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One of the most enduring strategies in any martial art is to wear down your opponent’s energy until they make mental mistakes that you can then exploit. With jiu-jitsu, this kind of strategy is often more defensive—you force your opponent to attack, and then use technique to defend and escape from holds until they’ve tired themselves out. In mixed martial arts fighting, it’s far more common to take a more aggressive approach, and to wear down your opponents with a constant barrage of strikes.

Your first visit to a martial arts gym is never easy. It doesn’t matter your age, your athletic ability, or your gender; it takes a lot of courage to commit to trying something new and following through with it. It can be especially terrifying if you’ve had no experience with combat sports (or even contact sports) and enter into a space where you will be expected to fight another person.

You’re never too old to start doing jiu-jitsu. True, it’s never easy to walk into any space as a novice when you’re in your forties, fifties, or sixties. However, with jiu-jitsu this is more a matter of leaving your emotional comfort zone than putting yourself in physical danger, especially when you train with accredited instructors from the Gracie Academy. If you can overcome the familiar narrative that you can only start doing things when you’re in your teens or twenties, and that you can’t have a career, a family, and new interests, you can learn jiu-jitsu.

Police reform continues to be a hot-button issue, but just about everyone can find common ground on two things: Police officers should only use force as a last resort, and they should strive to never use force that is excessive. Using excessive force violates the rights of the citizens they are sworn to protect and frays trust between departments and communities. When people don’t trust their local police departments, crimes go unreported and public safety suffers.

Brazilian jiu-jitsu has a long history that stretches back to the start of the twentieth century. The martial arts traditions on which it is based, primarily Japanese jujitsu and judo, date back several centuries. The growth in Brazilian jiu-jitsu’s popularity has paralleled the rise of mixed martial arts fighting, largely due to the success of the early Ultimate Fighting Championship in the 1990s.

Getting to the level of black belt is no easy task. Even in the best-case scenario, it takes between one and two years to advance from one belt to the next, and those who reach the level of black belt typically have dedicated close to a decade to their jiu-jitsu training. 

Learning a martial art takes time. While it may be easy to learn a single move or a few techniques to defend yourself in the event of an altercation, developing a systematic knowledge of self-defense and really learning the mechanics and dynamics of a fight is a lifelong process. However, how quickly you become good is not solely a function of how much time you can devote to training. It’s also about learning how to train efficiently and effectively.

Which martial art best prepares you for a street fight? It’s a question that comes up in any discussion about martial arts and it’s been debated endlessly for hundreds of years. No surprise, it was brought up on Lex Fridman’s podcast during an interview with John Danaher, who is often considered to be one of the best coaches in jiu-jitsu and MMA fighting.

There are numerous reasons why someone may decide to take a martial arts class, but the most common one is that a person wants to learn how to defend themselves should they get into an altercation with another person. Jiu-jitsu classes will teach you how to do this. 

Verbal bullying is the most common type of bullying. As many as 77% of students may experience verbal bullying, which may come in the form of taunting, teasing, or spreading rumors.

A lot of readers may be familiar with Ryan Hall. Known within the world of mixed martial arts and jiu-jitsu as the “The Wizard” because of his submission skills, Ryan is also well respected because of his intelligence, his humility, and how quickly he rose to the elite level. In only three years, Ryan went from being a white belt to a serious contender in some of the world’s biggest jiu-jitsu tournaments.

Even during your first jiu-jitsu class, you will hear about the importance of “jiu-jitsu fundamentals” frequently. 

Getting to the level of expert in anything requires years of practice and discipline. It is true for anyone who wants to obtain a black belt in jiu-jitsu or become a virtuoso musician. Part of the reason why it takes so long is because learning these skills requires multiple types of knowledge to establish expertise.

At its core, jiu-jitsu is based on two overarching principles: survival and efficiency. Both of these principles inform the strategies and moves of jiu-jitsu, but it should be remembered that efficiency is secondary to survival. Efficiency is the best means of survival, but it can be sacrificed in cases where an explosive movement will bring an end to the fight and ensure survival. 

The start of your jiu-jitsu journey is electric. Every time you come to class you will feel as though you’ve learned something brand new. After every session, you will feel more confident and more capable of defending yourself. If you are taking classes to also get back into shape, you will feel yourself getting leaner and stronger. You will recognize that you have more endurance. The rapid rate of change is intoxicating.