Jiu-Jitsu Dictionary: 180+ BJJ Terms Explained

Kingz practitioners training Brazilian jiu-jitsu — the language of the mats

Jiu-jitsu has a language all its own — a mix of Portuguese, Japanese, wrestling terms, and mat slang that can leave any beginner lost in their first weeks. This dictionary covers 188 of the most common Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ) terms, grouped by category and written in plain English. Whether you just heard a word across the mat and want to know what it means, or you're studying the art more deeply, use it as your reference. Where we have a full guide on a term, we've linked it so you can go deeper.

Jump to: Culture, People & Slang · Positions · Guards · Submissions · Techniques & Movements · Takedowns · Competition & Scoring · Ranks & Progression · Gear & Uniform

Culture, People & Slang

Absolute Division: An open-weight competition bracket where practitioners of any size compete together, testing technique against size.
Academy: The gym or school where jiu-jitsu is taught and practiced; the community and training home of a practitioner.
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ): A martial art and combat sport focused on ground fighting and submissions, derived from Japanese jujutsu and judo and refined in Brazil by the Gracie family and others.
Coach: An instructor who leads classes and develops students; may be a colored belt or black belt depending on the academy.
Creonte: A term (from a soap-opera character) for someone who disloyally switches teams; increasingly seen as outdated as team-hopping becomes normal.
Drilling: Repeating a technique with a cooperative partner to build muscle memory before using it in live rolling. Read the full guide →
Ego: The instinct to 'win' every roll that stops many beginners from learning; checking your ego is essential to real progress.
Escape: Any technique used to get out of a bad position such as mount, side control, or back control and return to a neutral or better spot.
Flow Rolling: Light, continuous sparring at reduced intensity, focused on movement and transitions rather than winning.
Gassed / Gas Tank: Being out of breath and exhausted; your 'gas tank' is your cardio capacity for a hard round. Read the full guide →
Gentle Art: See 'The Gentle Art' — a common nickname for jiu-jitsu emphasizing leverage over strength.
Gracie Jiu-Jitsu: The style of jiu-jitsu developed and popularized by the Gracie family, emphasizing self-defense and the idea that a smaller person can beat a larger one.
Helio & Carlos Gracie: The brothers credited with adapting Japanese jujutsu into what became Brazilian jiu-jitsu in the early 20th century.
Higher Belt / Upper Belt: A more experienced practitioner (purple belt and above) whose guidance and rolls accelerate a beginner's learning.
Lapel Guard: A family of guards that weaponize the gi lapel, feeding it around the opponent's body to control and off-balance them.
Lay and Pray: Stalling in a dominant position without trying to advance or submit, usually to run out the clock.
Leg Lock: Any submission attacking the joints of the leg — ankle, knee, or hip — an increasingly central part of modern no-gi.
Lineage: The unbroken chain of instructors tracing a practitioner's jiu-jitsu back through their professors to the art's founders.
Mat Time: The cumulative hours spent training; in jiu-jitsu, consistent mat time is the single biggest predictor of progress. Read the full guide →
Oil Check: A crude accidental (or careless) contact during grappling; used jokingly to remind partners to be mindful of hand placement.
Open Mat: An unstructured session where practitioners roll and drill freely without a formal class, often used to work on specific areas.
OSS / Oss: A widely used expression of respect and acknowledgment in jiu-jitsu, said on the mats as a greeting, a yes, or a sign of readiness. Read the full guide →
Professor: The title for a black-belt instructor who leads an academy and awards promotions.
Rickson Gracie: One of the most revered figures in jiu-jitsu history, famous for his technical mastery and undefeated reputation.
Roll / Rolling: Live sparring — full-resistance practice where partners try to pass, sweep, and submit each other within safe limits.
Self-Defense: The practical, real-world application of jiu-jitsu — one of its founding purposes and still central to the Gracie approach.
Slow Roll: A deliberately relaxed, cooperative roll, often between higher belts or as a warm-up.
Smash / Smashing: Slang for dominating a roll with heavy pressure and control.
Smash Pass: An aggressive, pressure-heavy style of passing the guard that relies on weight and control rather than speed.
Spazzing: When an inexperienced or overly tense practitioner uses frantic, uncontrolled strength instead of technique — a common white-belt habit.
Tap / Tap Out: Signaling submission by tapping your partner or the mat, allowing you to concede safely before a choke or joint lock causes harm.
Tap City: Slang for a rough session where you get submitted repeatedly — part of every practitioner's learning.
The Gentle Art: A nickname for jiu-jitsu, reflecting how technique and leverage let a smaller practitioner control a stronger opponent without relying on strength.
Training Partner: The person you drill and roll with; jiu-jitsu can't be learned alone, making good partners essential to progress.
Transition: Moving from one position to another — the connective flow of jiu-jitsu, where much of the sport's opportunity lives.
Vale Tudo: 'Anything goes' — the early no-holds-barred Brazilian fighting format that helped prove jiu-jitsu's effectiveness and shaped modern MMA.
Weight Class: The bracketed divisions used in competition so practitioners face opponents of similar size; they vary slightly by federation. Read the full guide →

