Full Circle: How Jiu Jitsu is Unique as a Martial Art

Brazilian Jiu Jitsu has certain characteristics and abilities to offer its practitioners that other styles do not.

Carlos & Helio Gracie

To put it simply,

BJJ enables you to control and determine the damage that is done to someone depending on the severity of the situation. Whether you are training at your Academy or find yourself in a situation where you have to defend yourself, the level of damage you decide to inflict on an attacker is completely up to you.

One might argue that you can control the damage done with any style you practice, and that might be true to some extent. But with BJJ there is a much broader scale and wider range of options.

Consider the following scenarios:

You are at a family party, and someone drinks too much to the point that they need to be removed from the house.

A friend or acquaintance has drug issues and gets out of control.

You are a bouncer and you want to remove a patron with as little damage as possible.

You're out to dinner and a fight breaks out at the table next to you and threatens to overcome your table.

The above situations are ones where you want as minimal damage done to the person as possible. You have the option of taking them to the ground and immobilizing them to the point where neither you or the person you are controlling is a danger to anyone else.

If the situation is more serious where you or someone you love is in danger, you have the option of inflicting damage, choking your attacker unconscious, breaking joints, or all of the above. 

Choking your attacker unconscious is something that will cause no physical damage to the person and they will be temporarily incapacitated. 

Rear Naked Choke by Rickson Gracie

You must have the proper training to be able to apply proper choking techniques. Contrary to popular belief, the correct choking technique does not stop the person from breathing. It cuts off the blood flow to the brain rendering them unconscious for an undetermined amount of time.

By doing so, you avoid physically damaging someone which in turn avoids any trouble with the authorities. There aren't many striking styles that can enable you to leave your attacker unharmed. Chances are, if you are training in a Martial Art that only does striking techniques, any damage results in the person being hurt.

Further, while there are grappling styles out there that can teach you to throw/control/submit someone (Judo, Wrestling, Sambo, Catch-as-Catch-Can, etc.), the teaching approach and training methodology of controlling an opponent is different than in BJJ.

BJJ follows a specific methodology of teaching that is based upon realistic self defense scenarios. The hierarchy of positions and even the point system in modern BJJ competitions reflects the positional strategy that BJJ employs in a self-defense scenario. It is a result of tried and tested methods from years of challenge matches, streetfights, and prize-fights. Certain positions in grappling are superior than others and also enable you to strike the opponent with them being able to strike you back.

Kron Gracie with a Collar Choke from the Mount

This is how training in grappling without striking can be beneficial to prepare for when strikes do matter. As long as you train how obtain a superior position, it doesn't matter if you get hit or not. The strikes will be ineffective due to your body's relationship to your opponent.

The systematic strategy of closing the gap (rendering strikes ineffective), clinching, taking the opponent down, achieving a superior position, and submitting them, is the primary factor in Jiu Jitsu's renowned success against all other martial arts styles.

That strategy alone in addition to emphasizing grappling techniques put Jiu Jitsu in the spotlight because it enabled BJJ fighters to easily beat their opponents in early NHB(No Holds Barred for you newbies) matches.

For lessons in BJJ history, watch the following videos:

Ancient Samurai unarmed battle

Let's not forget that in ancient battle periods in Japan, Grappling techniques flourished. If you lost your weapon on the battlefield, you had to face your attackers wearing full armor, unarmed. Strikes were therefore rendered useless, favoring limb breaking and choking techniques.





Multiple Attackers

People who try to discount BJJ love to jump on this topic.

"Grappling is great for one-on-one combat, but what about multiple opponents in a street confrontation? You don't want to be on the ground".

My answer is always:

"Of course you don't want to be on the ground. Most of the time, you are on the ground because it's NOT your choice."

If there are multiple attackers and there intention is to get you down, most likely they will succeed no matter what style you study. 

There are actually positions like "Knee-on-belly" that enable you to control your opponent without actually being on the ground.

As far as people who train primarily in striking styles, being well versed in BJJ will actually help you to stay on your feet and utilize the stand-up arts that you know. And if you do wind up on the ground, guess what? You are well versed in how to escape and get back to your feet.

Aikido is a great style to get an idea of how to maneuver while standing with multiple attackers. The more you train in BJJ, the more you will be able to actually stay on your feet long enough to apply that knowledge.


FULL CIRCLE

Nowadays, to be ready for different realistic scenarios and/or fight in MMA, you have to be versed in all ranges of combat. Striking, Clinching, Grappling, & Ground Fighting.

Carlos Gracie applies a Flying Armlock on Helio

I have trained in other arts besides BJJ & Isshinryu Karate. These include Aikido, Jeet Kune Do, Wrestling, Muay Thai, Kali, Escrima, and Judo.

