Portuguese Brazilian Jiu Jitsu terminology

Updated April 4th 2010 from comments and schooling courtesy of Hillary Williams. Thank you for the corrections and clarifications! Comments can be seen in *orange. You can see the little mistakes in grammar/verbs/infinitives (whatever they all are) that I made and the “technical” corrections that Hillary has explained.

I guess learning a language is like learning BJJ and martial arts itself. You can learn the basics, but it takes years to master all the techniques!

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Learning some Português will REALLY help enhance your experience here in AND out of the gym. But even if you don’t know any when you arrive, you should still be able to understand what’s going on in class through observation, although it REALLY helps to understand some of the details of a technique if you know some basic words.

The following are some terms I thought would be useful that I’ve found through other sources (blogs, forums) and picked up through my own observations in class. I’ll be continually updating this as I learn more so make sure to keep updated. I even wanted to do a video with Dennis so you could hear the pronounciation, but will have to save that till next time as I’m not in Brasil anymore or confident enough to do it myself yet.

Also I’ve tried to write how you might phonetically say them and hopefully that helps some people. If anyone has corrections or things they could add to it then please comment or email me.

Positions (Posições):
Side Control – Cem Kilos (literally: 100 kilos)
(Close) Guard – (Fechar) Guarda … *where “fechar” is a verb -Rarely do people use the verb form in reference to a position. Rather, it’s “guarda fechada”-fechada being the adjective “closed.”
Half Guard – Meia guarda
Spider guard – Guarda aranha
Mount – Montada
Top/up – Acima (ah-see-ma)
Bottom/down – Baixo (bye-shoo)

Belts & Training gear:
Belts – Faixas (fai-shas)
White – Branca
Blue – Azul
Purple – Roxa (ho-sha)
Brown – Marrom (mah-hoom)
Black – Preta
Gloves – Luvas
Shirt – Camisa /camiseta
Shorts – Bermudas
Pants – Calças
Backpack – Mochila (mo-shilla)
Hat/cap – Boné
Speedos – Sunga … buy a red one and train with it in sem kimono, I dare you!
Gi / Kimono – Kimono (duhhhh!)
No-Gi – Sem kimono (seng kimono) … sem = without
Lapel – Lapela
Collar – Gola
Sleeves – Mangas

Useful terms:
Yes – Sim
No – Não … (a real nasally: now)
Left – Esquerda (ee-scare-da)
Right – Direita (jee-reta)
Prepare/Get ready – Preparar *Again, if some one is telling you to get ready they’ll say “prepare” (preh-PAR-ee) which sounds much different than the infinitive which sounds like “pre-par-AR”.
Go – Vai
Stop – Pare … VERY useful if you can’t physically tap! *This is the formal command for stop, can also be “para,” which isn’t grammatically correct but used more often.
Stopped – Parou … Gordo would ask me this; if I’d “stopped”/finished with rolling or wanted one more
Been – Foi … I noticed alot of guys say this to verbally tap, the literal translation is “been” but if anyone can explain better I’ll update it *In this context it means something like, “It’s over.” But the best way I can explain it in English is, “Okay man, you got me!”
Here – Aqui (ah-kee)
There – Lá
This/that (depending how you use it) – Isso
Weight – Peso
Heavy – Pesado
Change – Trocar / Troco
Always – Sempre
Never – Nunca
Return/go back – Voltar
Is this correct? – É isso certo? -”Tá certo?” or “Tá certo isso?” are more commonly used.
More or less – Mais or menos
Of course – É claro *Also “Claro” and “Com certeza.”
Time – Tempo (heard at end of rounds)
Dominate – Dominar / Domina …. e.g. “domina o braço” (domin-ey oo bra-zhoo) = control the arm
Just / Only – Só … (s-oh)

Actions:
Grip – Pegada / Pega …. e.g. “Pega aqui” = “Grip here”
Hook – Gancho (gan-shoo)
Push – Empurre (ing-poo-hey) *Again, you’re more likely to hear the less formal “empurra” and “puxa”
Pull – Puxe (pu-shay)
Pummel – Escrima
Hold – Segura … e.g. “Segura o posição” = “Hold the position”
Posture – Postura
Backwards/go back – Pra trás / Vai para trás … sounds like “partraish”
Lift / Raise – Leve / Levantar … “Levantar ele” = “Lift him up” *”Levanta ele” is heard.
Get / seize – Pegar … so if you’re setting up an armbar and someone says “Pegar” = “Get/take it”
Calm – Calma … Self explanatory but if someone tells you “calma” they’re telling you to calm down.
Relax – Relax (he-lash) … same explanation as above
Turn – Vire … “Vire seu quadril” = “Turn your hips”
Straighten – Shika (not sure on spelling) … “Shika o braço” = “Straighten the arm” *Esticar is the verb. “Estica o braço”

Body (Corpo):
Hand – Mão
Foot – Pé
Arm – Braço (bra-zhoo)
Leg – Perna
Knee – Joelho (zhoo-el-oo … sometimes sounds like they say “joo-el-ee”)
Elbow – Cotovelo (koh-toh-velo)
Fingers – Dedos do mão *I’m splitting hairs here, but dedos DA mão. Mão is a feminine word.
Toes – Dedos do pé
Body – Corpo
Chest – Peito (Pay-too)… “Peito a Peito” = “Chest to chest”
Trunk – Tronco
Head – Cabeça (ka-beh-sa)
Neck – Pescoço
Throat – Garganta
Back – Costas
Shoulder – Ombro
Shoulder blade – Omoplata

Commands:
Go – Vai / Embora *Vai and “vamos embora.” Even though you’ll hear what sounds like “Vambora!” Usually followed by PORRA!
Pass the guard – Passar de guarda
Attack – Attaque
Defend – Defendar
Escape – Saida /S air
Sweep – Raspa / Raspada (has-pa)
Spar/roll – Spare (sh-par-ey)
Close the guard – Fechar a guarda

*If you’re thinking commands, all the following would be like this, and not infinitive verb. Remember, I’m writing the commonly used and heard version, not the grammatically correct. I feel it’s more important to blend in.
Pass the guard – Passa a guarda
Attack – Ataca
Defend – Defende
Escape – Sai! (Sai daí-Get out of there!)
Sweep – Raspa
Spar/roll – Treina
Close the guard – Fecha a guarda

Days
Manhã – Morning
Á tarde – Afternoon
Noite – Night
Dia – Day
Semana – Week
Mês – Month
Segunda – Monday
Terça – Tuesday
Quarto – Wednesday
Quinta – Thursday
Sexta – Friday
Sabado – Saturday
Domingo – Sunday

Other things you might here in class:
Valeu – thanks … used as a departing
Até amanhã – until tomorrow
Treinar – training
Vai com ele (vai kong el-ee) – go with him
Tiver duvida – Have doubts (questions) *This means “to have doubts.” Professors will usually ask “Algumas dúvidas?” Any questions?
Boa treinar – Good training … (before rolling with your partner) *Bom treino – Treino is the noun for roll and bom is the masculine adjective for good.
Mais um - One more
Quem quero mais? (Keng kero maes?)- Who wants more? *Quem quer mais? Quero is “I want” where as quer refers to someone else, as the person asking the question would ask.
Treino livre - free training … (usually after normal class and if people want to keep rolling they’d say this) *… You’re saying “free to train.”

Striking:
Jab – Jabby
Cross/right straight – Direita (jee-reta)
Straights – Direito … if they say “só direito” then just do straight punches
Hook – Cruzo/Cruza … not sure on spelling for this one
Uppercut/Body hook – Gancho or cruza … From memory they called an uppercut a hook (gancho) and same for a hook or “rip” to the body
Kick – Chute (shoo-ta)
Elbow – Cotovelo
Knee – Joelho

Sources & Contributors :
Sherdog forums
http://williamkoplitz.com/ OR bjjphrases.com
Fightworks podcast
Hillary Williams BJJ
Gordo Jiu Jitsu classes
Fight Zone classes