Legal at White Belt

What it is

White belts in IBJJF competition may use all the common chokes, the armbar, kimura, americana and omoplata, and the straight ankle lock turning away from the knee. Heel hooks, knee reaping, kneebars, toe holds, slicers, wrist locks and neck cranks are illegal at white belt, and gyms train by the same list. Knowing it keeps you and your partners safe before you ever enter a match.

Where it shows up

• Legal at white belt, gi and no-gi: rear naked choke, collar chokes, guillotine, triangle, arm triangle, ezekiel, armbar, kimura, americana, omoplata, and the straight ankle lock turning away from the knee.
• Illegal at white belt, gi and no-gi: heel hooks (illegal in the gi at every belt), knee reaping, kneebars, toe holds, bicep and calf slicers, wrist locks, squeezing the ribs with the legs from closed guard, and jumping to closed guard on a standing partner.
• Illegal for everyone: slams, scissor takedowns, spinal locks and neck cranks that are not chokes, landing someone on their head, bending fingers and striking.
• Later belts: wrist locks become legal at blue; kneebars, toe holds and slicers at brown; heel hooks only in adult brown and black belt no-gi, and never in the gi.

Key details

• If you catch something that is not on the legal list, let it go. A kneebar on a white belt partner is an injury, not a win.
• The straight ankle lock is legal only when you turn away from the knee. Turning in toward the knee is illegal at white belt, and crossing your leg over their body while you attack the leg is knee reaping, which is also illegal.
• A neck crank is not a choke. If the pressure is on the spine rather than the sides of the neck, it is illegal at every belt.
• In training the same list applies, in the gi and in no-gi, unless your coach says otherwise.
• Using an illegal submission in a match gets you disqualified; jumping guard at white belt is penalised and the match restarts standing.

Common mistakes

• Mistake: falling into a kneebar or toe hold during a scramble and finishing it. It is illegal, and your partner's knee or ankle pays for it.
• Mistake: wrist-locking a partner from closed guard because it was there. Wrist locks are illegal until blue belt.
• Mistake: jumping to closed guard on a standing partner. It is a foul for white belts and a knee injury waiting to happen for both of you.
• Mistake: twisting the head to finish a stalled choke. That is a neck crank, not a choke, and it is illegal.