Positions

50/50: A leg-entanglement position where both grapplers' legs are symmetrically intertwined, common in modern leg-lock exchanges.
Ashi Garami: A family of leg-entanglement positions (Japanese for 'leg entanglement') used to control a leg and enter leg locks.
Back Control: A dominant position where you are behind your opponent with your chest to their back and both heels hooked inside their thighs, controlling their upper body while attacking chokes. Read the full guide →
Base: Your ability to stay balanced and stable so an opponent can't sweep or off-balance you. Good base is the foundation of every position.
Combat Base: A transitional standing/kneeling position with one knee down and the other foot planted, used to start passing the guard or to defend from the top.
Crucifix: A control position that traps one of the opponent's arms with your legs and the other with your arms, exposing their neck to chokes.
Full Mount: A dominant top position where you sit on your opponent's torso with your knees on the mat, freeing your hands to attack while they carry your weight. Read the full guide →
Half Guard: A position where the bottom player traps one of the top player's legs between their own, used both to defend and to launch sweeps and attacks.
Headquarters (HQ): A neutral passing position with one leg pinning the opponent's leg, from which several guard passes branch.
Knee on Belly: A mobile top control where you place one shin across your opponent's stomach, applying pressure while staying light enough to move and attack.
Mount Escape: Any technique used to get out from under the mount, such as the bridge-and-roll (upa) or the elbow-knee escape. Read the full guide →
North-South: A top control position where you face the opposite direction from your opponent, chest to chest with your head over their hips, used for chokes and transitions.
Reverse Side Control: A side-control variation where you face the opponent's legs instead of their head, useful for transitions and leg attacks.
Side Control: A dominant top position, chest to chest and perpendicular to your opponent, pinning them without using your legs to hold them.
Sprawl (Position): The flattened, hips-down position you land in after stopping a takedown, from which you can attack the front headlock or the back.
Truck: A modern back-attack position, often reached from the turtle, that twists the opponent's lower body to open up back takes and leg attacks.
Turtle: A defensive position on hands and knees, curled up to protect against attacks, often used to recover guard or defend the back.
Twister Side Control: A side-control variation that sets up the twister (a spinal lock) and other attacks, popularized in no-gi.

