Profiles

Named athletes as organism constraints — how they express the same invariants.

Adapted from InGrappling, Profiles. System Games did not invent this curriculum.

The coaches, competitors, and theorists whose work built modern submission grappling — their games expressed through invariants.

All (45) Competitors (37) Coaches (3) System architects (4) Theorists (1) Promoters (0)Discipline

All (45) No-gi only (7) Wrestling crossover (3) Judo crossover (1)Era

All (45) Pre-2000 (4) 2000–2008 (6) 2008–2015 (4) 2015–2018 (0) 2018–2022 (1) 2022–present (0)Sort

AlphabeticalEra (earliest first)Era (most recent first)CategoryAdele Fornarino

Australian competitor whose ADCC 2024 performance — gold in the −55kg division and gold in the women's absolute — produced one of the most-cited single.

American no-gi competitor, ONE Championship grappler, and the inaugural ONE Atomweight Submission Grappling World Champion.

American no-gi system architect and tournament founder.

American no-gi competitor whose EBI heel hook campaign in 2015–2016 operationalised the early Danaher Death Squad leg lock system in competition before.

Adele FornarinoAustralian competitor whose ADCC 2024 performance — gold in the −55kg division and gold in the women's absolute — produced one of the most-cited single.Andre GalvaoBrazilian competitor and co-founder of Atos Jiu-Jitsu — six ADCC titles and four superfight defences, the most decorated competitor in ADCC history.Beatriz MesquitaBrazilian competitor whose 2017 ADCC −60kg gold and multiple IBJJF No-Gi World Championships place her among the most decorated female submission.Braulio EstimaBritish-Brazilian competitor whose 2009 ADCC double gold and the foot-attack mechanic that bears his name.Craig JonesAustralian competitor and coach whose game integrates heel hook entries, back attacks, and Z-guard half guard. Founder of the Craig Jones Invitational.Danielle KellyAmerican no-gi competitor, ONE Championship grappler, and the inaugural ONE Atomweight Submission Grappling World Champion.Dean ListerAmerican no-gi competitor whose 2003 ADCC absolute title and his often-quoted articulation that ignoring leg attacks ignores half the human body are.Eddie BravoAmerican no-gi system architect and tournament founder.Eddie CummingsAmerican no-gi competitor whose EBI heel hook campaign in 2015–2016 operationalised the early Danaher Death Squad leg lock system in competition before.Elisabeth ClayAmerican no-gi competitor and multiple ADCC medallist.Ethan CrelinstenCanadian no-gi competitor and founding B-Team member whose game centres on leg entanglement entries chained into back attacks.Ffion DaviesWelsh no-gi competitor and ADCC champion at -60kg.Garry TononAmerican no-gi competitor whose heel hook entry game and EBI dominance helped operationalise the early Danaher Death Squad leg lock system.Georges St-PierreCanadian MMA welterweight champion whose wrestling-and-pressure no-gi grappling game influenced a generation of grapplers outside pure submission.Gordon RyanAmerican no-gi competitor with the most decorated record in modern submission wrestling history.Greg SoudersAmerican coach and theorist who formalised the application of ecological dynamics and the constraints-led approach to grappling instruction.Hélio GracieBrazilian practitioner who refined the guard-based, leverage-dependent submission system that became the technical foundation of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.Ronaldo SouzaBrazilian competitor whose mid-2000s ADCC record — multiple weight-class medals plus a 2005 absolute silver — represents the high-water mark of pure.Jason RauAmerican coach and instructional source whose mechanical articulation of guard and passing detail operates at a resolution suited to instructional.Jean Jacques MachadoBrazilian-American competitor and coach whose grip-independent guard game and submission hunting produced ADCC titles and lasting coaching influence.John DanaherNew Zealand-born coach whose systematic submission grappling approach and six-hub taxonomy produced multiple world-level no-gi competitors.Jozef ChenAmerican competitor and passing-system architect whose outside passing framework codified J-point camping and the high tripod pass.Kade RuotoloKade Ruotolo brings high-amplitude wrestling entries into no-gi: the blast-double feeds a front-headlock-to-back system finishing with the rear-naked choke.Kaynan DuarteBrazilian no-gi competitor and ADCC absolute champion.Kazushi SakurabaJapanese MMA competitor whose submission wrestling game produced victories over multiple Gracie family members in the late 1990s and early 2000s.Ken ShamrockAmerican catch wrestler and Pancrase pioneer whose submission wrestling game bridged the catch wrestling tradition with the emerging no-gi submission.Lachlan GilesAustralian no-gi competitor whose game is centred on the K-guard leg entanglement entry system and inside heel hook finishing mechanics.Marcelo GarciaBrazilian no-gi competitor and coach whose butterfly guard, arm drag to back take, and guillotine systems defined the pre-DDS era of submission grappling.Mario SperryBrazilian competitor and coach whose top pressure game and Vale Tudo background made him one of the dominant figures of early ADCC competition.Masakatsu FunakiJapanese submission wrestler and Pancrase co-founder whose shoot wrestling system was one of the earliest structured no-gi submission disciplines.Mateusz SzczecinskiPolish coach and instructional source whose articulation of mechanical detail across guard, passing, and submission systems is widely cited.Mica GalvaoBrazilian no-gi competitor and ADCC champion.Mikey MusumeciAmerican no-gi competitor and ONE Championship grappling champion.Nathiely de JesusBrazilian no-gi competitor and ADCC competitor at +65kg.Nicky RodriguezAmerican competitor whose collegiate wrestling background and 2019 ADCC −99kg silver showed elite wrestling translating directly to no-gi grappling.Nicky RyanAmerican no-gi competitor who emerged as a teenage prodigy through the Danaher Death Squad before later transitioning to the B-Team.Renzo GracieBrazilian competitor and coach whose New York academy connects the Gracie tradition to the Danaher Death Squad and the modern no-gi era.Ricardo AronaBrazilian no-gi competitor and multiple ADCC medallist known for top pressure and leg lock integration in the early-to-mid-2000s ADCC era.Rickson GracieBrazilian competitor and coach whose pressure-based positional game and back control philosophy influenced the development of modern no-gi submission.Roger GracieBritish-Brazilian competitor whose pressure-based top game and submission system translate directly into no-gi and MMA contexts.Royce GracieBrazilian competitor whose performances at UFC 1, 2, and 4 established BJJ's credibility in no-gi submission contexts.Royler GracieBrazilian competitor whose three consecutive ADCC −66kg titles (1999–2001) and 1999 Pride match against Sakuraba defined a founding era of no-gi grappling.Shintaro HigashiJapanese-American judoka and no-gi competitor whose game shows high-percentage judo throws transferring cleanly into no-gi grappling.Tye RuotoloTye Ruotolo treats the scramble as offence, not recovery: first-mover connection in the in-between phase opens submissions from top, bottom, and disadvantage.Xande RibeiroBrazilian competitor whose 2007 and 2009 ADCC −99kg titles and two-decade career place him among the most consistently decorated submission grapplers.