Wrestling Culture Versus Jiu-Jitsu Culture

There has been an increasing amount of crossover between wrestling and jiu-jitsu, particularly among people with wrestling backgrounds who have migrated to jiu-jitsu. A lot of wrestlers come out of high school or even college without a clear idea of how they can use the skills they’ve developed because wrestling leagues are still rare in a lot of areas, and this oftentimes leads them to jiu-jitsu, specifically no-gi jiu-jitsu. Conversely, some younger people who have trained jiu-jitsu from a young age may see wrestling as a way to get involved in sports at their school.

Though jiu-jitsu is often framed as a martial art while wrestling is often described as a sport, they both involve physically fighting another person into submission. With jiu-jitsu, it’s usually with joint locks or chokes. With wrestling, the goal is to pin your opponent’s shoulders to the mat. If either opponent fails to meet these objectives, the winner is determined by points. The points systems for wrestling and jiu-jitsu are incredibly different, though a general overlap is that both disciplines award points for takedowns and displays of dominance.

While it may be a stretch to say that people experience culture shock when they make the transition from either wrestling to jiu-jitsu or jiu-jitsu to wrestling. However, as explained by the YouTube host in the video below, Chewy, and his student Brandon Reed, there is a notable difference between the cultures of the two disciplines.

Demographics

One of the more notable differences between the cultures of wrestling and jiu-jitsu is the makeup of the class. Wrestling teams in schools are going to be comprised of students from the school. Their ages are going to range from about 14 to 18. At the varsity level, that range is likely even smaller. The same is true in college. You wrestle people who are approximately your age and probably don’t have a mortgage, a spouse, kids, or a serious career.

With jiu-jitsu, classes can include people who are in their teens, people who are in their 60s, and everyone in between. This is because people can start coming to jiu-jitsu class at any age and at any stage in their life. Moreover, people come to jiu-jitsu classes for a variety of reasons. Some may simply do it to stay in shape, while others may want to learn the basics of self-defense. Still others may hope to one day become the next UFC star. That mixed bag simply doesn’t exist with wrestling.

Competition

Another major difference between wrestling and jiu-jitsu is how often one is expected to compete. With wrestling, you have to compete. In high school, you have a season that goes for about 3-4 months, and you are expected to participate in several dozen matches throughout that time. It is a grueling schedule that only gets more intense once you reach the collegiate level.

With jiu-jitsu, competition is encouraged, but students are oftentimes at vastly different stages within their life. Instructors recognize that expecting a 45-year-old white belt with two kids and a mortgage to go to a tournament is a tough ask. However, a 23-year-old with an entry level job and no family to support can participate in tournaments more regularly. 

That said, there are far more opportunities to compete against someone who is at your skill level in jiu-jitsu. In addition to the belt system, tournaments often break up people by age so that you don’t have 23-year-old blue belts going up against 55-year-old blue belts. With wrestling, weight class is the only thing that matters. You may have to compete against an absolute monster who has been wrestling since they were four, is four inches taller than you, and has 3% body fat.

Belts and Ranking

With jiu-jitsu, belts can be a big deal to people and a lot of fighters end up identifying as their belt, and people are nervous that they may not live up to what that belt represents. For example, a purple belt may feel like an imposter because they got bested by a blue belt. They may feel as though they are supposed to always dominate lower belts even though the belts are meant to indicate a level of progress on one’s journey.

In wrestling, there are no belts. You are the representative of your team in your weight class at a tournament. Either you make it, or you don’t, so you’re always working to improve your game to stay on the game. There’s less chance for imposter syndrome to set in because you’re constantly fighting for the spot on your team.

Physicality

Size matters a lot more in wrestling than in jiu-jitsu. With wrestling, there are clear weight classes and it’s rare to train with a person who does not fall within your class. With jiu-jitsu, a person who is 250 pounds can train with a person who weighs 135 pounds because there is a belief that perfect technique is more important than speed or strength or size.

In general, conditioning also matters more in wrestling than jiu-jitsu. Wrestling matches tend to be a lot longer than jiu-jitsu matches when two good people are going up against each other. Most wrestling matches are determined by decision rather than pinning, whereas a lot of jiu-jitsu matches end in a submission within the first round. As a result, building stamina by focusing on cardio becomes less of a priority.

Technique

Finally, there’s a pretty big difference between the scope of technique that you can learn with either wrestling or jiu-jitsu. As Chewy explains, he learned a few things in wrestling and did them really well. This includes a takedown, a reversal or escape, and a move or series of moves designed to pin his opponent. With jiu-jitsu, he says that this kind of focus can help when you’re starting out. You may focus on your submission move that you’re really good at. However, you will eventually need to expand your game if you want to progress as a fighter and move up the belt system.

Moreover, he notes that wrestling is very technical, but it’s rare to talk about the physics of leverage or to use jargon when talking about specific moves. In this way, jiu-jitsu may seem overly academic to people with a wrestling background.

Despite these differences, there is a lot of overlap and people who really enjoy martial arts should try mixing it up to get a new perspective.