Submission Grappling (No-Gi)
Competitive wrestling without a kimono that ends in a submission by a lock or a choke. Contested at ADCC (since 1998), in United World Wrestling (since 2007) and in IBJJF no-gi.
Quick Facts
Character & Origin
Training
Who It Suits
Organisation & Competition
What the style is built from
Editorial rating on a 0–3 scale, based on how much room each area gets in ordinary training.
Comparisons
Catalogs & Databases for Submission Grappling (No-Gi)
About Submission Grappling (No-Gi)
Submission grappling, also called submission wrestling or no-gi, is a competitive wrestling without a kimono focused on fighting on the ground, in which the match ends in a submission by a lock or a choke, or is decided on points. It has no single founder or year of origin, and sources name judo, jiu-jitsu, catch wrestling and wrestling as its sources. There is no universal system of grades: Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu uses colored belts, catch wrestling places emphasis on competitive performance.
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A milestone is the ADCC Submission Fighting World Championship, first held in March 1998 in Abu Dhabi. It was founded by Sheikh Tahnoun bin Zayed Al Nahyan with his Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu instructor Nelson Monteiro. It is held once every two years and one enters by invitation or after winning the ADCC Trials qualification. In the qualifying matches, which last 10 minutes, no points are awarded for the first 5 minutes. The ADCC rules permit chokes and locks on the arms and legs including heel hooks, and forbid punches, kicks and holding the opponent’s clothing. Grappling was included in United World Wrestling in 2007. The UWW rules (version 7, July 2026) prescribe a rash guard in the corner color, shorts and compression leggings, a senior match lasts 5 minutes and the age categories start with children under 5. The international Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu federation IBJJF holds, alongside competitions in the gi, also a no-gi championship, and since 2021 it has permitted heel hooks there for adult brown and black belts. At the IBJJF world championship without a kimono in 2009 there were 62 injuries in 1,606 match exposures, the difference between belts was not statistically significant. We have not found a study from ADCC or from UWW grappling.
History
Submission grappling, also called submission wrestling or no-gi, is wrestling without a kimono focused on fighting on the ground, which ends in a submission by a lock or a choke, or is decided on points. It is not a single style but a format in which different traditions meet. It has no single founder or year of origin, and its sources are given as judo, jiu-jitsu, catch wrestling and wrestling. A milestone is March 1998, when the first ADCC Submission Fighting World Championship was held in Abu Dhabi. It was founded by Sheikh Tahnoun bin Zayed Al Nahyan with his Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu instructor Nelson Monteiro and is organized by the Abu Dhabi Combat Club. In 2007 United World Wrestling included grappling in its program and the IBJJF held the first World No-Gi Championship. In 2013 Eddie Bravo founded Combat Jiu-Jitsu, the first matches were held at his tournament Eddie Bravo Invitational (EBI) 11 in 2017.
Technique
The technical content is always determined by the particular rule set. The ADCC rules permit chokes except closing the airway with the hand, locks of the elbow, shoulder and wrist, and locks of the legs and ankles including heel hooks, the can opener and the twister. They forbid punches and kicks, which are followed by immediate disqualification, as well as neck cranks blocking both shoulders, the full nelson, the crucifix, drops on the head and the crossface guillotine with a twisting of the chin. A slam is permitted only during a held lock or choke. Without a kimono the grip is taken on the body, ADCC forbids even holding the opponent’s shirt or shorts. UWW restricts the heel hook, knee bar, toe hold and straight foot lock by age category. In IBJJF no-gi divisions, under the IBJJF rules for 2021 only adult brown and black belts may use the heel hook.
Ranks and progression
Submission grappling has no universal system of grades. Neither the ADCC nor the UWW rules mention grades, and the UWW places competitors by age and weight, not by belt. At ADCC one enters after winning the ADCC Trials qualification or by invitation. Belts are brought into wrestling without a kimono by the IBJJF no-gi divisions, where the belt color remains visible on the rash guard.
Who it suits
The UWW has age categories from U5 for children aged 4 to 5, then U7 to U20, seniors from age 20 and veterans from age 35. The UWW restricts the heel hook, knee bar, toe hold and straight foot lock by age category, we have not been able to determine from the rules the exact assignment of the bans to categories. We have not documented ADCC children’s categories or women’s categories in the rules. A study purely of wrestling without a kimono comes from the World No-Gi Championship 2009: 62 injuries in 1,606 exposures, joint injuries 24.9 per 1,000 exposures, from 21.5 for blue to 35.1 for black belt, the difference between belts was not statistically significant. We have not found a study from ADCC or from UWW grappling. In the survey by Hinz et al. (2021, 1,140 Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu athletes, no-gi not assessed separately) the heel hook is among the three locks with the most frequent injury (11%), and the most frequently injured site was the knee (27.1%).
Competition
Under the ADCC rules the qualifying matches of the world championship last 10 minutes with one five-minute extension, and for the first 5 minutes no points are awarded. The final, the absolute final and the superfight last 20 minutes with up to two ten-minute extensions, and no positive points are awarded for the first 10 minutes. A guard pass and the back with hooks give 3 points, mount and knee on belly 2, a clean slam 4. Whoever pulls guard within 3 seconds after a takedown attempt gets a minus, a minus also follows for passivity after two warnings. If nobody scored, the referees decide by dominance. UWW grappling (rules version 7, July 2026) gives 2 points for a takedown and reversal, 3 for a guard pass, 4 for mount and back, and 1 point for a submission attempt from which the opponent escaped after a real threat lasting at least 3 seconds. Seniors wrestle 5 minutes, categories U5 and U7 2 minutes.
Gear
The ADCC rules list the kimono (gi) and wrestling shoes as optional and forbid slippery substances on the body and clothing, they do not mention rash guards or mouthguards. The UWW prescribes a red or blue rash guard according to the corner, shorts in the corner color or neutral (black, white, gray) and under them compression leggings at least to mid-calf, the kimono is not used in UWW grappling. In IBJJF no-gi divisions a rash guard in black, white or black and white with at least 10% of the belt’s color is prescribed.
Today
Submission grappling has no single governing organization. The ADCC is held once every two years, the 2021 edition took place in 2022 because of covid. UWW grappling follows rules version 7 from July 2026 with age categories from U5 to veterans. The IBJJF holds the World No-Gi Championship every year, usually at California State University in Long Beach. Alongside run Eddie Bravo’s formats: EBI and Combat Jiu-Jitsu, whose first world championship took place in 2018. Combat Jiu-Jitsu permits open-hand strikes on the ground, so it is not purely submission-only. We have not documented a Czech federation or clubs of submission grappling.
Similar styles
Selected by overlap in the style profile, not by historical lineage.