In tournament scoring, a player will typically have to hold the new, dominant position for a certain amount of time (usually 3 seconds) before points for the sweep will be awarded.

T

Tap/Tapping Out – The act of submitting to an opponent’s submission attempt. In old times, a person would yell “Uncle” when they had had enough pain. Today, a person can tap out by tapping their hand on their opponent or on the mat. They can also tap the mat with their foot or yell “TAP!” if their hands are not easily available.

Tips/Stripes – A measure of rank within a certain belt class. For all adult ranks below black belt, there are four sub-ranks (called degrees) which are donated by white stripes on the belt. For example, a 3-striped or 3rd-degree blue belt will have three white stripes on one end of their belt. Once a person has accumulated four stripes, they can expect a rank promotion in their near future.

Triangle Choke – A common submission in BJJ. Click the link to find out more.

Turtle Position – A common position in BJJ. Click the link to find out more.

U

Uke – The demonstration dummy. If your coach is deomstrating a move on somebody in class, then that person is the Uke.

Underhook – (See also: Overhook) Underhook is a type of arm control where an attacker wraps their arm underneath a defender’s arm and either reaches around the defender’s back or reaches up to grab their shoulder. In this position, the attacker’s shoulder is usually under the defender’s armpit.

V

W

Wristlock – A common submission in Jiu Jitsu where the wrist of your opponent is bent or twisted to the point of submission. Many gyms avoid teaching this submission, and it is often seen as a “dirty” submission. In most rulesets, white belts cannot attack the wrist due to risks of injury to their opponent. When attacking the wrist, you’ll often hear the term “prison rules” which means that dirty or mean submissions are open.

X

X-Guard –  A common position in BJJ. (More info coming soon)

Y

Z