The first moves you learn in BJJ are the essential skills you take with you at every stage of your grappling journey. Every advanced skill in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is anchored on a solid understanding of the basics.
As you step on the mat, these fundamental techniques you honed will give you a tactical edge—especially if you’re already competing. Mastering these basic BJJ techniques offers a tactical edge, especially in tournaments, where your fundamental skills can decide victory or defeat.
Whether training, competing, or coaching, these techniques will keep you grounded and help you refine your abilities.
In this article, you’ll be guided to study the widely practiced techniques critical for every BJJ learner, regardless of rank. White belts can focus on the most common skills, laying a solid groundwork for their journey, while seasoned BJJ black belts can treat this as a refresher, refining the basics to reinforce mastery and sharpen muscle memory.
The Principles BJJ Students Must Learn
Getting the right angle, creating proper distance, identifying openings, and forming a solid structure are foundational principles of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu that every evolving grappler should keep in mind while training.
- Getting the Right Angle
How you position yourself and adjust your angle directly influences how your opponent perceives your distance and exposed areas. By being mindful of these angles, you can anticipate and gauge potential attacks. Subtle shifts in direction allow you to create an illusion, baiting your opponent into reacting. Based on their response, you can set up another angle or position to gain an advantage. - Getting the Right Distance
Getting into and maintaining the proper distance increases your sensitivity and awareness. When used with proper control of angels, being aware of how near or distant your opponent is saves you from creating openings while minimizing the chances of your opponent capitalizing on them. - Getting Inside Position
Getting inside position means recognizing opportunities to get close, break through your opponent’s guard, or escape from side control. By staying aware of these openings, you can disrupt the balance, counter an attack, or even pass guard and escape control, defending effectively. - Body Structure and Frame
The concept of building a strong structure and frame is often overlooked in BJJ. While challenging at first, practicing correct body alignment benefits students early in their training. Maintaining a stable structure for advanced belts is essential, reinforcing a steady stance that resists any attempts to off-balance or distract.
The First Moves You Learn as a BJJ White Belt
The first moves you learn as a white belt are the backbone of effective grappling, where you employ smooth submissions and inescapable controls. These techniques become second nature, embodying BJJ’s core philosophies of yielding to leverage rather than force—skills that bring you closer to the level of legends like Roger Gracie, who mastered these principles.
These essential techniques include:
- Armbar Submission: Learning the armbar teaches students to identify openings by isolating an opponent’s arm and capitalizing on control for submissions.
- Guard Pass: This move allows you to move past an opponent’s legs to achieve dominance. Learning the guard pass is critical for a BJJ student to understand control and transition to multiple techniques from offense to defense.
- Triangle choke: The triangle choke develops a student’s leverage and improves leg strength to set up effective submission.
- Side Pin: Learning the side pin, known as side control, teaches proper weight distribution and balance, improving offense and defense position. The student understands how important it is to hold an opponent down securely.
- Elbow Escape: Learning the elbow escape teaches moving from a mounted position to a more neutral stance. A white belt learns early on how to create space to shift out of a disadvantaged position.
- Back Mount: The back mount is critical to any beginner learning BJJ because it teaches how to gain back control, which is a dominant position. This basic BJJ move serves as a base for other advanced maneuvers.
Positions and Techniques to Start
Beyond the initial moves that most beginners learn, core concepts in BJJ help build a strong foundation for grappling. With proper positioning and precise techniques, practitioners develop smooth, effective maneuvers.
Common Basic Positions
Countless positions exist in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, but we chose the ones that are beneficial for practicing the basics. This list highlights concepts for top positions, side control, and back mount techniques.
- Closed Guard: Provides numerous set-ups for submission by capitalizing on control and managing space.
- Mount: Provides opportunities for transitioning to dominant positions and attempting submission.
- Side Control: Provides openings for submissions by controlling the position and putting pressure on the opponent’s vulnerable side.
- Sit Out Position: Provides practical escapes transitioning to offensive positions.
- Over Under: Provides the ability to maintain control for passing a guard.
Common Basic Techniques
Proper positioning goes hand in hand with using the right techniques at the right time and with the right opportunities. This list highlights the essential BJJ techniques for practice and continuous improvement. We picked our favorite submissions, guards, and transitions:
Basic Submissions
There are about 77 submissions that are considered legal among BJJ organizations. Here, we will focus on those commonly used and widely practiced among competitors.
- Kimura: A technique that leverages opponent isolation using a shoulder lock while using a figure-four grip to apply pressure.
- Arm Triangle: A choke submission technique that applies pressure to the opponent’s neck using both your arm and theirs.
- Far Side Armbar: An armbar technique where you isolate the opponent’s arm while taking full control of the body to minimize their defense.
Full Guards
The full guard is a versatile and dynamic technique in BJJ, with variations (open and closed guards) that continually evolve. Here are the basics you need to know and practice to develop your skills.
- Single Leg Guard: Believed to be one of the techniques that are difficult to pass, the single leg guard involves crossing one leg over the opponent’s body while extending the other to control distance and then setting up for sweeps, transitions, and submissions.
- Butterfly Guard: The butterfly guard is a powerful position that sets up effective sweeps and transitions to other guards. You use your legs to hook under your opponent’s thighs, setting up lifts and sweeps to control momentum.
- De La Riva: The De La Riva guard, named after its creator, is beginner-friendly yet highly effective for various transitions to other guard techniques, hooks, and sweeps. This stylized variation is often done to transition to a single-leg takedown or full control of your opponent.
Half Guard Positions
The half-guard is a foundational position in BJJ that serves as a gateway to other guard variations, both from the top and bottom. In half-guard, you use one of your legs to trap your opponent’s leg, limiting their movement and control. This position can be highly effective for transitioning to other guard positions or setting up escapes like shrimping, bridging, or rolling.
- Standard Half Guard: A versatile position where one of your legs entangles an opponent’s leg, keeping you close for sweeps or transitions.
- Lockdown Half Guard: An advanced half guard variation, locking your opponent’s leg to control their movement and set up sweeps.
Basic Transition Techniques
Next, we’ll cover transitions to round out your knowledge of basic BJJ techniques. Transitions are essential movements that every grappler, regardless of skill level, should include in their arsenal. Here are two common transitions to focus on:
- Back to Side Control: A smooth transition focusing on maintaining control while shifting from back to a more dominant side position.
- Mount to Side Control: Shifting from mount to side control secures a stable position, providing a base for submissions.
- Submissions from Mount
Submissions from the mount position are powerful techniques that put you in a dominant position, significantly limiting your opponent’s options. Maintaining maximum control is essential to minimize the chances of their escape, setting up a strong finish.
CONCLUSION
“Jiu-Jitsu is about having a strong foundation. Once you have a solid base, you can build upon it,” says Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu legend Rickson Gracie. You don’t need to memorize every technique to be effective; mastering the basics is the key to reaching expert-level skill. True brilliance in Jiu-Jitsu lies in a deep understanding of the fundamentals.
