Systemize your Jiu-Jitsu.
A BJJ flowchart app for mapping how your positions, reactions, and transitions connect. Build it by hand, or draft it from a video or voice note.
No account needed to build by hand or from a typed note. Thousands of grapplers have mapped their game here since 2019.
Octopus Angle
Head on the mat, bottom arm tucked. Pull the knee in to bring your hips high.
Headstand Counter (Jo Chen)
Keep the reach-around grip on the thigh instead of a tight body grip.
Hip Trap Sweep
Trap the hip, come up, and take them backwards.
Darce Threat
It only exists while your elbow is trapped inside.
Elbow Outside Immunity
Elbow outside removes their finishing leverage.
Buggy Angle
Roll back and catch your reach-around arm with your leg.
Buggy Choke
Rotational knee compression. It works because they feel safe.
Arm Throw Escape
They throw the arm over to a cross-body grip.
An example from Craig Jones’ Octopus Guard study map
Part of Craig Jones’ Octopus Guard 2.0 study map: 21 techniques, each linked to the second it’s taught.
Instructionals mapped in the library: Craig Jones, Ryan Hall, Lachlan Giles, Gordon Ryan, Marcelo Garcia, John Danaher, and community maps.
Turn what you learn into a flow.
Start with a video, a photo of your notebook, or a voice recap, and get an editable draft of the techniques and connections. Or open the editor and build the flowchart card by card.
Notebook
Photo of your notes
Flow from a notebook page
Take a photo of a page from your notebook, or up to 8 pages. Your handwriting is read in order, and each sketch on the page is lifted onto the card it belongs to.
Knee cut pass · class notes
1 page with sketches
- Pin and pass. Pin the far hip, sprawl your weight, clear the leg.
- Step over to mount. Keep the far hip pinned.
- They turn away: Take the back. Follow them as they turn.
- Knee cut to north-south. Diagonal pressure, not straight down.
YouTube
Video link
Flow from a YouTube video
Paste a link. Each card keeps the moment the technique starts, so a tap plays the video from the right second.
Jozef Chen · Tripod passing
youtube.com/watch?v=Fjzjk1D4UpM
- Head to the far side. Close the lane through their knee shield.
- Flatten over the hook. Underhook in, head on the far side. Keep their hips flat.
- They fight inside: Hand on the hip, step up. Elbow on their quad, clear the knee, go to mount.
- They frame your knee: Push the knee through. Hips up, then take double unders.
Voice notes
After-class recap
Flow from a voice recap
Talk through the round on the drive home. The draft splits it into techniques and the reactions between them, and builds in the background while you get on with your day.
Closed guard · Tuesday
From closed guard, sit up for the hip bump. If they stay upright, finish the sweep. If they post a hand, switch to the kimura. If they pull the arm free, go for the guillotine. I need to get my hips higher.
- Hip bump from closed guard. Sit up. Get your hips higher than theirs.
- They stay upright: Finish the sweep. Keep the arm controlled.
- They post a hand: Switch to the kimura. Catch the posted wrist.
- They pull the arm free: Go for the guillotine. The neck is there once the arm is out.
Reel link
Flow from an Instagram reel
Share a reel from Instagram. The draft credits the creator and links back to the reel, so the source is one tap away.
Dominique Bell · Single leg X counter
instagram.com/reel/DWFGAD1AQQV
- Clear the foot from your hip. Control the arch and press it away.
- Work around the knee: Post and hop around. Move around their inside knee.
- They post on your knee: Slide in for the armbar. Pull the tricep, slide your knee in, fall back.
Your footage
Video upload
Flow from your footage
Upload a round from open mat and add what you want to fix. Your note stays on the card for the next session.
Passing practice
guard-passing-practice.mp4
My next round: keep the frame collapsed before moving around.
- Start from open guard. Control the distance before passing.
- They play knee shield: Collapse the frame. Keep their legs controlled.
- They sit up: Push them flat. Hand on the shoulder before you move around.
A flowchart canvas for your whole game.
