JIU JITSU BENEFITS

Brazilian Jiu Jitsu has become one of the most popular forms of combat throughout the world of Martial Arts. The increasing growth rate of BJJ has seen an extensive intake into academies across the globe. Students that are beginning jiu jitsu will soon see the physical, mental, and spiritual benefits of training in a humbling and integral Martial Art. The art was designed back in the early 1900's, as the Gracie clan embodied the spirit of the warrior. The Gracie's methodology was simple: be a good person, help others around you, and fight anywhere at any time. Many of Helio Gracie's students started to reap the benefits of training extensively in BJJ, and as the art evolved over the years, so did many BJJ fighters.

What This Artice Covers:

• What Are the Physical Benefits
• What Are the Mental Benefits
• What Are the Spiritual Benefits
• How Often Does a Student Need to Train to See Benefits

Athletes that began putting in tremendous time, and effort into improving at Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, started seeing exceptional results. Within months of training athletes would see significant increases in their strength and conditioning, flexibility and dexterity, agility and coordination, resilience and tenacity, as well as functional fitness. The international success of BJJ had become world recognised, as people from all over the world had begun lining the streets in search of joining a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu academy.

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WHAT ARE THE PHYSICAL BENEFITS 

Training in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu has a multitude of physical benefits that athletes will encounter. Some people look to join a Martial Arts academy because they are unhealthy, and overweight. Students may often question why train jiu jitsu, why not karate, or boxing. Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is a fast paced, and dynamic Martial Art that can guarantee a highly intense workout for all students, without the fear of being punched. Most overweight people that join a BJJ Academy will see significant results in the first few months, and this is because BJJ is a full body workout. Many of the specific movements in BJJ are unique, and require students to use muscles on weird angles, with a functional direction. Students will discover that they will increase their strength exponentially, as well as their durability for doing exercise. BJJ involves quick recovery time, as students will often have little rest in between grappling matches. This kind of training will fast track a student from being out of shape, and into an athletic beast. 

Students that put significant time into training BJJ, will also discover how flexible they will become. BJJ warm ups are an extensive full body workout, and incorporate specifically designed movements to help athletes with their flexibility, and their technique. The benefits of becoming more flexible means that students will have a greater chance at avoiding injuries, and they will increase their overall capacity for BJJ movement. Training in a ground fighting Martial Art like BJJ will help students become more physical, as they improve on their athletic capabilities. Training in BJJ isn't just a competitive sport, as the art was initially designed to be a self defense combat. One of the major benefits of training in BJJ is that students will learn many strategies in self defense principles. Being capable of defending your life, or the life of someone you love, has become exceedingly more important in this day of age.

WHAT ARE THE MENTAL BENEFITS 

Brazilian Jiu Jitsu has been described as the best form of therapy that a person can have. Not only does it help a student release their aggression, and frustration, it also challenges them mentally, helping them to forget their troubles and focus on more of a problem solving experience. Stepping onto the mats in a BJJ academy is like stepping into a new world, as students will discover the healing abilities the mats can have on each individual. BJJ can offer students distractions from their outside world, amazing strength and cardio workouts, challenging puzzles to solve, and a fun and respectful experience. These kinds of mental health benefits of brazilian jiu jitsu, can be crucial to a person who is struggling mentally in their life. The Brazilian Jiu Jitsu community is amazing at accepting people from all cultures, and all walks of life. A BJJ Academy is a safe space where students can come to be respected and feel valued. BJJ has an extensive history of helping people with their self esteem, as student's that train consistently will become extremely confident within themself.

BJJ has also proven to help children that suffer from different forms of autism. The challenging puzzles that BJJ has to offer, can help focus the mind of a child that has ADHD, or other forms of autism. The high intensity workout will also give these children significant stress relief, as they learn to deal with their condition. Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is a systematic brand of self defense, and with experienced instructors at the helm, these children will settle into a structured and respectable environment. Sometimes in BJJ students can find themselves stuck in extremely bad positions, and this is a highly stressful situation. Students will learn how to cope while under extreme amounts of pressure and stress, as they will develop pathways to better decision making processes. The mental benefits that Brazilian Jiu Jitsu has on children, and the wider community of people is revolutionary, as this Brazilian art continues to grow in stature and in popularity.

WHAT ARE THE SPIRITUAL BENEFITS

Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is often seen as an extremely brutal form of combat. What can often be overlooked from an outside perspective, is that Brazilian Jiu Jitsu teaches students to be calm, patient and calculating in their game style. Studying BJJ is more than just a series of techniques that a student will learn, it is a lifestyle. The key components to becoming high level in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is how humble and integral a student will become. The philosophy of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu teaches students to live a balanced and healthy life outside of the mats. The belief that efficiency, patience, and control, would ultimately be the key to success for the athlete. Adopting these principles into their personal lives is why the BJJ community is the most caring, and understanding form of combat in the whole Martial Arts world. Training in BJJ will help students develop themselves into a strong character that embodies discipline, structure, honesty, humility, and integrity.

