The True Self Defense: Jiu Jitsu
When i was younger I had dreams of becoming an action hero. It started when I watched shows like Dragonball and Power Rangers, these type of things made me go nuts. Later on my life, at the age of 12, I began karate. The thing I wanted to accomplish was being able to defend myself, but as you see there is no black belt around my waist, there’s no bad guys that fear my iron fist, there's no way to tell you if I can even throw a punch. In the end there was no martial art that made me feel safe... until Jiu-jitsu came into my life.
What is Jiu Jitsu? It sounds mysterious, but down to the bare bones, what Jiu Jitsu is knowing how to effectively defend yourself even when the opponent is bigger and stronger than you by using techniques that utilize leverage and joint manipulation to neutralize an attacker. Let’s imagine you are under attack, I know we wouldn’t ever like to imagine these types of situations, but it still can happen whether you think it might not, so you’re under attack! What do you do? Do you do the secret one punch knockout technique that karate instructor taught you? Do you do that crazy spinning heel kick that you drilled in Taekwondo class? Or do you give in to the attacker, let him do what he wants with you and hope that in the end of it all they don’t decide to kill you? I want to live so that’s why I study Jiu Jitsu. There are some who say,”What if there are lots of attackers? Jiu Jitsu won’t work, so that’s why boxing or karate or muay thai, etc. are better. Those who say that their martial art is good against multiple opponents are damn lying, and those that are based on staying of the feet and fight there are also lying. Most fights end up in the ground and the majority of martial arts don’t teach ground fighting, Jiu Jitsu does. The strongest position in Jiu Jitsu, the guard, which offers many ,attacks like the armbar, kimura, and guillotine to name a few, all these attacks can be done from your back, when an attacker is directly on you. Most of these people teaching these martial arts have never fought, the founders of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu: The Gracie Family, they have spent all their life fighting in bare knuckle, no barred fighting, known in Brazil as Vale Tudo and they have almost won all of them. Here is a fun fact: The Gracies are the ones who created the UFC, the most successful fighting organization in the world.
When you sit down with someone who knows what they are doing and you do the techniques correctly you will realize the true power of this art and also your true potential. In the Jiu Jitsu world this art is known as "the great ego equalizer", because when you are sparring, it doesn't matter how muscular and athletic you are or whether you are a man, woman, young or old, it doesn't matter. Jiu Jitsu techique is most important. So if you are interested in a martial art, try BJJ( Brazilian Jiu Jitsu) and you will love it. In my next article I will talk origins of Jiu Jitsu.