One thing that I see as a flaw in certain traditional martial arts is that they break down techniques so far that they lose the sense of reality. Most of the time they are standing still and everything is moving too slowly to be real. You then start to rely on movements of small muscle groups rather than large muscle groups. 

This then causes the technique to fail against resistance and live opponents. You have to keep the big picture in mind and 

always account for resistance and stress.

The filter to determine useful techniques in any martial art is an art that proves their techniques in a live resisting environment. 

This will ensure best practices, teaching methods, and constant evolvement.

I’m a huge fan of MMA. I think that what the Gracie family did with the UFC woke up the martial arts world and changed it forever. That and Bruce Lee’s past contribution to the martial arts have shaped the future. 

Grappling in itself is more effective than other styles when the opponent doesn't know how to fight on the ground. It’s gotten to the point now where most martial artists train in all combat ranges. 

However, you have to develop a decent level of proficiency in all ranges. You can't expect success if you just slap a few techniques together from different arts and then say "I'm gonna fight in MMA".  You have to dedicate yourself in each style of study and apply it to truly be effective in MMA. 

I see martial artists truly evolving into being "combat athletes", where everything is taken into account (different styles, fitness, nutrition, injury prevention, strength and conditioning, etc). At the same time, individual styles will flourish for the people who enjoy the traditional arts, because they have different goals for their 
training. 

Not everyone wants to be a UFC champion.

Bruce Lee shows an Armbar on the set of "Enter The Dragon"

Fitness & Long Term Benefits of Jiu Jitsu

Jiu Jitsu is one of the few activities you can do that covers so many bases at once. 

Triangle Choke - High % Submission hold in BJJ

Learning how to realistically defend yourself (which builds self-confidence). 

It is a rapidly growing international sport. 

It teaches you how to move your body efficiently (which translates to any physical endeavor) .

It builds your glycolytic and oxidative pathways simultaneously, which in turn increases your fitness level.

It gets you thinking about your health and how you treat your body, 
because that's the best way to increase your performance in the art.

It builds self confidence because you're constantly testing yourself in live situations.

It increases your awareness of not only yourself and your emotions, 
but of your surroundings wherever you go.

*Every type of skill is involved:

Speed
Balance
Coordination
Cardiovascular/Respiratory Endurance 
Strength
Stamina
Flexibility 
Power
Agility
Accuracy

... All of these are built and increased by using another human being as your piece of resistance equipment.

*See CrossFit's "What is Fitness" for an in depth look at the "10 General Physical Skills"

As an example:
In a matter of 1 second,
you could go from concentric, eccentric, static, and isometric movements
all from under your opponent.

It is truly a physical activity that requires no equipment.

IT IS HUMAN CHESS IN ITS PUREST FORM

There is nothing more unpredictable than another human being's physical movements in relation to yours. This in turn sharpens your reaction time. It forces you to stay on balance, stabilize your core, and keep your form on point at all times. All of those things strengthen your nervous system through proprioception.

The brain integrates information from proprioception and from the sensory system into its overall sense of body position, movement, and acceleration.

Proprioception
The sense of the relative position of neighbouring parts of the body and strength of effort being employed in movement. 

Competing as a blue-belt in No-Gi 2006

I think this sums it up:


"Being able to control, throw, and submit someone who is resisting and trying to do the same thing represents the highest level of physical skill in human movement, athletics, and sport."
Greg Melita

Gymnast- The ultimate power-strength-bodyweight ratio.

I like to think of Jiu Jitsu as closely related to the Olympic sport of Gymnastics in the physical sense.

You are developing the same attributes but in combative form with another person.

Teddy had it right 100 years ago

Jiu Jitsu is a rare form of "technique vs. strength". Utilizing body mechanics and leverage to overcome pure strength increases your fitness and teaches you realistic self-defense simultaneously.

Size, Strength, Power, & Weight by themselves are irrelevant against sound technique.





JIU JITSU MAKES US ALL EQUAL

For me personally, 

Being able to control and submit another person who is significantly stronger and heavier than you to the point where they cannot physically do anything in their power to stop it,

is something so amazing that you have to experience to believe. It is how I got so passionate about the art to begin with.

This in turn makes you humble because you know the power that you have within you. 

That builds character.

Receiving my Black Belt from Milton Regis & Grand Master Francisco Mansor of the Kioto BJJ Academy

"ALL KNOWLEDGE IS ULTIMATELY, SELF KNOWLEDGE" 
Bruce Lee

"How much can you know about yourself if you've never been in a fight?"
Tyler Durden



Perhaps the greatest benefit of Jiu Jitsu is the knowledge you gain about yourself.
How will you react when you are in a situation that you cannot escape?

