What InGrappling is.
And what it is not.

The intellectual foundation

InGrappling is built on a single organising idea: that grappling obeys mechanical laws — invariables — that hold regardless of body type, size, style, lineage, or who taught the technique. An invariable is not an opinion. It is not "how I was taught." It is a structural law. The site exists to name them, explain them, and anchor every technique page to the invariable it expresses.

This approach is related to — and explicitly credits — the work of Greg Souders, who formalised the application of ecological dynamics and the constraints-led approach to grappling instruction. Souders identified invariables as a coaching tool: rather than teaching technique step-by-step, the coach identifies what must be true for a technique to work and designs learning environments around that truth. InGrappling's application is complementary: we state the invariable explicitly in writing, as the analytical foundation for technique description. The same truth, differently delivered.

The three theoretical frameworks

Three thinkers have made contributions to the theoretical understanding of submission grappling that are significant enough to be cited as foundational to this site's structure. They are credited for their intellectual work — not for their belt rank, their lineage, or how many world champions they have produced. The distinction matters.

Submission grappling, not BJJ without the gi

This site does not treat no-gi grappling as a subset of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. It treats submission grappling as its own mature discipline that draws from wrestling, BJJ, sambo, judo, catch wrestling, and other traditions. No style is privileged. Wrestling entries are not secondary to guard work. Sambo leg attacks are not exotic variants. Catch wrestling concepts are not historical footnotes.

Technique is described mechanically, with reference to invariables, not to who popularised it. The site does not use the language of lineage to frame technique. Where a descriptive name exists, it is preferred.

The Concepts layer

Technique pages describe positions and submissions mechanically — what they are, which invariables they express, and how they connect to adjacent positions in the positional graph. The Concepts section is the layer above this: it explains how techniques relate to each other strategically.

Concepts pages cover three types of content: gripping sequences (how grip commitment escalates from first contact to position entry), range objectives (what each player is trying to achieve at each range and why), and dilemmas (structural situations where the defence of one threat creates another). A practitioner who knows the technique pages but not the concepts pages understands individual positions; one who knows both understands why those positions are pursued in the first place.

On belt systems

This site holds that the traditional belt system, as applied to no-gi submission grappling, has significant structural problems. It creates unhealthy dependency between student and instructor, is frequently used as a commercial and social control mechanism, lacks standardisation, and does not map well to actual skill development in submission grappling.

This position is expressed in standards and codification content directly and explicitly. It is never expressed in technique content. Technique content uses ability-level descriptors (Foundations, Developing, Proficient, Advanced, Elite) — not belt colours.

The site addresses systems, not individuals. No academy or instructor is named in a derogatory context.

Zero tolerance for discrimination

This site has zero tolerance for content or community behaviour that is racist, sexist, homophobic, transphobic, ableist, or otherwise discriminatory. This is stated plainly in the community standards, the school owner standards, and the coach standards sections.

The sport has a documented problem with certain kinds of cultural gatekeeping, machismo, and exclusionary behaviour. The site names these problems clearly and treats inclusion as a technical and institutional requirement, not a soft aspiration.

Independence

InGrappling is an independent educational resource. It has no affiliation with any academy, organisation, athlete, coach, or commercial entity. The coaches and researchers credited here — John Danaher, Greg Souders, Craig Jones, Gordon Ryan, Lachlan Giles, Jason Rau, Mateusz Szczeinski, Jozef Chen, and Nicky Ryan — have no affiliation with InGrappling.com. Credits refer to their published and publicly available work only. Inclusion does not constitute endorsement of this site by any credited individual.

Contributing and corrections

This site credits a specific list of trusted coaches and researchers whose documented instructional work is used as source material: John Danaher, Craig Jones, Gordon Ryan, Lachlan Giles, Jason Rau, Mateusz Szczeinski, Jozef Chen, Nicky Ryan, and Greg Souders. No technique appears here from untrusted sources.

If you have found an error, a mechanical contradiction, or a technique that appears to violate a stated invariable, we want to hear from you. The content is maintained to be accurate for at least a decade. Corrections are taken seriously.

Explore the reference

The technique library covers all no-gi positions, submissions, and sweeps — or visualise the connections on the positional map. The invariables index is the mechanical foundation every technique page is built on. The health section covers injury prevention, rehabilitation, and longevity. For ruleset analysis, progression frameworks, and coach standards, see standards & codification.