Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ) does not have an established canon (formalized set of techniques), with significant regional variation seen in both application and naming. Brazilian jiu jitsu initially consisted of judo katame-waza (newaza) techniques, but has since evolved to encompass a far greater variety by absorbing techniques from amateur wrestling, catch wrestling, sambo, and Japanese jujitsu (not to be confused with Brazilian jiu jitsu). Due to its status as an eclectic martial art, much controversy surrounds the renaming of techniques derived from other martial arts. Many of these martial arts including Brazilian jiu jitsu's parent art of judo, was itself a collection of adopted techniques from other older forms of martial arts before developing unique techniques. In recent times however, technical innovations exclusive to Brazilian jiu jitsu (e.g. worm guard, inverted guard) have been developed, setting it apart from its predecessors.
Unlike its direct predecessor judo, which categorizes techniques on the basis of mechanism, Brazilian jiu jitsu techniques are frequently eponyms, which leads to confusion among practitioners. Examples include:
Below is a partial list of techniques categorized by type.
(not to be confused with foot sweeps which are standing techniques)
Brazilian jiu-jitsu is a self-defence martial art and combat sport based on grappling, ground fighting, and submission holds. BJJ focuses on taking one's opponent down to the ground, gaining a dominant position, and using a number of techniques to force them into submission via joint locks, chokeholds, or compression locks.
Masahiko Kimura was a Japanese judoka and professional wrestler who is widely considered the greatest judoka of all time. He won the All-Japan Judo Championships three times in a row for the first time in history and had never lost a judo match from 1936 to 1950. In submission grappling, the reverse ude-garami arm lock is often called the "Kimura", due to his famous victory over Gracie jiu-jitsu co-founder Hélio Gracie. In the Japanese professional wrestling world, he is known for being one of Japan's earliest stars and the controversial match he had with Rikidōzan.
The guard is a ground grappling position in which one combatant has their back to the ground while attempting to control the other combatant using their legs. In pure grappling combat sports, the guard is considered an advantageous position, because the bottom combatant can attack with various joint locks and chokeholds, while the top combatant's priority is the transition into a more dominant position, a process known as passing the guard. In the sport of mixed martial arts, as well as hand-to-hand combat in general, it is possible to effectively strike from the top in the guard, even though the bottom combatant exerts some control. There are various types of guard, with their own advantages and disadvantages.
Hidehiko Yoshida is a Japanese gold-medalist judoka and retired mixed martial artist. He is a longtime veteran of Japan's PRIDE Fighting Championships, competing in the Middleweight (93kg) and Heavyweight divisions. He won gold at the 1992 Summer Olympic Games at –78 kg. Yoshida also had two famous fights with MMA pioneer Royce Gracie that resulted in a no-contest and a time-limit draw.
Hélio Gracie was a Brazilian martial artist who together with his brothers Oswaldo, Gastao Jr, George and Carlos Gracie founded and developed the self-defense martial art system of Gracie jiu-jitsu, also known as Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ).
A triangle choke, or sankaku-jime (三角絞) in judo, is a type of figure-four chokehold that encircles the opponent's neck and one arm with the legs in a configuration similar to the shape of a triangle. Applying pressure using both legs and the opponent's own shoulder, the technique is a type of lateral vascular restraint that constricts the blood flow from the carotid arteries to the brain, potentially resulting in loss of consciousness in seconds when applied correctly. Recent studies have shown that the triangle choke takes an average of 9.5 seconds to render an opponent unconscious from the moment it is properly applied.
An armlock in grappling is a single or double joint lock that hyperextends, hyperflexes or hyperrotates the elbow joint or shoulder joint. An armpit lock is very useful, it will immobilize your opponent and pin them on the ground. An armlock that hyper-extends the elbow is known as an armbar, and it includes the traditional armbar, the shoulder triangle armbar, and the shotgun armbar. An armlock that hyper-rotates the arm is known as an armcoil, and includes the americana, kimura, and omaplata. Depending on the joint flexibility of a person, armcoils can either hyper-rotate only the shoulder joint, only the elbow joint, or both the elbow joint and shoulder joint.
The mount, or mounted position, is a dominant ground grappling position, where one combatant sits on the other combatants torso with the face pointing towards the opponent's head. This is a favorable position for the top combatant in several ways. The top combatant can generate considerable momentum for strikes to the head of the opponent, while the bottom combatant is restricted by the ground and by the combatant on top. Other advantages include various chokeholds and joint locks that can be applied from the top. The bottom combatant will usually look to sweep the opponent or transition into a better position such as the guard.
A leglock is a joint lock that is directed at joints of the leg such as the ankle, knee or hip joint. A leglock which is directed at joints in the foot is sometimes referred to as a foot lock and a lock at the hip as a hip lock. Leglocks are featured, with various levels of restrictions, in combat sports and martial arts such as Sambo, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, catch wrestling, mixed martial arts, Shootwrestling and submission wrestling, but are banned in some sports featuring joint locks such as judo. The technique has been seen across a wide range of different combat sports and is reportedly over 2,500 years old, having been seen in the lost art of Pankration in the original Olympic Games.
A grappling hold, commonly referred to simply as a hold that in Japanese is referred to as katame-waza, is any specific grappling, wrestling, judo, or other martial art grip that is applied to an opponent. Grappling holds are used principally to control the opponent and to advance in points or positioning. The holds may be categorized by their function, such as clinching, pinning, or submission, while others can be classified by their anatomical effect: chokehold, headlock, joint-lock, or compression lock. Multiple categories may be appropriate for some of these holds.
In martial arts, a throw is a grappling technique that involves off-balancing or lifting an opponent, and throwing them to the ground, in Japanese martial arts referred to as nage-waza, 投げ技, "throwing technique". Throws are a subset of takedown (grappling). Certain throwing techniques called sacrifice throws involve putting oneself in a potentially disadvantageous position, such as on the ground, in order to execute a throw.
Katame no Kata is one of the two Randori-no-kata of Kodokan Judo. It is intended as an illustration of the various concepts of katame-waza that exist in judo, and is used both as a training method and as a demonstration of understanding.
Sode guruma jime (袖車絞め) is a type of Judo chokehold (shime-waza), which compresses the opponent’s trachea or the carotid arteries.
Yoseikan Aikido is the aikido taught at the Yoseikan Dojo in Shizuoka, Japan, under the direction of Minoru Mochizuki.
Remco Pardoel is a retired Dutch mixed martial artist. He competed in the heavyweight division. He has fought in promotions such as the UFC, Shooto and Pancrase. He was a junior national champion in Judo in 1988, and a competitive BJJ grappler. He made his MMA debut at UFC 2, eventually losing to Royce Gracie. Over the course of his career he fought Vernon White, Minoru Suzuki, and Marco Ruas.
The fight between Japanese judoka Masahiko Kimura and Brazilian jiu-jitsu founder Hélio Gracie was held at the Maracanã Stadium in Rio de Janeiro on October 23, 1951. It was held as a special challenge, with no titles on the line: Gracie was the self-proclaimed national jiu-jitsu champion, seen as a regular judo 6th dan by Kimura, while Kimura himself was coming from a career in professional wrestling and teaching of judo. The result of the fight was a victory for Kimura by technical submission.
Koji Komuro is a Japanese judoka and amateur mixed martial arts fighter.