Brazilian Jujitsu, more frequently referred to by the acronym BJJ, is attracting more and more practitioners around the world as both a sport and a viable self-defense martial art. Its rising popularity is thanks to a variety of factors, but the main reason is because it was, and continues to be used with terrific results in mixed martial arts (MMA) competitions and vale tudo matches.
BJJ is unique in the martial arts realm in that practitioners can attack from what would normally be considered a defensive position and vice versa. This leads many spectators to believe that a BJJ practitioner is defending when he's actually on the attack.
The fundamental principles of BJJ enable a small fighter to overpower a much larger practitioner by applying leverage, and using strong muscles (or multiple muscles) to attack weaker muscles or joints. Early vale tudo videos (Brazilian for "anything goes") show many of these tactics in action.
BJJ fighters can also end a fight with strikes, but these attacks are often opened as a result of traditional BJJ attacks, leaving himself vulnerable in the process; or directly through the application of BJJ attack techniques. BJJ attack techniques are designed to render an opponent unable to continue a fight, either by inflicting damage to a joint or limb, or rendering him immobile or unconscious.
The three primary categories of attack are:
1) Joint Locks: a fighter will isolate one of his opponent's limbs or joints and use leverage to move the joint beyond its intended range of motion. Examples include Americana, arm bars, Kimura, knee bars.
2) Chokes: the word "chokes" is often used interchangeably with "strangles," but the two are very distinct, thought they both focus on the neck. A choke occurs when a practitioners attacks the windpipe of his opponent to cut off or restrict air flow.
3) Strangles: with a strangle, a fighter attempts to cut off the supply of blood to the brain by constricting the carotid arteries. Strangles are seen more often when fighters are wearing gis (rear naked choke being a large exception), which are the traditional training and sparring uniform. You can view BJJ gi videos to see what these look like.
Brazilian Jujitsu is a compelling martial art. It takes a long time to master the many moves and positions, but sparring is excellent for physcial conditioning, and you spar at almost full speed, making the transition to self-defense situations much easier. To see how BJJ stacks up against other arts, you can view a large number of vs videos, which will showcase two martial arts head to head, e.g. kung fu vs. BJJ.
BJJ is unique in the martial arts realm in that practitioners can attack from what would normally be considered a defensive position and vice versa. This leads many spectators to believe that a BJJ practitioner is defending when he's actually on the attack.
The fundamental principles of BJJ enable a small fighter to overpower a much larger practitioner by applying leverage, and using strong muscles (or multiple muscles) to attack weaker muscles or joints. Early vale tudo videos (Brazilian for "anything goes") show many of these tactics in action.
BJJ fighters can also end a fight with strikes, but these attacks are often opened as a result of traditional BJJ attacks, leaving himself vulnerable in the process; or directly through the application of BJJ attack techniques. BJJ attack techniques are designed to render an opponent unable to continue a fight, either by inflicting damage to a joint or limb, or rendering him immobile or unconscious.
The three primary categories of attack are:
1) Joint Locks: a fighter will isolate one of his opponent's limbs or joints and use leverage to move the joint beyond its intended range of motion. Examples include Americana, arm bars, Kimura, knee bars.
2) Chokes: the word "chokes" is often used interchangeably with "strangles," but the two are very distinct, thought they both focus on the neck. A choke occurs when a practitioners attacks the windpipe of his opponent to cut off or restrict air flow.
3) Strangles: with a strangle, a fighter attempts to cut off the supply of blood to the brain by constricting the carotid arteries. Strangles are seen more often when fighters are wearing gis (rear naked choke being a large exception), which are the traditional training and sparring uniform. You can view BJJ gi videos to see what these look like.
Brazilian Jujitsu is a compelling martial art. It takes a long time to master the many moves and positions, but sparring is excellent for physcial conditioning, and you spar at almost full speed, making the transition to self-defense situations much easier. To see how BJJ stacks up against other arts, you can view a large number of vs videos, which will showcase two martial arts head to head, e.g. kung fu vs. BJJ.
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