Why it's called the estima lock
Born in a preparation session and used in competition for the first time in a world semi-final. It is also the only technique in this series that made a rulebook change.
BJJ Square · Updated on 08/11/2026
The Estima brothers — Braulio and Victor — are Brazilians from Gracie Barra, based in Birmingham. In 2009, in training for the ADCC, a foot lock nobody was looking for comes out.
The competition debut is at the 2009 ADCC Worlds in Barcelona, the -88 kg semi-final: Braulio against Rafael Lovato Jr. After a sweep, while Lovato works from half guard, Braulio grabs the foot, drops backwards and uses his chest to bend it, driving with his hips. Lovato taps. Braulio then goes on to win the tournament, beating André Galvão in the final.
Two years later Victor makes it famous at the 2011 IBJJF No-Gi Worlds, finishing practically every opponent with that hold.
Which of the two brothers?
The sources split, and not in a reconcilable way: one credits the development to Victor, who is said to have refined it while training his brother for the ADCC; another to Braulio, who was the first to pull it off in competition.
Note With a shared surname, the question “which of the two” never had a practical answer to give — and perhaps that is why nobody ever bothered to settle it. The name works for both.
It came out of a defeat
Victor tells how they got there: “*Before that I didn't really believe in footlocks; it was only after the Rio Open, where I got submitted by Raphael Abi Rihan, that I started doing them in training*”.
In other words: the lock arrived because one of the two had it done to him. This happens often in jiu-jitsu — the things that beat you are the ones you end up learning, and in this case the kimura and the estima lock have more in common than it seems.
Then came the rulebook
The IBJJF later restricted the technique to brown and black belts, because of the injury risk. It is the exact reverse of the baratoplata: there a rule generated a technique, here a technique generated a rule.
The other words you will hear at the gym, explained one by one: BJJ glossary.
Frequently asked questions
- Who are the Estima brothers?
- Braulio and Victor Estima, Brazilian black belts from Gracie Barra, based in Birmingham in the United Kingdom. Both with a significant international record.
- When was the estima lock used for the first time?
- At the 2009 ADCC Worlds in Barcelona, in the -88 kg semi-final, where Braulio Estima submitted Rafael Lovato Jr.
- Which of the two brothers developed the technique?
- The sources do not agree: one credits Victor, who is said to have refined it in training, another Braulio, who was the first to use it in competition.
- Is the estima lock allowed in competition?
- Under the IBJJF rules it is reserved for brown and black belts, because of the injury risk. At the lower belts it is not permitted.
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- Who names jiu-jitsu techniquesAlmost never the people who invented them. Often not even the people who used them. Behind the names of these holds sit four rules that have been repeating for more than seventy years.
- Why it's called the baratoplataThe name is half a cockroach and half a rulebook. This is the technique that exists because a rule banned another one.
- Why it's called the kimuraThe most famous hold in jiu-jitsu carries the name of the man who used it against Hélio Gracie, not of the man who invented it. And it is a defeat the Gracies were the first to tell.