Josh Hinger- A Best Hingertine BJJ Champion

Josh Hinger is a high-level submission grappler with more than 22 guillotine submissions in Jiu-Jitsu. He has the unique skill to submit his opponent with only one arm which is known as the Hingertine submission. Hingertine is basically Hinger’s version of attempting the guillotine. Hinger is the only American of his time to hold 3-time IBJJF titles in the No-Gi World Championship. He is also the Bronze Medalist of the 2019 ADCC Championship.

The instigator of Hingertine's submission, Josh Hinger was born on 28 May 1982 in Whittier, USA. He spent most of his childhood in the northwestern corner of California known as La Habra.

Josh Hinger joined Sonora High School in Brea and started the practice to become a proficient wrestler.

Josh decided to enhance his wrestling skills and for this purpose, he chose Chaparral High School, Temecula. Chaparral High school was known for its potential achievements in athletic grappling. He moved to Temecula and gave all of his attention to his wrestling career along with his studies.

In 2000, while practicing at the high school in Temecula, he won the CIF (California Interscholastic Federation) tournament in the 145 lbs weight division. He was considered a stand-out wrestler of his time.

After completing higher school in 2002, Hinger continued his wrestling journey and took part in different competitions on the national level. In 2003, Josh Hinger met with his Sonora high school friend who was practicing Jiu-Jitsu. Hinger’s friend asked him to visit his academy. Josh Hinger being a passionate wrestler wanted to excel in his skills. He agreed to go with his friend hoping to learn something new that would help him on the mat.

On 2 July 2003, Hinger visited a Jiu-Jitsu academy with his friend. The Jiu-Jitsu grappling techniques and style of Brazilian grapplers fascinated him during the first session. This class fascinated him and developed his curiosity to know about the grappling style of Brazilians. His curiosity motivated him to attend Jiu-Jitsu classes. In an interview, he recalled his enthusiasm for Jiu-Jitsu:

In 2003, Josh Hinger started Jiu-Jitsu training. After three months of his training on the mat, he got the opportunity to partake in a professional MMA bout. Hinger set a brilliant record in MMA with a 90% success rate till 2005.

Hinger’s unique style to submit his opponent contributed to his success on the mat. However, in an interview, he told that his famous “signature Hingertine” move developed during his MMA career:

His brilliant performance as an MMA athlete helped him to level up his skills and confidence. At the start of 2006, Josh learned his grappling skills under the mentorship of Chris Brennan who had a prominent role in his success. Soon, Josh Hinger became a prominent member of Brennan’s Jiu-Jitsu team. Chris Brennan promoted Josh Hinger to Purple Belt. However, in 2006  Chris decided to close his training center after a dispute. This incident departed the ways of Chris Brennan and Josh Hinger.

Hinger started work with Jason Bukich and Baret Yoshida after moving under the coaching of Chris Brennan. Jason and Baret Yoshida awarded him the Brown Belt.

After receiving his brown belt, Josh Hinger decided to join the renowned Jiu-Jitsu academy, Atos. He moved to San Diego, joined the Atos team, and started work with Andre Galvao. He swiftly earned the respect as a proficient grappler among his teammates. Andre Galvao awarded him a Black Belt on 7 December 2013 in appreciation of his performance.

In 2017, the ACBJJ World Championship was held between the two famous wrestlers and grapplers. Josh Hinger confronted Isaque Bahiense on the mat. This was one of the fastest submission bouts from all the BJJ tournaments.

In the beginning, Hinger and Isaque Bahiense tried hard to take down each other by executing different techniques. However, that was the day in the favor of Hinger and he applied a powerful guillotine choke that didn’t allow his opponent enough time to escape.

The match ended with Isaque Bahiense tapping out after 2 minutes.

In the 2018 IBJJF World No-Gi Championship, Josh Hinger and Matheus Diniz faced each other on the mat.

This bout started with the takedown struggle of both grapplers. Hinger and Matheus tried to pull each other but failed in the first 3 minutes of the match. Joshua tried the armbar that was successfully passed out by his opponent. After that, Josh got the lead and secured 8 points by maintaining his mount position.  

After 10 minutes, Josh Hinger secured his Gold Medal and won the championship by points.

This was the exciting fight of the 2018 World No-Gi IBJJF Championship. The proficient guillotine grappler Josh Hinger and Marcos Tinoco were in front of each other on the mat.

In the beginning, Marcos pulled Josh with his potential close guard. Marcos Tinoco maintained his dominant position for 2 minutes. Then Josh passes the powerful guard of his opponent by using his extraordinary defensive skills.

This match finished when Josh Hinger applied his favorite guillotine choke. His aggressive guillotine attempt forced Marcos Tinoco to tap.  

oshua Hinger v Rafael "Formiga" Barbosa / World Master 2020

Joshua Hinger vs Keenan Cornelius / American National No-Gi 2017

Joshua Hinger VS Alan do Nascimento / World Master 2019

Photo credit: @hingerbjj