Guards

Butterfly Guard: A seated open guard where you hook your insteps inside your opponent's thighs, using your legs to elevate and sweep them.
Closed Guard: A guard where your legs wrap around your opponent's waist with your ankles crossed behind them, controlling their posture and setting up attacks. Read the full guide →
Collar-Sleeve Guard: An open guard using a collar grip and a sleeve grip with a foot on the hip or bicep to control posture and set up attacks.
De La Riva Guard: An open guard where you hook one leg around the outside of your opponent's lead leg, controlling their movement and setting up sweeps and back takes.
Deep Half Guard: A half-guard variation played from deep underneath the opponent, using their leg to sweep and get to the top.
Guard: A family of positions where you're on your back or seated and use your legs and hips to control and attack a standing or kneeling opponent. Read the full guide →
K-Guard: A modern open guard where the legs form a 'K' shape, used to enter leglocks and back takes, popular in no-gi grappling. Read the full guide →
Knee Shield: A half-guard frame using the shin across the opponent's midsection to keep distance and prevent pressure.
Lasso Guard: A spider-guard variation where you wrap your shin around the outside of the opponent's arm ('lassoing' it) for extra control.
Open Guard: Any guard where your legs are not locked around the opponent — using feet, shins, and grips to control distance and create sweeps and submissions. Read the full guide →
Quarter Guard: A shallow half guard where you trap only the opponent's foot or ankle between your legs.
Reverse De La Riva: An open guard that hooks inside the opponent's lead leg (opposite of De La Riva), strong for off-balancing and back takes.
Rubber Guard: A flexible closed-guard variation that uses your own leg pulled high with your hand to trap the opponent's posture and open up attacks.
Single-Leg X (SLX): A leg-entanglement guard controlling one of the opponent's legs, strong for sweeps and ankle locks.
Sit-Up Guard: A seated open guard where you post on one hand and control a sleeve or collar, a common starting point for many open guards.
Spider Guard: An open guard using sleeve grips and feet placed on the opponent's biceps to control their arms and create off-balancing angles.
Worm Guard: A modern gi guard created by feeding your opponent's lapel under their leg to control and off-balance them.
X-Guard: A deep open guard played from underneath, wrapping one of the opponent's legs with both of yours in an 'X' to elevate and sweep them.
Z-Guard: A half-guard variation where your bottom knee forms a 'Z' as a frame across the opponent's hips to create space.

Submissions

Americana: A shoulder lock (keylock) that bends the opponent's arm the opposite way from a kimura, typically applied from side control or mount. Read the full guide →
Anaconda Choke: A no-gi front-headlock choke similar to the D'Arce but with the arm threaded from the opposite side, finished with a roll.
Arm Triangle (Kata Gatame): A choke that traps the opponent's own arm against one side of their neck while your shoulder compresses the other.
Armbar (Juji Gatame): A joint lock that hyperextends the elbow by isolating the opponent's arm between your legs and lifting your hips.
Banana Split: A submission/stretch that splits the opponent's legs apart to attack the hip and groin, often from the truck or back.
Baseball Bat Choke: A gi choke using a two-handed grip on the collar (like holding a baseball bat), often applied from side control or knee on belly.
Bicep Slicer: A compression lock that traps the bicep against a limb to create pain and joint pressure on the elbow.
Bow and Arrow Choke: A powerful gi choke from back control using a collar grip and a leg, drawing the opponent like a bow to tighten the choke.
Calf Slicer: A compression lock that traps the calf against your shin or knee, causing pressure on the muscle and knee.
Choke (Shime Waza): Any submission that restricts airflow (air choke) or blood flow (blood choke) to force a tap or, if undefended, unconsciousness.
Clock Choke: A gi choke applied to a turtled opponent using a collar grip while you walk around their head like clock hands.
Cross Collar Choke: A gi choke from guard or mount, gripping deep on both collars and crossing your wrists to compress the carotid arteries.
D'Arce Choke: A no-gi arm-triangle choke threaded under the opponent's near arm and around the neck; also called a Brabo choke.
Estima Lock: A foot lock variation applied from certain passing positions, named after the Estima brothers.
Ezekiel Choke: A choke using the sleeve of your own gi, applied from mount or even from inside someone's guard.
Gogoplata: A choke applied with your shin across the opponent's throat, usually from a high, rubber-guard-style position.
Guillotine: A front headlock choke applied by wrapping your arm under the opponent's chin, often used against a takedown attempt.
Heel Hook: A leg lock that twists the knee by rotating the heel — extremely dangerous and banned in many gi rulesets, legal in advanced no-gi divisions.
Kimura: A shoulder lock using a figure-four grip on the opponent's wrist and arm, bending it behind their back. One of jiu-jitsu's most versatile submissions. Read the full guide →
Kneebar: A joint lock that hyperextends the knee, similar in principle to an armbar but applied to the leg.
Loop Choke: A gi choke that uses a collar grip and a looping motion of the arm to tighten around the opponent's neck, often from front headlock.
North-South Choke: A blood choke applied from the north-south position, wrapping the arm under the opponent's neck.
Omoplata: A shoulder lock applied with your legs instead of your arms, wrapping the opponent's shoulder from the guard. Read the full guide →
Paper Cutter Choke: A gi choke from side control using a collar grip and forearm pressure across the neck.
Peruvian Necktie: A front-headlock submission that combines a choke with your legs draped over the opponent's back for extra pressure.
Rear Naked Choke (Mata Leão): A blood choke applied from back control, wrapping your arm around the opponent's neck without using the gi. Often abbreviated RNC.
Straight Ankle Lock: A foot lock that hyperextends the ankle, one of the first leg locks beginners learn and legal in most rulesets.
Submission: A technique — a choke or a joint lock — that forces your opponent to tap out or risk injury or unconsciousness. The primary way to win in jiu-jitsu. Read the full guide →
Toe Hold: A foot lock that twists the ankle and foot using a figure-four grip on the toes.
Triangle Choke: A blood choke formed with your legs in a triangle around the opponent's neck and one of their arms, cutting off the carotid arteries.
Twister: A spinal-and-neck lock (from wrestling's guillotine) that torques the opponent's upper body, legal only at higher no-gi levels.
Wristlock: A joint lock applied to the wrist, available from a surprising number of positions and legal for most belt levels.

