BJJ terms for beginners: the only glossary you need

Guard means legs.

Not literally. But close enough for your first week. "Pull guard" means get on your back and use your legs. "Pass the guard" means get past those legs. Half the BJJ terms you will hear are variations of what someone is doing with their legs.

Your first class will sound like a foreign language. By week three, you will be using these words without thinking. But here is the thing — nobody expects you to memorise a glossary before showing up. This is just a reference for when you hear something and think, "What?"

BJJ positions explained

These are the places you will find yourself on the mat. Every roll is a fight for position.

Guard. You are on your back with your opponent between your legs. In BJJ, this is not a bad place to be. You have attacks from here. Closed guard means your legs are locked around them. Open guard means they are not. Half guard means one leg is entangled with theirs.

Mount. You are sitting on your opponent's chest. Dominant if you are on top. Urgent if you are on bottom.

Side control. You are chest-to-chest, perpendicular to your opponent, and they cannot use their legs. Heavy, suffocating, controlling.

Back control. You are behind your opponent with your feet hooked inside their thighs. The most dominant position in BJJ. They cannot see what you are doing.

Turtle. On all fours, protecting your neck. Defensive and temporary. You do not want to stay here.

BJJ terms for actions and movements

These are the verbs of jiu-jitsu. What you do from those positions.

Rolling. Sparring. Live practice against a resisting partner. "Want to roll?" means "want to spar?" This is not fighting. It is problem-solving at speed.

Drilling. Practising a technique repeatedly with a cooperative partner. No resistance. Just repetition. Building muscle memory.

Tapping. Submitting. You tap your partner, the mat, or say "tap" to signal you give up. They let go immediately. Tapping is not losing. It is how you train safely for decades.

Passing. Moving past your opponent's guard to reach side control or mount. Half the game is getting past those legs.

Sweeping. Reversing from bottom to top. If someone is in your guard and you flip them, that is a sweep.

Pulling guard. Deliberately going to your back and bringing your opponent into your guard. A strategic choice, not a mistake.

Bridging. Pushing your hips upward explosively from your back. Creates space. Escapes mount.

Shrimping. Moving your hips sideways while on your back. The most fundamental BJJ movement. You will drill this until you dream about it.

BJJ submissions you will hear about

These are the techniques that end a roll. Someone taps, and you start again.

Armbar. Hyperextending the elbow by controlling the arm between your legs and applying pressure against the joint. You will learn this early. It is one of the first submissions most beginners drill.

Triangle. A choke using your legs around your opponent's neck and one arm. Squeezes the blood supply to the brain. Effective from guard, which makes it a favourite for people who fight off their back.

Rear naked choke. A choke from behind using your arm. "Rear" means from behind. "Naked" means without the gi. The most reliable finishing technique in BJJ and mixed martial arts.

Guillotine. A front headlock choke. Arm around the neck from the front, squeeze. Common when someone shoots a sloppy takedown.

Kimura. A shoulder lock. You grip their wrist and rotate the arm behind their back. Named after Masahiko Kimura, the judoka who used it to defeat Helio Gracie in 1951.

Americana. Similar to the kimura but rotating in the opposite direction. Usually applied from mount or side control. Often one of the very first submissions taught to beginners.

Ezekiel choke. A choke using your sleeve (in gi) or your fist (in no-gi) to compress the throat. Can be applied from mount, inside guard, or even from bottom. Sneaky and surprisingly effective.

Omoplata. A shoulder lock applied using your legs. You trap the opponent's arm with your leg and rotate to apply pressure. Looks complicated. Feels intuitive once you drill it a few times.

Gym and class terms decoded

The culture has its own vocabulary too.

Open mat. Unstructured training time. No instruction. Show up and roll with whoever is there. Great for extra practice once you are a few months in.

Professor. The head instructor. Black belt instructors in BJJ are traditionally called "professor." Never "sensei" — that is Japanese. BJJ is Brazilian.

