What is this "BJJ" thing?

Question

Well I mean I know what it is. But what makes it so special, I see BJJ people saying that they can take on Bruce Lee themselfs? I've watched videos of BJJ "experts", and apparently the little god of BJJ Royce Gracie. There all the same, its just mindless charging, and them pining someone until they say no more. I have seen people say that it's the best form of self defence? Against what? The gang of criminals comming at you with knifes? Yeah I mean you can take down one and pin him, but the other 4 arent going to stand and watch, your gonna get killed by knife. I even saw one BJJ fight clip from Mr. Gracie where someone was ontop of him and he takes his heel and starts swinging it inward to himself trying to hit him, is that kinda pathetic or what? I understand hitting, but flailing body parts until you smack someone isnt my idea of fighting. Then again I could be wrong maybe thats what its come to. Either way my question is, any out there know how in the world this is dominant in the "ohh so mighty MMA league" (Sarcasm intended) Also I apologize for spelling errors, my keyboard is sticking.

Answer 1

Generally BJJ is a modified form of Judo, first used by the Gracie hiearchy after befriending a Judo Master from Japan.

Unlike it focused more on Judo's ground game, than throws and rarely any of the standing techniques of Traditional Jiu Jitsu.

Now to answer your question: It has proven itself in the streets and gyms of Brazil against every other art.  In the first UFC bouts, the Gracies were so confident that they sent the Royce to be the poster child to represent the art form.

As you know Royce, never had a professional fight and handily defeated every master, former champion or professional in the tournaments.

You know also that learning BJJ is fundamental to practicing MMA.  People who are week in BJJ, rarely become competitive.

A good BJJ practitioner can had would defeat any other Martial Artist, Boxer, Wrestler etc.

BJJ vs MMA?   This would give the MMA fighter a victory due to the mixing of BJJ with the new art of Ground and Pound.  Striking is nearly non-existant in BJJ, therefore such a practitioner would not be as effective in landing punches on the ground.

Therefore MMA could be considered the superior art.  Again putting western guile in creating an effective art (ala Boxing).

Answer 2

Arts like Jujitsu that have been around for hundreds of years and proven themselves on the battlefield have my respect.  That's the difference OCTAGON does not equal BATTLEFIELD.  BJJ, like any art has a context in which it is effective.  And I'm sorry but an art restricted to groundwork leaving you vulnerable to multiple attackers is hardly an art I would trust in the streets.  I do not know of the situations in which Gracie fought his opponents in the streets, but I am pretty sure they were not a life-or-death fights.

But like I said, every art has it's context.  Would I go into the Octagon with what I know?  Of course not.  But the question is, would a BJJ practioner hold up in the mean streets of reality, where his opponent's have no care for his life and no care for rules, armed with knives, bats and guns and attack in groups?

Myself I teach Kenjutsu.  I am fully aware that I will never likely use my Katana in the streets in a fight-but the difference is...I am aware of this and keep Kenjutsu in the Dojo.

BJJ is a sport-a great one for it's particualar context, but a sport nonetheless.

Answer 3

Bruce Lee was the best and your other source is a show on t.v

Oh wait. Royce Gracie is God?...No he's not God......

Answer 4

You know something while I may not agree 100% with BJJ, I still have to consider that BJJ is still a art form of the 725 such forms of "jujitsu".  Which means that a brother is a brother no matter what.  Bruce Lee, Bruce Lee, Bruce Lee is all you Kung-Fu people yell in here .... He was a movie star and a Chinese Theatrical actor at best .....  You Kung - Fu chumps are as weird as the "Ninjitsu" acid tripping whack jobs in Yahoo Answers ( major sarcasim intended ) Bruce Lee sucked and that Jeet Kun Do c**p sucks too!!

Bring it to the cage .... yelling "Chang bang huck young sung lo chang" all you want and let's see who's talking then?

You all say, "Ki" is japanese for chi, but "Ki" means "tree" in Nihongo so that tells me alot about the Kung-Fu crowd's state of mind.

I'm never too big on "knocking" other arts and usually just state the case for my own, but in this case I've made an exception.  Jujitsu = all any one will ever need to know and Chinese Arts = http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V74IeTV20...

Answer 5

BJJ is one of the most "mat effective" fighting styles. Outside of a mat, or a sandy beach, you don't want to take your opponent to the ground if at all possible. I would not use BJJ against multiple attackers, and I definitely would not want to use BJJ in a riot.  

Answer 6

This question is something that i might have heard back in the early 90s before people actually knew what BJJ was capable of but today it's been proven over and over throughout the years in all of MMA that BJJ is absolutely the foundation of MMA, in fact, the famous UFC was invented by Royce's brother Rorion Gracie and Art Davie as an infomercial kind of thing for Brazilian Jiujitsu. Royce was chosen cause he was the skinniest of the Gracies and they wanted to prove a point that a smaller weaker opponent can in fact neutralize a much larger opponent. I don't believe there's a more effective single form of martial arts. If you don't like the way grappling looks and want to look fancy fighting, take up some other art, but in my opinion loosing a fight(while looking good) still looks worse than winning. I feel MMA is the most REAL form of fighting and if i were in an alley and had some criminals wanting to cause me harm, I wouldn't try and use the Karate i learned as a child but the BJJ and Boxing i've learned in the past 10 years. But that's just me. You can practice what makes you feel confident in the face of real danger. Whatever it is that you choose to practice, just give it your all and you shall reap the benefits cause alot of the arts are very effective but i have to go with whats been tested and tried with proven results that are an undeniable fact. Good luck.  William P said it good when he said "Bring it to the cage"

Answer 7

BJJ is a fad just like krap maga,unfortunately the ppl who learn them are brainwashed into believing that are the be all and end all of martial arts.its a waste of time and effort arguing with these ppl because like the old saying says "you can't argue with an imbecile".