Will you gather up the courage to bounce back after being submitted by someone smaller and weaker than you who had more training?

It is a constant process of building up and tearing down.






In most disciplines and sports, you always hear people preaching to
"check your ego at the door".
That sounds great, but a lot of people hide it and never actually do it.

When you are physically unable to stop someone from making you "give up" for fear of being put unconscious by a choke or having a limb broken,

it FORCES you let go of your ego and LEARN. 

Your Ego is further tested when you realize that it is not about how big and strong you are anymore. You can tell right away who has trouble with accepting these facts, because they don't show up again or quit too soon.

BJJ is the best bang for your buck:

Fitness, Self Defense, Exercise, Community, Life Lessons, Competition, Self Knowledge


It builds a sense of community with the practitioners of your school and anyone you meet that also participates.




I like to think of Jiu Jitsu as a form of Tradecraft.
To build proficiency takes lots of time and dedication.
It is a skill that is build into your muscle memory.
Once you achieve that skill, you wouldn't trade it for any amount of money.

I'm more impressed by someone who has honed a personal skill that takes years of dedication than I am by the objects they've purchased with their credit card.

It is widely known that it could take up to 10 years of consistent training to achieve Black Belt status in the art of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.

In my opinion, achieving this status means that you have an incredibly high level of knowledge in the subject of body mechanics and human movement.











Of course you could argue that it doesn't take as long as 10 years to achieve a Black Belt.
It is all relative. People who train Jiu Jitsu full-time as a lifestyle everyday, and high level Competitors will achieve their black belt in far less time, but for the most part, 

IT TAKES A LONG TIME.

What you cannot argue.... is that once you reach a certain level in the art, it is a skill that will never leave you and change your life.

Mentality for First Time BJJ Competitors

MENTALITY FOR FIRST TIME BJJ COMPETITORS

by Greg Melita

Competing in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is one of the fastest ways to

 increase your technique in the art. 

Constantly testing your skills in a live environment against opponents 

of different size and skill only increases your technique threshold.

 Unfortunately, most first-time Jiu Jitsu practitioners 

have the wrong mindset or outlook on BJJ competition.

Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is a martial art of empiricism. 

Meaning, it is trained in realistic feedback scenarios with a resisting, live opponent.

This sort of training lends itself well to separating what works and what doesn't.

My Flying Armbar @ LI Pride BJJ 2008

Having the right mindset when competing for the first time is so important and can directly influence your motivation to compete in the future.

I like to tell students competing for the first time to think of it as a competitive open mat. It is a chance to gain more mat time against people you've never rolled with before at your age bracket, weight, and belt level. 

Of course you want to win and be aggressive, so go for it, 

but that doesn't mean you have to put immense pressure on yourself. 

Often times, people are very overwhelmed by the pressure of competition. 

They say they don't want to embarrass the school, they don't want to get hurt, or they think they are not good enough to compete! 

Nothing could be farther from the truth.

NEWSFLASH: you get better by competing!

Being "under pressure" forces your technique to be razor sharp.

2 things happen to MOST competitors when competing for the first time:

1. Forgetting to breathe

2. Resisting with force

The combination of the two is not favorable for competition. 

Both are the result of nerves and anxiety that you aren't used to controlling.

Tensing up in addition to freezing and holding your breath is only going to tire you out, and tire you out quickly.

They key point to understand is that you're NOT going to completely "avoid" them simply because you're reading them in this article. 

It's something you have to experience and learn from in order to get better and 

realize WHY technique is KING.

Having said that, here are a couple tips for your first competition:

HAVE FUN!

Be excited to display your technique.

Fight your opponent's techniques, not the opponent himself.

THINK OF YOUR FIRST COMPETITION AS ESTABLISHING A BASELINE FOR WHERE YOU STAND AS A JIU JITSU PRACTITIONER.

BREATHING

In simple terms, think of it as every burst of energy you expend requires a breath. 

This will keep you in the mindset of breathing consistently.

The only thing in question from there is your conditioning and how much you've trained your body in the appropriate energy pathways for Jiu Jitsu (Glycolytic and Oxidative). 

RESISTING WITH FORCE

Getting out of the habit of resisting with force comes with mat time and practice. Knowing when to be tight and when to be loose and relaxed comes with experience.

Improving your technique through competition and mat time is the answer.

GOOD BREATHING WILL ALSO HELP YOU NOT BE AS TENSE.

If you've ever rolled with a high level practitioner lighter than yourself,

you know that they can instantly go from being fluid 

to feeling like they weigh 500 pounds!

Here's my favorite quote on competing by none other than the legend himself