BJJ FAQ

1.What is Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and what is the difference between Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and Japanese Ju Jitsu?

Brazilian Jiu Jitsu was created by Grand Masters Carlos and Helio Gracie from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It focuses on real street fighting situations and self defense.BJJ stands for Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.Japanese Ju Jitsu comes from Japan, of course. Like many old and traditional martial arts, it is full of beautiful and artistic techniques. unfortunately it does not work very well when used in a real fight.

2.What are the benefits of practicing Brazilian Jiu Jitsu? Does it work for women?

Apart from learning how to defend yourself effectively against any aggressor no matter the size, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is an excellent activity as it builds and/or increases self confidence. When you train in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu you are exercising every muscle of your body including your brain.As for WOMEN, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is considered the best form of real self defense against a rape attack. Brazilian Jiu Jitsu work because of BODY MECHANICS not strength. During most attacks on women a victim will end up in a bottom position. But in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu this is considered a very favorable position to effectively attack and finish the aggressor from . In fact the Gracie Academy developed a system called RAPESAFE especially tailored to women.

3.Do I need to be fit, young and very athletic to learn Brazilian Jiu Jitsu?

No you don't. Because the key to correct Gracie Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Self Defense is to learn how to use BODY MECHANICS and leverage. You do not need strength or agility to execute a technique. There is a saying in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu: If you are using strength to apply a technique that means you do not know that technique.

4.Why Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is so different from other traditional martial arts?

Easy answer: because it works. Mixed Martial Arts fighting events started in Brazil many years ago (called Vale Tudo there). It was later copied and reproduced in USA under the name of UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship), and after that in Japan (called Pride). Now many others popping up everywhere. The competions clearly showed the world that you need to know some ground fighting system if you want to be effective in a real fight. When these kind of competitions, started it was very interesting to watch pure martial art one-style fighters, example karate fighter vs. a wing chun fighter, Taekwondo vs. Brazilian Jiu Jitsu etc. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu always won so everybody realized the importance of knowing how to fight on the ground. Brazilian Jiu Jitsu always won.

5.Why do I need to wear a Kimono/Gi/Uniform to learn Brazilian Jiu Jitsu?

Brazilian Jiu Jitsu was created by Grand Masters Carlos and Helio Gracie as a scientific self defense system to work in real street fight situations not in sport a competition. In a realistic street fight attack your aggressor will wear some kind of clothing. Gracie Brazilian Jiu Jitsu teaches you how to use your opponent clothing and turn it into a lethal weapon. To train these techniques hundreds of times we need to wear strong clothing that wont break/rip after 1 week.

6.What is the difference between GRACIE Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and general SPORT Brazilian Jiu Jitsu? Which one is better?

Gracie Brazilian Jiu Jitsu was created for self defense, as it works using BODY MECHANICS and leverage and not strength to really allow even a small person to be able to win against a much bigger or heavier aggressor. SPORT Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is an evolution from its traditional and original version. As many Brazilian Jiu Jitsu academies opened all over Brazil, there was a need for competitions. Unfortunately these competitions were originally created with weight categories and time limits allowing competitors to win by points. Because of these rules, athletes only training for SPORT competition developed a game based on gaining points stall the round wait for the time to end and win by points instead of submitting.So there is a big difference between the 2 ways of training in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. Which one is better? The answer is up to you, if you want to compete in a sporting event then you need to train the SPORT version. If you care about street fighting and self defense then you need to train the original version.

7.What is the difference between Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and other ground fighting systems like Judo, Submission wrestling or general grappling?

Judo is an Olympic sport created by Jigoro Kano, a Japanese Ju Jitsu expert, around 1900 and 1905.Submission Wrestling / Grappling is a sport usually practiced on the ground, where you can win by points or submission. It is very similar to Brazilian Jiu Jitsu except it is practiced without a kimono and therefore limited to much fewer techniques.

8.How does the belt ranking system work in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu?

For adults learning studying regularly under an instructor's supervision - about 6 to 8 hours a week let's say:

White to Blue, about 1 to 2
yearsBlue to Purple, about 2 to 3 years
Purple to Brown, about 2 to 3 years
Brown to Black, about 2 to 3 years

It is possible however to speed up the process by training more often and/or taking many private lessons.Between belts there are 4 sublevels, these are white stripes that are usually applied by the instructor or trainer on your belt end.Belts in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu are different from belts in Judo, Karate or other martial arts. The color is different and they have a black 10 cm tip on it where usually stripes will be applied. Usually a black belt is never issued to a student under 18; often, even if the student qualifies for it, he may need to wait until he is 21 to receive his black belt. A good example of this is the Gracie Family. Grand Master Helio Gracie's own sons, who had been training Brazilian Jiu Jitsu every day since birth had to wait to be old enough before receiving their black belt.