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When you begin training jiu-jitsu or any mixed martial arts, you will get sore. It doesn’t matter if you’re coming to class just to learn the basics of self-defense or planning to become a professional fighter. The good news is that conditioning creates results, and you will undoubtedly notice that you have more strength and endurance. What you may not notice is that conditioning can make you less susceptible to injury.

Takedown moves are crucial in a fight scenario. On the one hand, taking the fight to the ground reduces the amount of damage that strikes can do. It by no mean eliminates the threat of strikes, but a person who is standing can generate a lot more power in a punch or a kick than a person who is on the ground.

Training is integral to becoming good at jiu-jitsu. It’s the same as learning a language, an instrument, or any technical skill, and it doesn’t matter if your ultimate goal is to have the skills to win a street fight or to dominate in a mixed-martial arts tournament. Learning jiu-jitsu takes time, effort, and repetition. There are no shortcuts to mastery.

Within the world of mixed martial arts, most fighters and commentors agree that jiu-jitsu is the best ground fighting technique, especially in a street fight. If you have a solid background in jiu-jitsu, and your opponent does not, they are going to struggle to control the pace of the fight or mount an effective attack if the fight goes to the ground.

At its core, jiu-jitsu is about efficiency in technique and energy conservation. Rather than trying to simply overpower an opponent, jiu-jitsu fighters typically use as little energy as possible and only strike when they know they can subdue their opponent. In some cases, having the patience to make a move can be a test in endurance as one methodically erodes an opponent’s stamina and waits for them to make a mistake. For people who do not have the advantage of size or strength, jiu-jitsu gives them the tools to level the playing field.

Within the world of mixed martial arts, most fighters and commentors agree that jiu-jitsu is the best ground fighting technique, especially in a street fight. If you have a solid background in jiu-jitsu, and your opponent does not, they are going to struggle to control the pace of the fight or mount an effective attack if the fight goes to the ground.

With any sport, there is a risk of injury. Jiu-jitsu is no different. In most cases, injuries are limited to minor bruises and scratches. On occasion, however, some can be severe enough to keep you from training for more than just the day.

As you train jiu-jitsu, you will inevitably want to push yourself more and to get better and better. Even if you’re just there to learn self-defense and to stay healthy, you will almost certainly experience a moment when you are frustrated with some fault that you recognize in yourself. As a white belt, most of these faults will be a lack of training—you simply don’t know the techniques well enough. This may hinder your ability to perform them correctly or it may translate into an inability to defend against them.

Not everyone comes to jiu-jitsu class simply to defend themselves or to get in shape. Many people hope to train to become a world-class fighter who can compete professionally. In some cases, this may involve training for sport jiu-jitsu tournaments. In other cases, fighters may want to focus on learning jiu-jitsu to become better mixed martial arts (or MMA) fighters.

As you develop as a jiu-jitsu fighter, you will likely begin to look at the world in a slightly different way. Particularly for students who are new to martial arts, the study of jiu-jitsu may lead to a greater interest in exploring not only the techniques of the discipline, but also the philosophy that undergirds it. 

Many of us have spent a lot of time at home for the past two years. Though blanket lockdowns are largely a thing of the past, most people will still have to make decisions about the level of risk they are comfortable with when it comes to potentially exposing themselves to the virus. For example, people who are immunocompromised or caring for someone who is going through a procedure that leaves them severely weakened (like chemotherapy) are going to be far more cautious than a young and healthy person who is living on their own.

Coach Firas Zahabi from Tristar Gym in Montreal teaches mixed martial arts classes. While he incorporates several disciplines to give his students a well-rounded understanding of different martial arts, he still feels that jiu-jitsu gives students the foundational tools they need to effectively defend themselves. Consequently, new students typically begin learning jiu-jitsu on their very first session. As he explains in the below video, he tends to then move on to boxing, to striking marital arts that use both the arms and the legs, and finally wrestling.

One of the skills that gets developed as you practice any martial art, particularly jiu-jitsu, is self-control. To outside observers, this may seem strange. They see martial arts as a glamorization of fighting. They may even believe that a martial art like jiu-jitsu is nothing more than a street brawl set in a controlled environment. 

Though Muay Thai is a very different fighting style when compared to jiu-jitsu, there are a lot of similarities between the two. Regardless of the martial art you ultimately decide to learn, you will be better at defending yourself when you walk out of the gym on your first day than when you walked in. For that reason, learning any martial art will give you more confidence. Furthermore, all fighting is going to wear you out. Whether the style relies primarily on striking, as is the case with Muay Thai, or grappling, as is the case with jiu-jitsu, you will be exhausted at the end of class.

Many of my clients ask me this question once they come into the gym for an introductory class. How Dose MMA Work? What is MMA? My answer usually goes as follows… MMA (mixed martial arts) is a martial art created to overcome the reality of one on one hand to hand combat.