Not Just For Sport: BJJ Is Self Defense
Posted by Corey Kuropas on
There is a major misconception made about Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, that martial artists of other styles always try to bring up. They tend to say that BJJ is only good for sporting applications, but they are mistaken. While some techniques are for sport only, the majority of Jiu Jitsu techniques transfer fine to self defense. While a berimbolo might not be great for a self defense situation, an osoto gari into knee ride into an armbar is very street effective. There are certain reasons why BJJ is superior for self defense over other styles. Here are those reasons.
Joint Locks &Chokes Scientifically Work –
The human body, while complicated is also simple in some ways. The joint locking and choking techniques of Jiu Jitsu will work universally, meaning they will work on the majority of the population. While punching and kicking can sometimes not feel effective, a choke will always put someone to sleep, and an arm lock will always cause a break. Because of that fact, you can always feel confident about what you know.
Giving You A Chance Against Big People –
Going off the last reason why BJJ works well for self defense, is that BJJ gives us a chance to defend ourselves against bigger and stronger people. Even in a fight against someone that might have height or weight over you, your choke will still work against them, as will your joint locks. Speaking from personal experience, the choke is king for self defense. A bigger person is a threat until they are put to sleep by a simple yet effective technique such as a rear naked choke. That size becomes negated.
BJJ Trains With Aliveness –
This is probably one of the important reasons why BJJ works so well in a self defense situation. A lot of styles such as Karate or TKD train “dead”. And by that, I mean it is the way of truly testing your techniques. Most styles use too many useless forms, or katas or spar in unrealistic, point sparring ways. BJJ students train hard, resisting one hundred percent and even training with strikes, similar to MMA. That way we can actually make sure what we are doing will work for real.
Don’t let the naysayers try and proclaim that Jiu Jitsu is just a sport. Jiu Jitsu will work on the mat, in the cage and even in the street. Remember, that it was tested by the Gracie family back in the no rules days, when vale tudo was popular in Brazil. They tested it time and time again with no rule constrictions and it worked. Jiu Jitsu can save your life in a fight. So don’t believe the people that say it won’t work in a real fight, cause it can and it will.
ARE YOU A BJJ FANATICS INSIDER? IF NOT, YOU’RE MISSING OUT!
Take a deep dive on one specific skill per month with the top instructors in the BJJ Fanatics family.
With your subscription you'll get:
- Private Lesson (Masterclass)
- Preview of our Upcoming Daily Deals to better plan your purchases
- Rolling breakdowns & more.
You'll also get At Home Drills to work on, a Preview of our Upcoming Launches & More!
FREE FOR 7 DAYS TRIAL