If you are familiar with mixed martial arts, you may have heard of Brazilian jiu jitsu. If you live in New York, you can learn about the discipline at the various NYC jiu jitsu studios, where they teach various things you need to know about NYC and jiu jitsu. If you don’t, there are a variety of mixed martial arts studios in the country where they know teach Brazilian jiu jitsu, or you can see the sport whenever it is on television.
Anyhow, the idea behind Brazilian jiu jitsu, is, as Wikipedia puts it, that “BJJ promotes the concept that a smaller, weaker person can successfully defend against a bigger, stronger assailant by using leverage and proper technique, taking the fight to the ground – most notably by applying joint-locks and chokeholds to defeat the other person.” So that means that the proverbial 98-pound weakling that you may remember from Charles Atlas ads will no longer get sand kicked in his face, but will be able to fight back against a bigger opponent, even despite being smaller and weaker.
What you need to know about Brazilian Jiu Jitsu
According to Jiu-jitsu.net, Brazilian jiu-jitsu may indeed be superior to other martial arts. The site says that it “was designed as a fighting style to defeat other martial arts, where styles like Boxing, Karate, Kung Fu and Tae Kwon Do all specialize in striking someone, none of them present solutions for someone who is pinned on the ground.” It also notes that “Jiu-jitsu offers solutions for defending against striking attacks while standing and on the ground in addition to all methods of grappling attacks.”
What that means is that Brazilian jiu jitsu involves not just standing and striking, but ground attacks. But while striking is important – both striking against an opponent, and defending against strikes, much of Brazilian jiu-jitsu is involved with ground moves.
About.com notes that “Brazilian jiu jitsu is an art based in ground fighting. Along with this, it teaches takedowns, takedown defense, ground control, and especially submissions. Submissions refer to holds that either cut off an opponent’s air supply (chokes) or look to take advantage of a joint (such as armbar.)”
In addition, much of Brazilian jiu jitsu involves what is known as the guard position, also known as grappling. That involves one Brazilian jiu jitsu participant wrapping their legs around the other person to limit their movement, About.com says. There are various ways, of course, to do the guard positions, including closed guard, open guard, and pulling guard. The more advanced you develop in the sport, the more you can learn and grow as a fighter.
How can you learn Brazilian Jiu Jitsu
If you want to learn Brazilian jiu jitsu, it is something you need to personally experience, rather than just read about. So if you live in the New York area, you might want to get started by going to an NYC jiu jitsu studio like Ronin Athletics and learning the techniques there. Good luck.
Lisa Swan writes on a variety of blogs.