Coach. Also used for instructors, especially at less formal academies. Both "professor" and "coach" are perfectly fine.

Academy. Another word for a BJJ gym. Used interchangeably.

Lineage. Your coach's coach's coach, traced back to the founders of BJJ. Lineage indicates legitimacy. It matters.

Belt system. White, blue, purple, brown, black. Kids have additional colours. Promotions happen based on time, knowledge, and mat performance. There is no written test.

Gear terms worth knowing

These are the things you wear or carry. Nothing complicated, but knowing the names helps.

Gi. The traditional uniform — jacket, pants, belt. Pronounced "gee" with a hard G. Grips on the gi fabric are a huge part of the game. Your coach will tell you when to buy one. Do not rush.

No-gi. Training without the gi, in a rash guard and shorts. Faster, more slippery. Different grips, different game. If you are unsure which to start with, this breakdown of gi vs no-gi covers it.

Rash guard. A tight-fitting athletic shirt. Worn under the gi or as your top for no-gi. Prevents mat burn and limits skin contact. You can pick one up from most sports shops for $30 to $50.

Spats. Compression tights. Worn under gi pants or for no-gi. Optional but practical.

Mouth guard. Not mandatory at every gym, but smart. Accidental knees and elbows happen. A basic boil-and-bite guard costs $15 and saves you a dental bill.

Tape. Athletic finger tape. You will see experienced grapplers with taped fingers. Gi gripping wears on the joints over time. You will not need this for months, but now you know why people look like they have bandaged hands.

Things the coach will say

"Oss." A general greeting or acknowledgement borrowed from Japanese martial arts. Some gyms say it constantly. Others never. Do not overthink it.

"Flow." Roll lightly. Focus on technique, not strength. Usually said when a bigger person is paired with a smaller one.

"Reset." Return to the starting position and repeat.

"Tap early." Submit before a lock or choke is fully applied. This is safety advice. Not a suggestion.

"Work from here." Start sparring from a specific position instead of standing. Positional sparring. The coach is trying to get you repetitions from a position you need to improve.

"Don't muscle it." Use technique, not strength. You will hear this a lot as a beginner. Everyone tries to power through at first.

Advanced BJJ terms you will pick up later

You will not hear these in week one. But by month three, they will start appearing.

De La Riva. An open guard where you hook your foot around the outside of your opponent's lead leg. Named after Ricardo de la Riva, the Brazilian who popularised it. There are entire systems built around this position.

Berimbolo. A spinning back-take from De La Riva guard. Looks chaotic. Requires a specific kind of hip flexibility and timing that takes months to develop.

Worm guard. A lapel-based guard where you feed the opponent's gi lapel around their leg and use it as a control point. Modern competition jiu-jitsu. You will see it on YouTube long before you try it.

Leg locks. Submissions targeting the knee, ankle, or heel. Heel hooks, knee bars, toe holds. Some gyms introduce these early. Others save them for advanced students. Either approach is valid, but ask your coach about the gym's policy.

Inversion. Going upside down to recover guard or attack. Common in modern BJJ. Your neck will tell you when you are ready for this.

Etiquette terms you should know before class one

Bowing on the mat. Many gyms bow when stepping onto and off the mat. It is a sign of respect for the training space. Watch what others do and follow along.

Slap and bump. Before a roll, you and your partner slap hands and fist bump. It means "let's go, I respect you, let's keep each other safe." You will do this hundreds of times.

Lining up by belt. At the start or end of class, students line up in belt order — white belts on one end, higher belts on the other. Just find your spot and stand still.

You do not need to know all of this yet

Bookmark this page. Come back when you hear something unfamiliar. After a few weeks on the mat, most of these terms will feel obvious.

If you are about to walk into your first class, here is what that experience actually looks like — from what to wear to what happens when you get there.

Ready to find a gym? Browse BJJ academies in NSW and check class schedules, beginner programs, and gi vs no-gi options.