CAN ANYONE TRAIN IN JIU JITSU

The hardest part about training in a Martial Art like Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, is walking through the door in the first place. When the student makes the plunge, and signs up to a BJJ academy they will experience an extremely calm but deadly form of hand to hand combat. Anybody can train in BJJ, as the art was initially designed for a smaller and weaker person to defeat a stronger and larger opponent. Brazilian Jiu Jitsu has a wide variety of people from different ethnic groups, and through different professions, as people from all aspects of life become interested in the Brazilian art. No matter what age a student is, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is for everyone, as even older people can find it will help with their flexibility, mobility and core strength. 

People that will experience significant weight gain, find training in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu will help them lose kilos quickly, all while training in a fun and challenging Martial Art. There is also a large influx of children now training in BJJ, as more than 50% of memberships worldwide are children. BJJ is incredibly well structured, and involves a considerable amount of discipline, which will benefit children immensely. Kids will develop many aspects of their life including how to make friends, work as part of a team, make challenging decisions while under pressure, and all of this while increasing their strength, flexibility, dexterity, and agility.

HOW OFTEN DOES A STUDENT NEED TO TRAIN TO SEE BENEFITS 

One of the most common questions asked by beginners is: how long does it take to learn brazilian jiu jitsu, and due to the complexity of the art it can take several years to master. Traditionally in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu most students will train at least three times per week on average. The more obsessed athlete can train 6 days a week, with some of them even twice per day. It can be extremely hard to reap the benefits that BJJ has to offer only training one day per week, as this makes it exceedingly hard to develop any muscle memory within a practitioner's technique. Training twice per week can be relatively beneficial, as students will start to develop links and understand more of the flow that is involved in BJJ. Essentially for students that train 3 times or more per week, they will see a rather large series of benefits from the art of BJJ. These benefits will include a deeper understanding of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, a highly proficient technical system, and they will also become more resilient as they will experience battle hardening first hand.

IMPORTANT TIPS FOR IMPROVING YOUR BJJ GAME

Learning an intricate form of grappling like Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, requires students to be committed to their learning. To improve in any aspect of a student's life, they need to have the desire to do so. Once a student is committed, then they will have the ability to soak in the knowledge they are taught. BJJ is a Martial Art that can take a long time to progress in, as most practitioners will spend ten years or more to reach the black belt level. Some good bjj tips that all students should know are;ask questions, this is extremely important for a students development. There are no real dumb questions, as all thoughts that a student has, may have relevance to the technique they are learning. It is extremely important for students to get into a good habit of asking questions when they need help No black belt expects a beginner to know everything, as they know how long it can take to become proficient in BJJ.

Take time to drill properly, this means to practice different concepts and techniques. It is no good just glazing over a technique, students must spend the time mastering every aspect of BJJ. One of the most important aspects of improving a student's game is to stick to the fundamentals. Even though some of the best bjj instructionals are tempting to learn, students should not get caught up practising berimbolo back takes, or complicated leg lock variations. This can be a dark rabbit hole to go down, as it can leave extensive holes in the practitioners game style. Understanding the foundations of Jiu Jitsu is imperative for a student if they want a long, and successful career in the art. Having an extensive proficiency in the fundamentals, always helps a student have an answer for any problems they may face during the match. Once a student has learnt the fundamentals, it becomes considerably easier to develop their own system of movement. Learning BJJ is a complicated but simple aspect, as even though the moves may seem complicated, there is a really basic concept involved in all movements of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.

Students should try and remember that BJJ does take time to master, as the first piece of good advice that they will probably receive is to stay calm, breathe, and think about their balance. Most students that begin BJJ start off too aggressive, and use way too much strength. The key component in what makes Brazilian Jiu Jitsu tick, is the appetite for calmness, as the art involves a series of extremely slick and controlled movements, to neutralise and submit their opponents. Using too much muscle is commonly where students go wrong;they think they can out muscle their opponents rather than apply good technique. Even though these days most athletes are all strengthening their bodies extremely well, technique will still always trump power. 

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Students should always be looking to roll frequently, as this is the main way they will battle test all of the techniques they are learning. The rolling time at a BJJ academy can be quite intense, but at the same time it is a great way for the athlete to manifest their abilities. Students should be rolling with all types of different body shapes, and especially with the more skilful belts. This is so the student can receive an appropriate amount of pressure, which will help their long term learning processes. It is also important to roll with students at a lower rank, so the student can work out their flow chains, and practise some of their submissions. Sometimes it can be hard practising these techniques on the higher belts, as they already know how to counter the maneuver. Improving a student's BJJ is all about putting in the work, and students should give themself the best opportunity by jumping into the deep end of BJJ.

Overall the pros of training in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu far outweigh the cons, as even though an athlete can injure themselves, come home sore from training, and contract skin infections, the benefits are incredible. Being a part of a BJJ community helps people from all walks of life fit into an encouraging, and inspiring group of people,all with the common goal of becoming better versions of themself.

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