WHY IS BJJ SO POPULAR

Brazilian Jiu Jitsu has exploded onto the world scene, especially in the last few years with the international success of ADCC and IBJJF tournaments. Many famous jiu jitsu practitioners are competing in televised events in countries all over the world. There has also been a tremendous amount of success with the rise of Mixed Martial Arts, as organisations like the UFC and One championship are leading the way. The popularity of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu has impacted the community in an extremely positive way, as many women and children are taking the plunge and learning a highly successful and formidable style of combat. 

What This Article Covers:

• What Is BJJ
• Community Feels
• Self Defense
• No Limitations on Age
• BJJ Is Just Fun

The art of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu has gone through significant developments since Helio Gracie created the system. Many pioneers over the years have added to the evolution of the grappling art by injecting their own bjj philosophy and ingenuity, making the success of BJJ an inevitability. As the sport grows so does the development of its core principles, as athletes across the globe are using their own creativity to add different dimensions to many concepts involved in the art.

One of the most effective submissions is the kimura.  Learn it directly from one of the best BJJ competitors on the planet!

WHAT IS BJJ

Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is a highly complex grappling art that has self defense components, and a sporting aspect. In the self defense version, BJJ utilises hand to hand combat techniques that will help many students of the art defend themselves in real life situations. Consistency in the Martial Art, gives practitioners a high level of understanding when it comes to situations that need quick reaction time, and a fast paced decision making process. With the sporting aspect of BJJ it has become an international success, with many practitioners competing in tournaments worldwide. In brazilian jiu jitsu two opponents start on the feet, as they attempt to utilise takedown maneuvers which have aspects of wrestling and judo combined. Once the fight hits the mats, the high paced transitional and technical aspect is combined with a wealth of knowledge to achieve dominant control positions, and submission holds like chokes and joint locks.

COMMUNITY FEELS

There are many reasons why BJJ has become extremely popular. One of the main reasons is the community that surrounds the Martial Art. Considering how brutal the sport can be, the community of people that are involved are among some of the most amazing people in Martial Arts. A BJJ Academy is all about respect, humility, integrity, encouragement and understanding. Anyone that gets involved with BJJ, speaks very highly about the culture of the Martial Art. Some Martial Arts are very standoffish, and have been known to raise bullies, but BJJ is unlike the rest and has its own identity. All members of a BJJ Academy are extremely involved with everyone's learning, as they are there to offer guidance and nurture people from all walks of life. There are many people involved in BJJ that have mental health issues, and have been abused in some form, which speaks volumes about BJJ and how they embrace all members of their academy.

SELF DEFENSE

The popularity of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and its self defense aspect is becoming more visible. Nowadays the world is becoming increasingly violent with the prospect of altercations are exceedingly evident. BJJ has a self defense aspect that is constantly evolving, and is being taught to many practitioners worldwide. Hand to hand combat involved in BJJ, offers a unique and clinical way to execute defensive and attacking maneuvers. It is extremely important for women and children to learn self defense techniques, as most academies offer this concept to their students. The Gracie University in California offers women's empowered programs and junior combatives programs, so that children and women in jiu jitsu can flourish. This will help them become self confident, and competent in defending their own lives. Learning how to defend yourself is an extremely inviting notion, hence why BJJ is becoming comprehensively popular across the board.

FULL CONTACT INTENSIVE TRAINING 

A popular reason that people choose Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is because of its full contact sparring. It is extremely hard to train full contact in most Martial Arts, as injuries become a common occurrence. Due to the nature of BJJ, practitioners are able to train at a fast pace while still achieving a high standard. When you are dealing with a grappling art it is easier to control an opponent, and still attempt maneuvers without causing injury to a training partner. Training this way in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is a great way to receive real life scenario training, which can be extremely hard to find in other Martial Arts. Learning how to make the right decisions while under an extreme amount of stress and pressure, is a skill set that is very hard to train. Due to the systematic approach of BJJ, it has become possible for students to excel in this style of combat.

NO LIMITATIONS ON AGE

Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is a Martial Art that is suitable for people of any age. Kids as young as 3 or 4 can start training in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, as most of the beginners classes for kids consist of very little technical application. Instead they heavily rely on basic concepts, and different games that help build skills in teamwork and general fundamentals. Because parents can bring their young children to BJJ,  this means that parents can help fast track their children in many aspects of their lives. BJJ teaches many jiu jitsu principles like self discipline, respect, confidence, teamwork, and many forms of physical fitness and core strengthening components. There is no limitation on how old a person can be to start training in BJJ, as people as old as 60 and 70 have been known to practise the grappling art. Because of the health benefits attached, as well as the self defense components, BJJ literally is for anyone.

HEALTH BENEFITS 

There are a host of health benefits attached to training in an art like Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. There is functional fitness involved that helps students from all ages and sizes improve their overall capacity to engage in movement. BJJ involves using core strength and various other muscles that a student never knew they had. There is also a significant increase in many other attributes like increased mobility, dexterity, flexibility and agility, as these elements can help a child or an adult become more adapted to an increased ability of overall fitness. It is quite common to see students that are overweight and are struggling with their fitness start BJJ. Through dedication, hard work and perseverance, these students will lose kilos and become healthier at an extremely rapid rate.

