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.