Martial Arts Submissions: A Cross-Discipline Guide

Submission holds — joint locks and chokes that force an opponent to stop before injury occurs — aren't unique to BJJ. Several grappling arts developed their own submission traditions, with real overlap and real differences worth understanding.

BJJ

BJJ has arguably the deepest, most systematized submission curriculum of any modern grappling art, covering chokes (rear-naked, triangle, guillotine, collar chokes), joint locks (armbar, kimura, omoplata, wristlock), and an extensive modern leg-lock game. Submissions are BJJ's core win condition in competition, not a secondary skill.

Judo

Judo includes submissions (armbars and chokes) but treats them as a smaller part of a system built primarily around standing throws. Judo's newaza (ground fighting) ruleset restricts leg locks entirely and limits ground-fighting time compared to BJJ, reflecting the sport's throw-first competitive priorities.

Sambo

Sambo, a Russian grappling art, includes a genuinely extensive leg-lock tradition — arguably more developed historically than BJJ's leg-lock game before the sport's recent leg-lock resurgence. Sambo restricts chokes in its sport ruleset, however, focusing its submission game almost entirely on joint locks instead.

Catch Wrestling

Catch wrestling, an older Western grappling tradition, contributed several submissions still used in modern BJJ and MMA, including variations of the guillotine and specific leg-lock entries. Historically catch wrestling prioritized quick, often brutal submissions over point-scoring, closer in spirit to BJJ's submission-first philosophy than Judo's or wrestling's.

Freestyle and Folkstyle Wrestling

Standard wrestling rule sets don't include submissions at all — wins come through pins and point-scoring exclusively. This is the sharpest contrast with BJJ among major grappling arts, despite the significant technical overlap in takedowns and top control.

Why BJJ's Submission Game Became So Dominant

BJJ's live-sparring training method — testing every technique against a fully resisting partner every class — is a major factor in why its submission curriculum became so refined and systematized compared to arts that train submissions more through structured drilling or cooperative forms.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which martial art has the most submissions? BJJ has the most systematized and extensive submission curriculum of any major modern grappling art, covering chokes, joint locks, and leg locks as a core competitive focus.

Does Judo allow leg locks? No — standard Judo competition rules prohibit leg locks entirely, a key difference from BJJ's extensive modern leg-lock game.

What is Sambo known for in terms of submissions? An extensive leg-lock tradition, historically more developed than BJJ's before BJJ's recent leg-lock resurgence, though Sambo restricts chokes in its competitive ruleset.

Does wrestling include submissions? No — standard freestyle and folkstyle wrestling rules don't include submissions at all, relying entirely on pins and point-scoring, unlike BJJ, Judo, Sambo, and catch wrestling.

The Bottom Line

Submissions appear across several grappling traditions, each with a different emphasis — BJJ's systematized full range, Judo's throw-first limited ground game, Sambo's leg-lock focus, and catch wrestling's historical submission-first approach. BJJ's live-sparring culture is a major reason its submission game became the most extensively developed of the group.