Truque de Katagatame no Jiu-Jitsu

What does “katagatame” mean in jiu-jitsu?

Katagatame comes straight from Japanese judo: kata means “shoulder,” and gatame comes from katameru, “to fix” or “immobilize.” In judo it’s one of the classic pins, but Brazilian jiu-jitsu and MMA fighters adopted the same name for a shoulder-and-neck submission — an arm-triangle-style choke that traps the opponent’s head and arm against your body.

In this clip, the instructor’s core cue is to “colar o bíceps no pescoço do seu oponente” — “glue your bicep to your opponent’s neck” — leaving no gap for them to escape. That verb, colar (to glue, to stick), shows up constantly in Brazilian jiu-jitsu coaching to describe pressing tight against an opponent with no space between you.