Put down a card for each technique, connect them by what your opponent does, and keep the clip on the card. Building by hand is free on every device.
- A card for every technique. On the canvas a card shows the cue and the clip. Open it and there is room for the rest: the full notes, the photo, the chapter it comes from, and what it connects to.
- Find any technique, in any flow. Search reads the titles and notes on every card you have made, along with your saved videos and collections. Pick a result and the flow opens on that card.
- Coach insights on your game plan. Coach insights read your flow and point at what is missing: a reaction with no answer, a path that stops, a branch that comes up in competition. Ask for a review and get up to three, each tied to a card. You choose what to add. Included with Pro, with a few to try on Free.
- An opened card, Hip Trap Sweep: Win the hip battle first, then come up and take them backwards. Sweeps happen when weight overcommits. Lift hips to dominate theirs. Redirect instead of lift. Chapter 7: Sweep Them Off Their Feet. When hip battle is won, from Octopus Angle.
- Example search for knee: Flow, Knee cut pass · class notes. Knee cut to north-south. Diagonal pressure, not straight down.
- Example search for knee: Flow, Jozef Chen · Tripod passing. Push the knee through. Hips up, then take double unders. Hand on the hip, step up. Elbow on their quad, clear the knee, go to mount.
- Example search for knee: Video, Passing the knee shield.
- Example review finding on Closed guard: Your guard has nothing for when they pass. The flow has no branch for this, and it comes up often in competition. From tournament data: Athletes whose guard was passed still won 5% of tournament matches.
- Example review finding on Hip bump sweep: After the hip bump sweep, where do you land? Nothing follows this step yet, so the flow ends here whatever happens next. From tournament data: When a sweep scored first, the sweeper won 85% of tournament matches.
- Example review finding on Guillotine: What if they defend the guillotine? Nothing follows this step yet, so the flow ends here whatever happens next.
BJJ instructionals, already mapped.
Study premium maps curated in detail, or discover flows shared by the community.
Octopus Guard 2.0
Instructional study
Craig Jones
Modern Triangle, Vol 3: Locking & Finishing
Pro map
Ryan Hall
Armbars: Deep Dive Study Guide
Built by hand
Body Lock Pass, Vol 3: Clearing the Knee Line
Pro map
Lachlan Giles
J-Point Camping System
From a YouTube video
Gordon Ryan
Back Attack 2.0, Vol 2: Seatbelt to Hooks
Pro map
Marcelo Garcia
How Lachlan caught Marcelo with the Lachy Lock
Match study
Lachlan Giles
Danaher Guard Passing Study
Passing study
John Danaher
Seatbelt secured. Hooks still missing.
Inside a curated Pro map
Marcelo Garcia’s Back Attack 2.0, Vol 2 maps what to do next based on how your opponent responds.
- You’re behind the opponent: The cartwheel-over route. A route from the seatbelt toward securing your hooks.
- They try to crush you: The sit-up counter. Turn their pressure into an opening for the choke.
Explore the library
Premium curated Pro maps added monthly, with detailed technique notes and connections.
Our competition team.
Team Grapple Flows
Four IBJJF medalists who map their game in Grapple Flows and represent it on the mats.
- Tara Thornton. Purple belt · Enjoy The Process BJJ. Gold · Pan Pacific · 2026. Silver · Asian Championship · 2026
- Peter Holmes. Purple belt · BETA Academy. Silver · Pans · 2026. Silver · Pans · 2025
- Harold Shi. Purple belt · Varsity Jiu-Jitsu. Silver · Pans · 2025. Gold · American Nationals · 2025
- Justin Lee. Purple belt · Aspire To Inspire. Silver · No-Gi Worlds · 2024. Gold · American Nationals · 2023
Start free. Capture faster, build smarter and improve your game with Pro.
Free — $0 / always
No account needed to build by hand or from a typed note.
- Unlimited flowcharts, built by hand
- Notes and source videos on every card
- Flows from your notes and videos, a few each month
- Free community study maps
Pro — $7.99 / month
Free trial for new Pro members, then $7.99/month. Cancel anytime.