Techniques & Movements

Back Take: Any sequence that moves you to back control, the most dominant position in jiu-jitsu. Read the full guide →
Berimbolo: A modern technique that inverts underneath the opponent, usually from De La Riva guard, to take the back.
Breakfall (Ukemi): A technique for safely absorbing impact when thrown or taken down, spreading the force to avoid injury.
Bridge (Upa): Arching your back and driving your hips upward to create space or escape from bottom positions such as mount.
Frame: Using your arms or legs as rigid structures against an opponent to create space and prevent them from settling their weight.
Granby Roll: A wrestling-based shoulder roll used to recover guard or escape when your back is being exposed.
Grip Fighting: The constant battle for hand and sleeve/collar control that precedes most gi exchanges; winning grips usually wins the exchange.
Guard Pass: Moving from inside your opponent's guard to a dominant position like side control or mount, past their legs.
Hand Fighting: The stand-up equivalent of grip fighting in no-gi, controlling the opponent's wrists and posture to set up attacks. Read the full guide →
Hip Escape: Another name for the shrimp — sliding your hips away to create space and recover guard.
Hook: The insertion of a foot or leg inside the opponent's leg or hip for control — especially the two heels-in hooks of back control.
Inversion: Rolling onto your shoulders and upper back to move your hips and legs, key to many modern open guards and leg entries.
Knee Cut Pass: A common guard pass that slices one knee across the opponent's trapped leg to get past the guard into side control.
Leg Drag: A guard pass that pulls one of the opponent's legs across your body to flatten and control them before settling into side control.
Over-Under Pass: A pressure guard pass with one arm over and one arm under the opponent's legs, used to stack and pass.
Overhook: Wrapping your arm over your opponent's arm to control it, often used to set up submissions from guard.
Posture: Maintaining a strong, upright spine and structure — especially inside someone's guard — to avoid being broken down and submitted.
Pummel: Alternating underhooks in a clinch to fight for the dominant inside position before a takedown.
Scramble: A fast, chaotic exchange where both grapplers fight for position, common when neither has clear control.
Shrimp (Hip Escape): A foundational movement where you push off the mat and slide your hips out to create space and recover guard.
Sit-Out: A wrestling movement used from the turtle or a sprawl to spin free and face your opponent or take the back.
Stack Pass: A guard pass that folds the opponent onto their shoulders by stacking their legs over their head, then coming around to side control. Read the full guide →
Sweep: A technique that reverses position from the bottom, off-balancing your opponent so you end up on top. Read the full guide →
Technical Stand-Up: A safe way to return to your feet from the ground while keeping a hand and posture up to block strikes or takedowns.
Torreando Pass (Bullfighter): A fast, standing guard pass that grips the opponent's pant legs and moves them aside like a bullfighter's cape.
Underhook: Threading your arm under your opponent's arm to control their torso — a key grip for passing, sweeping, and takedowns.
Whizzer: An overhook used to defend a single-leg takedown or to control the opponent's arm in a scramble.