There are other significant benefits to training in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, and these are all to do with the mental health aspect. Many students will seek out BJJ as a means for therapy, or a way to regain control in their otherwise out of control life. Mental health issues like depression, anxiety, autism and many forms of abuse related issues, can be extremely hard to deal with. A great aspect about BJJ is firstly how welcoming and guiding the coaching staff are, as well as understanding of many of these mental health issues. Secondly, when a student is dealing with any of these conditions, coming to a BJJ Academy will help exponentially with a student's well being. Training at an academy will give a student the tools they need to navigate their way through many of the hurdles in their life. Friendships and camaraderie that students receive at a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Club, are unmatched by any other fighting style, and is why jiu jitsu is the best Martial Art in the world. 

TELEVISED EXPOSURE 

One of the big reasons why BJJ has become so popular is because it has a wide range of televised exposure. Nowadays with the rise of No Gi competition there have been a large number of high level athletes competing on the big screen. Athletes like Gordon Ryan, Craig Jones, Lachlan Giles, Andre Galvao, Mikey Musumeci, Geo Martinez, Nicky Ryan and Tye Ruotulo have all starred on prestigious events like ADCC, Who's Number One, Fight 2 Win, and Boa Super 8. The success of these style of events have raised the bar in the notoriety of the sport. Due to the streaming services of Flow Grappling and UFC Fight Pass, many of these high level tournaments are now extremely accessible to many people all around the world.

There has also been a significant rise in the admiration of BJJ, this is a result of exposure on events like the UFC and One championship. Many Mixed Martial Artists are now utilising Brazilian Jiu Jitsu techniques to finish their fights. Going back to the very first UFC, Royce Gracie showcased his Gracie Jiu Jitsu techniques against all three opponents to win the event, as he began a rise in popularity for the sport. The evolution of BJJ in MMA has seen an increased spike in submission grappling inside the octagon. Athletes like Charles Oliveira, Jon Jones, Demian Maia, BJ Penn, Frank Mir, Roger Gracie, and Ronaldo Souza have all become extremely successful showcasing their submission ferocity inside their MMA fights.

CELEBRITY ENDORSEMENT 

Another valuable reason why BJJ has become so popular, is due to the significant rise of celebrities that train bjj. Nowadays celebrities are idolised by the masses, as each celebrity has millions of followers on social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. The influence that these high profile celebrities have on the community is exponential, because when a celebrity endorses something it usually goes through the roof in sales. Luckily for BJJ there has been a rather large number of celebrities that are starting the journey in BJJ. Many of these famous people are showcasing the Brazilian Art throughout their social media platforms. This means that there is tremendous exposure for the general population to understand what Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is all about. Many of these celebrities have already reached high levels in the sport, actors like Ed O'Neill, Scott Caan, Joe Rogan, and Joel Tudor have already earnt their Black belts in BJJ. Other actors like Ashton Kutcher, Dave Bautista, and Jason Statham have also reached higher levels of BJJ, as they head towards their Black belts. As long as famous celebrities like these guys are representing BJJ, there will always be significant rises in the popularity of the sport.

BJJ IS JUST FUN

The art of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is a very complex Martial Art to learn, but aside from all the technical aspects it's just plain fun. There are many elements in Jiu Jitsu that are extremely playful and give students an extreme amount of enjoyment. Most people may remember growing up with their siblings and wrestling over toys, although our parents always used to split us up, the element of competition was always there. Training in a BJJ facility becomes incredibly fun to wrestle your friends, as there is always a competitive edge and bragging rights attached. BJJ is basically human chess, as practitioners will play the most strategic game of cat and mouse they have ever seen. The complexity of Jiu Jitsu has an infinite amount of levels, which makes the art extremely challenging and extremely enjoyable as they try to conquer all those levels.

When we are talking about children in BJJ this can be even more fun for them. As kids have an innocent and playful nature, they will enjoy the high spirited and friendly atmosphere of a BJJ Academy. Instructors will always use playful bjj terms for beginners, to help them adapt to Jiu Jitsu concepts. Terms like cheeseburger grip, stomp the bug, whale's tail, incy wincy spider and backpack, can all be extremely fun for children and help them understand the concept that the instructor is trying to teach. The fun doesn't stop there as many of the warmup drills include fun animal movements like bear crawls, crocodile crawls, gorilla passes, frog jumps and crab walks.

One of the most effective submissions is the kimura.  Learn it directly from one of the best BJJ competitors on the planet!

Lessons will usually end with fun games for the kids to play, as most of these games have BJJ concepts involved. Teaching children is all about keeping them engaged and making sure they enjoy their lesson, this will ensure that the child sticks with the Martial Art and endeavours to reach higher goals in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.

These are just some of the reasons why BJJ has become so popular in today's Martial Arts. The growth rate of BJJ across the globe is rising significantly, as the sport endeavours to become the most popular Martial Art in the world.

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