Somebody walks onto the mats for a trial class and about ten minutes into rolling, they ask the question every new white belt asks. What even are the types of BJJ submissions? Chokes. Locks. That weird leg thing their partner just did to them. Honestly, it’s a fair question. Nobody explains this stuff before you show up, so let’s break it down without the mystery.
BJJ can look like chaos from the outside. Two people tangled up, someone taps, everyone resets. But there’s real structure underneath all that scrambling. Once you know the categories, watching a roll (or surviving one) gets a whole lot less confusing.
The Three Types of BJJ Submissions You Need to Know
Basically every tap in jiu jitsu falls into one of three buckets. Chokes cut off blood or air. Joint locks hyperextend a joint past where it wants to bend. Leg locks do the same thing to the lower body, but they get their own category because the mechanics and the risk profile are different enough to matter.
That’s it. Three buckets. Everything from a basic cross collar choke to some wild heel hook variation fits into one of these. Coaches teach in this order for a reason too. Chokes first, arm locks next, legs later once your body actually understands what it’s doing on the mat.
Chokes: The Fastest Way to End a Roll
Chokes are usually the first submission a new student lands, and there’s a reason for that. They don’t require much strength. Leverage and position do the work.
- Rear naked choke, from the back, arguably the most famous submission in the sport
- Guillotine, from the front, catches people going for a takedown
- Cross collar choke, gi only, uses the collar as a built in noose
- Triangle choke, legs instead of arms, looks impossible until you feel it work
A choke that’s applied correctly doesn’t hurt. It just gets dark, fast. That’s the whole point. Tap early, tap often, nobody’s keeping score of your ego in the gym.
Joint Locks: Arm Bars, Kimuras, and Americanas
Joint locks are the second big category, and they’re mostly aimed at the arms in the early belts. An arm bar isolates the elbow. A kimura or americana twists the shoulder. Both hurt a lot sooner than a choke does, which honestly makes them a little safer for beginners in one weird way. Your body screams before anything actually tears.
These moves teach control before they teach finishing. You’ll spend way more time learning the position than the actual submission, and that’s on purpose. A sloppy arm bar from a bad position just gets you swept.
Leg Locks: The New but Restricted Category
Leg locks are the newest wave to hit mainstream BJJ, and they’re also the most regulated by belt level. Heel hooks, straight ankle locks, kneebars. Different gyms teach these on different timelines, and competition rules restrict them by rank for a reason. The IBJJF publishes the exact rule set most academies follow for what’s legal at each belt, and it’s worth a real look if you’re curious how strict this gets.
Leg locks feel almost sneaky compared to an arm bar. Less resistance from most training partners, way less awareness of the danger until it’s too late. That’s exactly why coaches gatekeep them early on.
Why Knowing the Types of BJJ Submissions Actually Helps Beginners
Here’s the thing nobody tells you at the start. Learning the types of BJJ submissions isn’t really about finishing people faster. It’s about defense. If you know a choke is coming, you protect your neck before it’s tight. If you know an arm bar is loading up, you pull your elbow in and start fighting the position instead of panicking.
We’ve got a full breakdown of five specific moves worth drilling early on our 5 Basic Submissions post, and a companion piece on Jiu Jitsu Submission Safety if the tap itself still feels like a mystery. Read those next.
What This Looks Like on Our Mats in Mansfield
Look, none of this clicks from reading a blog post. It clicks the first time someone actually catches you in a choke and you feel your body figure out the tap on its own. That’s a nervous system thing, not a knowledge thing.
Adults training here move through this progression during regular Adult BJJ Classes, and teenagers get their own version scaled to their bodies in Teen BJJ Classes. Nobody gets thrown into leg locks on day one. That’s not how any of this works, and honestly, if a gym does that to you, walk out.
Come roll with us sometime. Bring a mouthguard.