Naming a BJJ technique doesn't just describe it — it steers how the sport evolves

AI-generated writing.

Steve Kwan’s core claim: labels aren’t neutral shorthand, they change how people think about the thing they name. “The guard” existed before Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, but formalizing it as a named position — with a point structure built around it — steered the sport’s development for decades. The current drift away from IBJJF-centric rules, with wrestling positions like turtle re-entering the sport, is now pushing back against that same label’s grip.

Before coining a new term, Kwan suggests three checks: is it easy for someone outside the room to understand, is it a real improvement over the existing label, and can it avoid being misread (his example: “inside control,” which could mean inside position, inside channel control, or being in side control). The Darce choke shows why the second check matters — the name is arbitrary and tells you nothing about the technique, but it’s so entrenched that “correcting” it to something more descriptive would create more confusion than it resolves.

Labels also risk becoming thought-terminating clichés — a way to dismiss an idea without engaging with it, like waving off a training partner’s suggestion with “you’re just a blue belt.”