From the mats
Articles
Your jiu jitsu knowledge hub — the Portuguese on the mats, the rules of the sport, the legends, and the history behind the art.
Fala português
Portuguese & Mat Slang
What the words you hear on the mats actually mean — oss, porrada, creonte, and the language the art still runs on.
16 articles
Who Is Diego "Pato" Oliveira? The Duck Who Retired on Top
Pato is Portuguese for duck — a nickname earned by a kid with oversized feet who became the winningest light-featherweight in World Championship history, then left his black belt on the mat at 27.
What Your Brazilian Coach Is Shouting: Portuguese Commands in Jiu Jitsu
Someone is shouting a single Portuguese word at you, repeatedly, with obvious urgency — and you have no idea whether it means "keep going" or "your shoulder is about to come out." The list is short: about twenty words, plus the one piece of grammar that explains why they're all one word.
Jiu Jitsu Positions in Portuguese
Guard, mount, side control — all of them have Brazilian names, and several are better than ours. Side control is cem quilos, "a hundred kilos," named for what it feels like underneath. Here's the full map, from the ground positions to the submissions, with what each name literally means.
Beginner Portuguese Words for Jiu Jitsu
Jiu jitsu runs on a surprisingly small core of Portuguese — a few dozen words that come up every single class. Here's that core, organized the way you'll actually meet it: the greetings, the gear, the positions, the belts, the commands, and the counting, with pronunciation for every word.
What Does "Cobrinha" Mean in Jiu Jitsu?
For twenty years the featherweight division has known Rubens Charles Maciel by a single Portuguese word. It means "little snake" — and hidden inside it is the most-used ending in Brazilian Portuguese, a suffix Brazilians attach to almost everything they say.
What Does "Faixa Roxa" Mean in Jiu Jitsu?
It's on the bracket sheet, in the promotion photo caption, and in the sentence a Brazilian coach says about you: faixa roxa. The translation is the easy part — the interesting part is why it's roxa and not roxo, because that answer unlocks every other belt, every color, and a large chunk of spoken Portuguese.
The people
Legends, Fighters & Academies
Profiles of the champions — and the academies and families that shaped modern jiu jitsu.
15 articles
Who Is John Danaher? Jiu Jitsu's Greatest Mind
He never competed, and he changed everything: John Danaher's path from Columbia philosophy to the blue basement, the Danaher Death Squad, GSP, and New Wave Jiu Jitsu.
Who Is Gordon Ryan? The King of No-Gi Grappling
ADCC gold in three different divisions, the Danaher systems, New Wave, and the crown nobody has taken — how Gordon Ryan became no-gi grappling's King.
Who Is Gui Mendes? The Champion Who Coaches Champions
Four IBJJF black belt world titles, the co-founding of AOJ, and the best kids program on the planet — how Gui Mendes became jiu jitsu's greatest coach.
Who Is Marcelo Garcia? Grappling's Pound-for-Pound King
The smiling man who arm-dragged legends: five world titles, four ADCC golds, an academy that shaped American jiu jitsu, a game he gave away for free — and a comeback from cancer sealed with a submission. Why Marcelo Garcia is the pound-for-pound answer.
Who Are the Miyao Brothers? Paulo, João, and the Berimbolo Life
Twin brothers slept on the mats of a São Paulo social project and decided the answer to every question was another training session. The Miyao brothers' rise from PSLPB to world titles, the berimbolo-as-worldview style, and jiu jitsu's most monastic lifestyle.
Who Is Fábio Gurgel? The General of Alliance
Four world titles with his own hands, a thirty-minute vale tudo war with Mark Kerr, and then the rarer feat: building Alliance into the winningest team jiu jitsu has ever seen. Who Fábio "The General" Gurgel is, the Rolls Gracie lineage behind him, and the army of champions he built.
The story
History & Culture
From Maeda's arrival in Brazil to the night jiu jitsu conquered the UFC — how the art became what it is.
3 articles
The History of Gracie Barra: The World's Largest BJJ Team
Gracie Barra started as a single academy in the Barra da Tijuca neighborhood of Rio de Janeiro in 1986. Under founder Carlos Gracie Jr., it grew into the largest jiu jitsu organization on earth — more than 1,000 schools on six continents, champions like Roger Gracie, and the federation that runs the sport itself all trace back to it.
Origins of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu: From Judo to the Gracies
Every art has an origin story, but few are as improbable as this one: a Japanese judo master travels halfway around the world, settles in the Amazon, and teaches a frail Brazilian teenager a fighting system that his family will spend the next century turning into one of the most respected martial arts on earth.
UFC 1 and the Gracie Family: The Night That Changed MMA
On November 12, 1993, a slim Brazilian in a white gi walked into a cage in Denver and quietly dismantled three larger men in a single night. He didn't throw a single meaningful punch. By the time he was done, the martial arts world had to admit it had been wrong about almost everything.
The sport
Competition & the Rulebook
The IBJJF, the belt ladder, the weight classes, gi versus no-gi — how organized jiu jitsu actually works.
6 articles
The ADCC Superfight: History, Results, and How Fighters Earn It
Grappling's lineal crown: how the ADCC superfight works, the full modern results from the Galvão dynasty to Gordon Ryan, and the absolute-division path challengers must take.
The BJJ Belt System Explained: IBJJF Ranks for Adults and Kids
A decade to black belt, promotions without warning, and a kids ladder with twelve ranks of its own. Here's the complete IBJJF graduation system — every adult belt with its minimum ages and times, how stripes work, the coral and red belts at the summit, and the Portuguese word for all of it: faixa.
IBJJF Weight Classes Explained: From Rooster to Ultra Heavy
Rooster, Light Feather, Ultra Heavy — the entry form is secretly a Portuguese lesson. Every IBJJF division for men and women with limits in kilos and pounds, what the original names literally mean, how weigh-ins work (in the gi, no allowance), and the suffix that turns "heavy" into "heaviest of them all."
What Is the IBJJF? Jiu Jitsu's Biggest Federation Explained
The five letters are on the rulebook, the belt certificates, and the biggest brackets in the sport. Here's what the International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation actually is — its Gracie Barra origins, the tournaments that matter, the rulebook that shaped sport jiu jitsu, and the debates that follow it everywhere.
Gi vs. No-Gi Jiu Jitsu: What's the Difference?
Same art, same mats, different uniforms — and at the highest level, almost different sports. What actually changes when the gi comes off, which one beginners should start with, whether the skills transfer, and why your Brazilian coach calls the gi a "kimono."
The History of ADCC: Grappling's Greatest Stage
ADCC stands for the Abu Dhabi Combat Club, and its Submission Fighting World Championship is the most prestigious no-gi grappling tournament in the world. Founded in 1998, its champions include legends like André Galvão, Marcelo Garcia, and Gordon Ryan.