What Is Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu?
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) is a martial art and combat sport that focuses on grappling and whose main theme is the skill of controlling a resisting opponent in ways that force him to submit.
Because control is generally easier on the ground than in a standing position, much of the techniques of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu are centered around the skill of taking an opponent down to the ground and wrestling for dominant control positions from where the opponent can be rendered harmless.
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu was derived from the Japanese martial art of Kodokan Judo in the early 20th century, which was itself then a recently-developed system (founded in 1882), based on multiple schools (or Ryu) of Japanese jujutsu.
Brazilian Jiu Jitsu promotes the principle that one of lesser size and strength can control and overcome a person with greater size, strength and aggression. This is done by utilizing superior leverage, grip and position upon your opponent; most notably by applying joint-locks and chokeholds to defeat them.
BJJ can be trained for self defense, sport grappling tournaments (gi and no-gi) and mixed martial arts (MMA) competitions. Sparring (commonly referred to as ‘rolling’) and live drilling play a major role in training, and a premium is placed on performance, especially in competition.