- More flows from your notes, notebook pages and videos
- Richer detail and longer voice notes
- Coach insights and game-plan reviews
- Update a flow from a note
- The full Pro Library, new maps every month
Compare all features and limits
A few things that won’t change.
Grapple Flows is a passion project for the grappling community.
- Here for the long haul. Thousands of grapplers have mapped their game here since 2019, and the same promises still hold.
- Your data stays yours. We’ve never sold user data, and we don’t run an ad business that depends on it. Your flowcharts belong to you.
- Private by default. Sensitive uploads are encrypted and your data is isolated to your account. Nothing is shared unless you share it.
Questions, answered.
What is Grapple Flows?
Grapple Flows brings your Jiu-Jitsu videos, voice notes, techniques, and training details into one connected system. Build BJJ flowcharts by hand or draft them from videos and voice notes, attach source material and personal cues, and organize your game so you can study it before training.
Is Grapple Flows really free?
Yes. Building by hand is always free: making, saving, and sharing your own flowcharts has been free since 2019. Free also includes 5 Auto Flows a month from notes and 1 Auto Flow a month from a video (YouTube, an Instagram Reel, or your own video). Pro includes up to 300 Auto Flows a month from notes and up to 100 a month from video, Enhanced Auto Flow, game-plan reviews, and the Pro Library.
How is this different from a flowchart builder?
The flowchart is the structure for your Jiu-Jitsu study. Grapple Flows also brings in videos and voice recaps, keeps source links and personal notes inside techniques, and groups flows, clips, and photos in collections. You can return to the exact detail and see where it fits in your game, instead of keeping a separate diagram, video folder, and notebook.
Can I edit what Auto Flow drafts?
Yes. Auto Flow creates an editable draft. A draft can miss a detail or misread a transition. Review it against your source, change the techniques and connections, and add your own notes. You stay in control of the finished flow.
Can I turn handwritten notes into a flowchart?
Yes. Take a photo of a page from your notebook, or up to 8 pages at once. Grapple Flows reads the handwriting in order, arrows and indents included, and drafts a flowchart you can edit. Sketches of positions on the page are traced and placed on the cards they belong to. Notebook photos count toward the same monthly Auto Flows as typed and voice notes, on Free and Pro.
What happens to the videos I import?
Auto Flow surfaces the structure of the teaching and always links back to the original source. Your own uploads stay private to your account: encrypted, isolated to you, and never sold.
Does Pro include the original instructional videos?
Pro includes curated study maps of instructionals. It does not include a subscription to the original video platforms or a license to paid instructionals. Sources stay credited and linked; you need your own access to paid videos.
Do I need an account or an app?
You can try the editor without an account. Create a free account to keep your flows across devices. Grapple Flows works in your browser on desktop, iPhone, and Android.
Does it work for no-gi, wrestling, or judo?
Yes. You choose the positions and transitions, so the map can fit BJJ, no-gi, wrestling, judo, or MMA grappling.
Study by position.
Every position page explains the position, what it leads to, and the community flowcharts built on it.
- Closed Guard. Break posture, then armbar, triangle, kimura, or sweep.
- Half Guard. Knee shield and underhook: the sweep-heavy modern bottom game.
- De La Riva. Hook the standing leg and run the modern open guard engine.
- Guard Passing. Pressure and speed passing, from headquarters to the pin.
- Back Control. Seatbelt, hooks, and the highest-percentage finish in the sport.
- Mount. Hold the top pin and open the arm and collar attacks.
- Leg Locks. Heel hooks, knee bars, and ankle locks in one system.
- Takedowns. Singles, doubles, ankle picks, and throws, adapted for BJJ.
Closed Guard · Half Guard · De La Riva · Guard Passing · Back Control · Mount · Leg Locks · Takedowns · Printable BJJ flowcharts
Review your game before class and after.
Start with one position, a video, or something you learned today.