20 techniques documented
TECHNIQUES
The Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Bible technique library. Each entry covers mechanics, key points, common mistakes, and drills with references to the practitioners who mastered the technique.
ARMBAR FROM CLOSED GUARD
Armlock da Guarda Fechada
The armbar from closed guard is the canonical submission of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu — the first weapon a white belt is handed and the technique that, even decades i…
TRIANGLE FROM CLOSED GUARD
Triângulo da Guarda Fechada
The triangle choke from closed guard is jiu jitsu's most recognizable strangle and one of its most lethal. Inherited from the judo sankaku-jime, it took its mod…
KIMURA FROM CLOSED GUARD
Kimura da Guarda Fechada
The kimura is a shoulder lock executed via a figure-four grip on the opponent's wrist, named after the great Japanese judoka Masahiko Kimura, who broke Helio Gr…
HIP BUMP SWEEP
Raspagem de Quadril
The hip bump sweep is the simplest reversal in the closed-guard playbook and one of the most consequential, because nearly every other closed-guard sweep and su…
PENDULUM SWEEP
Raspagem de Pêndulo
The pendulum sweep, known in Portuguese as raspagem da flor, is the closed guard's answer to an opponent who plants their hands on the mat or on the hips to bas…
SCISSOR SWEEP
Raspagem de Tesoura
The scissor sweep is the highest-percentage gi sweep at white and blue belt and a technique that survives unchanged into the black-belt game because it solves a…
KNEE CUT PASS
Passagem de Joelho Cortado
The knee cut pass is the single most-used guard pass at every level of modern competitive jiu jitsu. It works in the gi and no-gi, it functions against beginner…
TORREANDO PASS
Passagem Toreador
The torreando, or bullfighter pass, is the speed-and-angle answer to open guard. Named for the matador's pass-and-step around the bull's horns, the technique us…
HIP ESCAPE (SHRIMP)
Fuga de Quadril
The hip escape, known in Portuguese as fuga de quadril, is the most fundamental movement in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and the first thing a competent instructor teach…
TECHNICAL STAND-UP
Levantada Técnica
The technical stand-up is the safest way to return to feet from any seated or supine position in jiu jitsu, and it is the defining self-defense movement of the …
OMOPLATA
Omoplata
The omoplata is a shoulder lock executed by isolating one of the opponent's arms with the legs, swinging the same-side leg over the opponent's back, and finishi…
AMERICANA
Americana
The americana is a shoulder lock executed via a figure-four grip on the opponent's wrist with the elbow bent at 90 degrees, the wrist driven toward the mat, and…
EZEKIEL CHOKE
Estrangulamento Ezequiel
The ezekiel choke, known in Japanese as sode guruma jime (sleeve wheel choke), is a gi-based strangulation that uses the attacker's own sleeve as the anchor of …
CROSS-COLLAR CHOKE FROM MOUNT
Estrangulamento Cruzado de Gola da Montada
The cross-collar choke from mount is the canonical mount submission of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and the first technique taught in nearly every Gracie self-defense cu…
BERIMBOLO
Berimbolo
The berimbolo is the inverted back-take technique that defined a generation of competitive jiu jitsu. Developed inside the Mendes brothers' academy in São Paulo…
SINGLE-LEG TAKEDOWN
Queda de Uma Perna
The single-leg takedown is the most-used wrestling-derived takedown in modern Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and the takedown that defines the standing exchange in both gi…
DOUBLE-LEG TAKEDOWN
Queda de Duas Pernas
The double-leg takedown is the highest-percentage takedown in collegiate wrestling and a foundational standing technique in modern jiu jitsu. Where the single-l…
UPA ESCAPE (BRIDGE AND ROLL)
Upa (Fuga da Montada)
The upa, called bridge-and-roll in English, is the first escape every white belt learns and one of the two universal answers to being mounted (the other being t…
BUTTERFLY SWEEP
Raspagem da Borboleta
The butterfly sweep is the canonical reversal from butterfly guard and the technique that defines the seated open-guard game in modern no-gi competition. By hoo…
OLD-SCHOOL SWEEP
Raspagem Old-School
The old-school sweep is the signature reversal from half guard and the technique most responsible for converting half guard from a defeated position into one of…