Fight Team



Luta Livre (MMA groundwork) Print E-mail

Luta Livre, "Fight Free" or better translated "Free fighting" is a broad term referring to submission grappling in Portuguese.

And thus Luta Livre refers to the gripping, handling, and controlling of an opponent, typically through the application of various grappling holds, choke holds, and counters to various hold attempts. Luta Livre forms an important part of both ground fighting and standing clinch fighting and is essential for any mixed martial arts practicioner.

Luta Livre is not a distinct martial arts per se, but a collection of various techniques and strategies. These strategies and techniques can roughly be divided into four groups.

  1. Throws where the opponent is taken from a stand-up position and taken down to the ground.
  2. Submissions or Joint Locks used to manipulation opponent's joints in such a way that the joint moves past its normal range of motion that the opponent has no choice but to submit or sustain injury. Not all submissions are Joint Locks
  3. Pinning Techniques such as the mount and side mount
  4. Sweeps and Escapes used to improve position in ground fighting, either escaping from or moving into a position where a lock or pin may be better applied.

Like our sparring classes, our Luta Livre classes are broken into different levels and all students start off slowly and progress from level to level as they become proficient. Students may choose or be asked to drop back a level at any time in order to perfect certain techniques and/or correct bad habits.

After you have completed all Luta Livre levels and all Sparring levles, at the discretion of the trainer, you may be asked to join our fight team for our Mixed Martial Arts Events.