Takedowns

Ankle Pick: A takedown that grabs the opponent's ankle while breaking their posture to drop them to the mat. Read the full guide →
Arm Drag: Pulling the opponent's arm across their body to expose their back, used both standing and on the ground.
Body Lock Takedown: A takedown using a tight grip around the opponent's torso to trip or drag them to the ground.
Collar Tie: A grip on the back of the opponent's neck or collar used in stand-up to control posture and set up takedowns.
Double Leg Takedown: A wrestling takedown where you shoot in and grab both of the opponent's legs, driving them to the mat. Read the full guide →
Duck Under: A takedown entry that ducks under the opponent's arm to get to their back or hips.
Foot Sweep: A judo/wrestling technique that sweeps the opponent's foot as they step, using timing rather than strength.
Osoto Gari: A judo throw ('major outer reap') that sweeps the opponent's leg out from behind while driving them backward.
Pull Guard: To intentionally sit or lie down into guard from standing rather than attempting a takedown, bringing the fight to the ground.
Seoi Nage: A judo shoulder throw that loads the opponent onto your back and flips them over.
Single Leg Takedown: A takedown that attacks one of the opponent's legs, lifting or driving to put them down.
Sprawl: A defensive reaction to a takedown attempt where you throw your legs back and drop your hips to stop the shot.
Takedown: Any technique used to bring a standing opponent to the ground, drawn from wrestling, judo, and jiu-jitsu. Read the full guide →
Uchi Mata: A judo inner-thigh throw that lifts the opponent over your hip and leg.

Competition & Scoring

Advantage: A partial score given for a near-completion of a scoring action, used to break ties when points are even.
Back Control (4 Points): Taking the back with both hooks in scores four points in IBJJF rules. Read the full guide →
Bracket: The tournament chart pairing competitors in a division and mapping the path to the final.
Disqualification (DQ): Losing a match for an illegal technique, banned for the belt level, or a rules violation.
EBI Overtime: A submission-only overtime format (from Eddie Bravo Invitational) that starts each round from back control or spider-web to force a finish.
Gi Check: The pre-match inspection at competition that measures the gi's sleeve, fabric, and color against the federation's standards. Read the full guide →
Guard Pass (3 Points): Passing the opponent's guard to establish side control or better scores three points in IBJJF rules.
Mount (4 Points): Achieving and holding the mount scores four points in IBJJF rules. Read the full guide →
Points: The scoring system in gi competition — awarded for takedowns, sweeps, guard passes, mount, and back control to determine the winner if there's no submission. Read the full guide →
Referee's Decision: A win awarded by the referee when a match ends tied on points and advantages, based on who was more aggressive.
Sub-Only: A competition format with no points — the only way to win is by submission, otherwise the match is a draw or decided by overtime.
Sweep (2 Points): Reversing from bottom guard to a top position scores two points in IBJJF rules. Read the full guide →
Takedown (2 Points): A takedown that puts the opponent on the ground and establishes top control scores two points in IBJJF rules. Read the full guide →

