Brazilian Jiu Jitsu

Most physical altercations and sexual assaults end up on the ground. To effectively deal with this type of situation, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (BJJ) students spend the majority of their training time on the ground.  If you know BJJ and are involved in a self defense situation which goes to the ground, then you will have the advantage. The art has proven itself highly effective on the street as well as in head-to-head competition against other martial arts. To see Brazilian Jiu Jitsu in action, go to YouTube.com and perform a search on Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. There are numerous video demonstations as well as challenge matches. For example, check out Rorion Gracie vs. Hapkido expert. Professor Gracie systematically takes him to the ground, advances his position and submits his opponent numerous times.

• Positional Strategy. Students are taught a hierarchy of positions on the ground, from the worst possible positions to the most advantageous. Students learn to easily escape from poor positions through the use of technique, not strength, to improve their position. This simple hierarchy becomes ingrained into memory so students will instinctively remember them under the extreme stress of a self defense situation.



• Strong emphasis on efficient techniques. BJJ techniques employ leverage and biomechanics so a small person can TRUELY defend themselves against a much larger attacker. As an example, the armbar is a core submission in BJJ. The BJJ practioner's hips (large muscles) are matched against the attacker's isolated elbow joint (the biceps, a small muscle). It is not even a fair fight when using your large muscles against the attacker's small muscles. 

100% live training. Each martial arts style has a fundamental question to ask: Should dangerous techniques be incorporated into the curriculum or not? Examples include eye gouging, hard strikes to the face or groin, etc. These techniques cannot truely be practiced "live" because only one person would be left standing at the end of class. Oftentimes, these dangerous techniques are practiced as "katas" (solo exercises using precise form). Unfortunately, attacker's come in all shapes and sizes. In addition, they don't always move where they are supposed to. Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is very safe to practice at 100% speed. If one person is in danger, he or she simply "taps out" to signal a start over. Whereas, if two people are exchanging blows at 100%, someone is going to get hurt. If a martial art claims a technique is too dangerous to practice, how do you know if it will work in the street? The founders of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, the Gracie Family, stripped those dangerous techniques out of the curriculum so this art could be practiced at 100% against other live "thinking & evolving" opponents. Students learn to effectively defend and attack against opponents of all shapes and sizes.

• Gi or No-Gi. In Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, all students begin their BJJ journey wearing a gi. The gi creates many offensive options for BJJ students. It also requires a more precise defensive game compared to practicing without the gi. For example, the basic collar choke is a core gi submission which can easily be translated into "street use" on anyone wearing a shirt. For those students who choose to train without the gi, they will not learn how to defend against these basic gi submissions. They will also struggle with how easily clothing can be used to control movement. On the flip side, the gi practioner will feel comfortable with, or without, the gi.

Partner Links www.planetlabel.com - Far and away the best custom label company that we have worked with. Custom T-Shirts at CustomInk.com Martial Arts Mats - GREATMATS.COM offers martial arts mats for BJJ, MMA, Karate, Taekwondo, Boxing Gyms, Judo and Juijitsu with many satisfied customers nationwide.