The bad news? There are potentially infinite techniques in Jiu-Jitsu, each with dozens or hundreds of details. You’ll never remember them all.
Luckily, you don’t have to. All techniques are comprised of a few fundamental mechanisms made naturally by our body: frames, levers, wedges, clamps, hooks, and posts. These are the core mechanics of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.
Once you understand the core mechanics, you’ll start to see the commonalities behind all techniques. More importantly, you won’t need to remember every single step when applying a technique; you just need to remember to apply the core mechanics. This lets you focus less on rote memorization and more on “filling in the gaps” on the fly. It also allows you to be more creative and modify techniques to suit you, or even create your own.
Frames are perhaps the most important defense concept in Jiu-Jitsu, and are critical to making the space necessary to protect yourself. Framing means creating a shield with the hard and bony parts of your body to prevent your opponent from closing in on you. Frames are predominantly used from the bottom positions.
Good frames don’t rely on muscles, but on skeletal alignment. You shouldn’t be trying to bench press or force your opponent away from you. Instead, you’re using your skeleton to create a bony shield that keeps your opponent at a distance, and moving your body to create space. Good frames are solid, and don’t require excessive strength.
It’s also preferable to make frames that don’t involve joints your opponent can exploit. For example, if you straighten your arm and try to push your opponent away with your hand, it’s easy for your opponent to collapse your arm because your wrist and elbow are weaknesses in the structure of the frame. Framing with your hand is inherently more susceptible to collapse and redirection, but allows more dexterity and gripping possibilities. Similarly, when framing with your legs, it’s usually preferable to frame with your knees or shins; they can support more weight due to a greater surface area. Framing with your feet can be useful as they create a longer range frame than knees or shins, but are more susceptible to being accessed as levers by your opponent.
Levers are force multipliers, and are the most efficient way to create openings and attack your opponent’s body. The levers to the body are (from strongest to weakest): your legs, your arms, and your head. This is the Anatomic Hierarchy.
Using the head as a lever primarily attacks the posture of your opponent, while using the arms and legs primarily attacks structure. See the Theory of Alignment for a more detailed explanation of posture and structure.
Both your arms and legs have three primary joints:
Generally speaking, to control an arm or a leg effectively you need to have control of at least two of these three joints. You will be able to generate more leverage by accessing the end of the lever. See: 3 Joint Rule.
When you are on the attack: Lever control is what allows you to advance to more dominant positions and ultimately secure a submission. After all, all legitimate submissions are an attack on one or more levers. See: Isolate a Single Target.
When no one has a clear advantage: Lever control is especially important because the first person to secure a dominant lever will usually control the fight. See: Grips Dictate Position.
There are two types of wedges: