BJJ Phrases Portuguese-English

—
If you’re learning Portuguese then knowing common phrases spoken in jiu-jitsu will help your training experience in Rio de Janeiro. We recommend that all visitors who train BJJ in Rio should know basic BJJ vocabulary in Portuguese as lessons are not usually taught in English.

While there will almost always be people available to help translate and clarify doubts, your overall learning experience will be much richer and enjoyable if you can speak and understand common BJJ phrases.

What follows is a list of common phrases, terms and words in Portuguese for BJJ. We’ll continually update the list as we go, so make sure to visit back to learn new words.

A note on pronunciation:
We’ve approximated the pronunciations in the final column, but don’t be perturbed if people struggle to understand you to begin with. Portuguese is a language that depends heavily on intonation and what sounds right for you might sound completely unintelligible for a native speaker. Don’t be discouraged though, try your best and people will correct you if you’re wrong. Listen carefully to how they say it and do your best to approximate what they say.

The Three Essential Phrases Everybody Needs to Know

Combate, lute and parou are the three commands used by referees in IBJJF competitions. Coaches will often use them in the gym to signal the start and end of training, so it’s essential to know what they sound like.

Combate (sounds like ‘kom-batch’) is used at the beginning of a contest and is used to start the fight. You may hear this in the gym at the start of a round of rolling.

Lute (sounds like ‘loo-tch’) is used during a match and is used to signal competitors to engage, continue to be active and avoid stalling. You will only hear this during a competition.

Parou (sounds like ‘pah-roar’) is the most important command and means to stop – this will be used during the match if the competitors go out of bounds, at moments when gis need to be readjusted, or at the end of the content should be there a submission or disqualification. Instructors may say this in the gym to end a round of training, but it is also common for them to say “tempo” (time).

IBJJF referees are not allowed to use any other commands during a match and therefore it is imperative that ALL competitors know and understand these three important words.

—

Parts of the Body

Below you’ll find the most commonly-used body parts spoken in reference to jiu-jitsu. These are the words you’ll hear during a class, and knowing the names can help when learning jiu-jitsu in Rio. We’ve included the English-Portuguese translation and a guide to pronunciation.

This post is © Train BJJ in Rio but can be licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. Scroll to the bottom for usage terms.

—

—

—

—

Portuguese Names of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Techniques & Positions

This is a comprehensive but by no means complete list of the Portuguese words for techniques and positions found in Brazilian jiu-jitsu. Many modern positions, such as fifty-fifty or berimbolo, have no translation and are the same when spoken in either English or Portuguese.

This post is © Train BJJ in Rio but can be licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. Scroll to the bottom for usage terms.

—

==

This list of BJJ Phrases Portuguese-English is © Train BJJ in Rio but can be licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

You are free to:
Share — copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format
Adapt — remix, transform, and build upon the material

Under the following terms:
Attribution — You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.
NonCommercial — You may not use the material for commercial purposes.
ShareAlike — If you remix, transform, or build upon the material, you must distribute your contributions under the same license as the original.