Ranks & Progression

Belt System: Jiu-jitsu's ranking ladder — white, blue, purple, brown, and black for adults, with up to four stripes marking progress within each belt. Read the full guide →
Black Belt: The expert rank, usually taking around ten years of consistent training to earn; beyond it are degrees marked by red bars. Read the full guide →
Blue Belt: The second adult rank, awarded once a practitioner has a solid grasp of fundamentals; also where many people quit, known as the 'blue belt blues.' Read the full guide →
Brown Belt: The rank just below black belt, marked by refined technique and consistency; typically a shorter stage than the earlier belts. Read the full guide →
Coral Belt: A red-and-black belt worn by 7th-degree black belts, representing decades of contribution to the art.
Promotion: The act of a professor awarding a student a new stripe or belt based on skill, knowledge, and time on the mats — it is earned, never bought. Read the full guide →
Purple Belt: The intermediate-to-advanced rank, where a practitioner develops a personal game and can help teach lower belts. Read the full guide →
Red Belt: The highest rank in jiu-jitsu, reserved for 9th- and 10th-degree masters and pioneers of the sport.
Stripe: A small mark (usually tape) added to a belt to show incremental progress between the main belt promotions — up to four per belt. Read the full guide →
White Belt: The beginner rank where every practitioner starts, focused on survival, escapes, and learning the fundamentals. Read the full guide →

Gear & Uniform

A-Size (A0–A6): The sizing system for men's and unisex gis, running from A0 (smallest) upward based on height and build. Read the full guide →
Belt: The rank marker worn with the gi, tied around the waist; its color and stripes show the practitioner's level. Read the full guide →
F-Size: The sizing system for women's gis, cut for a female frame and running F1, F2, F3 and so on.
Gi: The traditional uniform of Brazilian jiu-jitsu, made up of a jacket (kimono), pants, and a belt. Also called a kimono. Read the full guide →
Gi Patch: An embroidered or woven patch on the gi showing the brand, academy, or team affiliation.
Gold Weave: An older gi jacket weave, heavier and thicker than pearl weave, once popular for its durability.
GSM: 'Grams per square meter,' the measure of a gi jacket's fabric density. Lower GSM is lighter and cooler; higher GSM is more durable. Read the full guide →
IBJJF: The International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation, the sport's largest governing body, which sets competition rules, gi standards, and belt requirements.
Kimono: Another name for the gi — the jacket-and-pants uniform worn in gi jiu-jitsu. Read the full guide →
Lapel: The thick collar of the gi jacket, used both to control an opponent and as a tool for a whole family of lapel-based guards and chokes.
M-Size: The sizing system for children's gis (M0, M1, M2…), based on the child's height. Read the full guide →
Mouthguard: A protective device worn to guard the teeth and jaw during hard training and competition.
No-Gi: Grappling without the gi, wearing a rash guard and shorts or spats; relies on body control instead of cloth grips. Read the full guide →
Pearl Weave: The most common gi jacket weave — a balance of durability, light weight, and comfort that has become the modern standard. Read the full guide →
Rank Rash Guard: An IBJJF-legal no-gi top that displays the practitioner's belt rank, required in many no-gi competitions. Read the full guide →
Rash Guard: A snug, moisture-wicking top worn for no-gi training to protect the skin from mat burn and reduce infection risk. Read the full guide →
Ripstop: A lightweight, tear-resistant fabric commonly used for gi pants and lightweight competition gis. Read the full guide →
Spats: Compression leggings worn under shorts or alone for no-gi, protecting the legs from mat burn and improving hygiene. Read the full guide →

Keep learning

Now that you speak the language, put it into practice. Explore the full Kingz Learn hub for step-by-step guides on techniques, gear, belts, and the mindset behind the gentle art — and when you're ready to gear up, browse Kingz gis, rash guards, and belts, worn by world champions and built for daily training.