BJJ is a good MA so long as you understand it's a ring sport with a referee and a medic it is NOT for realistic street wise self defence.i agree it is good to know in case you do end up on the ground but only a fool would deliberately go to the ground,besides which there are other MA that are just as good if not better on the ground.

Answer 8

I guess to the untrained eye Brazilian Jujitsu looks like "pinning". The only thing I can suggest to you is what I had to do. I went for a free lesson and felt the effectiveness of it. Nothing that you see on television using Jujitsu isn't a planned strategy or attempt at a move. Being that both fighters know it the ground fighting goes on for a while. When I went in and didn't know it they end a lot faster. If you take many years of something else and don't have a ground game and are taken down then you'll most likely be defeated. Like one of the posters said, BJJ does come from Judo. This means that you don't HAVE to go too the ground with the person as the throws are in there too. What happens when you throw a person onto a hard surface? I think you know where I'm going with that. I have dabbled in other arts in my time. A few years of Taekwondo, some jujitsu (Japanese) in japan. Budo Taijitsu (in Japan). I like martial arts and I find the best way to understand someones art is to participate in it. Who knows, you may like it. I'm on BJJ now and I think I will stick to it as I'm not much for striking anymore. That is what fits me for now. I've never been in a fight where multiple people just jump out of nowhere and attack you. I guess that is a thing that younger people have to deal with as we mostly went man to man when I was young. I guess being scared of a beating makes you run in packs. Here in my state we can get gun licenses so the knife thing isn't really a Big issue. Enjoy whatever art you learn. Try out some of the ones you don't understand. I respect them all.

Answer 9

Scott D Omega's reply puts it in perspective.

Yes on a one on one BJJ would do well but multiple attacks NO!! realistically any style will have a hard time unless you have a weapon ,knife etc and are trained to use it in real adrenalin situations then you may have a chance.

I've been in many real situations and know what works for me although it may not work for you, trial and error on this one I'm afraid.

Best wishes :)***

Answer 10

I'm a practitioner of traditional Japanese jujutsu (as well as a Hawaiian off-shoot with Japanese roots) so I stand firmly by the fact that Jujutsu (Jiu-jitsu, etc) of any sort is in fact an effective martial arts but BJJ isn't any more effective as the traditional forms of such arts.

First of all, all the grappling enthusiasts will claim that 85% or so (the numbers are NEVER consistent which usually denotes that they're made up numbers) of fights end up on the ground. While even that is not particularly truthful, pretty much 100% of all real fights start out on your feet so pretty much everyone needs to learn at least a little something about standing/striking arts (I in particular also have a black belt in Shorei Ryu Karate). By all means, you need a ground game but don't buy into illogical false numbers spread by BJJ enthusiasts

Second, all of the BJJ fans are quick to point out how dominating the Gracies were in the beginning stages of UFC. But keep in mind that in the beginning, the Gracies owned (or at least had a controlling stake) in the UFC and could stack the deck. The first few fighting surfaces in the "Octagon" were much softer, "squishy"-er surfaces which made it much more difficult for striking artists to jump or keep a strong footing which made it difficult for them to use their skills and made it easier for them to be taken down with minimal effort. The Gracies dominated in the early days because they basically had a "home court" advantage. Once the surfaces were changed to something a little more solid and stable, the striking artists began to catch up and the Gracies suddenly disappeared from the UFC because they didn't want people to notice that they aren't invincible.

By no means am I hating on BJJ or any of the Gracies. Most of the Gracies could probably go to town on me when it comes to the ground game and I do respect BJJ as a whole for an effective ground art. I'm just saying that it's not the ultimate art that everyone makes it out to be. But then again... no art is...

Answer 11

In a 1 on 1 situation BJJ is as good as any other martial art out there and better than quite a few. Royce was a very defensive BJJ artist, but there are a lot out there these days that are much more active with how they use their jiujitsu. No, it won't help you out much in a multiple opponent situation where your attackers have knives, but then again neither will too much of anything else except maybe a gun. It is an excellent form of self defense in a 1 on 1 situation and is extremely useful in my book for women's rape prevention, I have assisted on a couple of these courses and most of what we taught was BJJ and the rest was basically dirty fighting kind of stuff. Check some of the new BJJ guys out and you will see a huge difference between what they are doing and what Royce did. In Royce's defense though, he did win 3 out of the first 4 UFC's and against several guys a lot bigger than he was. BJJ for the most part is not at all about just pinning an opponent, but more about controling an opponent whether you are on top or bottom and then applying joint locks or choke holds. The joint locks will very literally tear the joint apart and the chokes will put you fast asleep, many in 3 - 5 seconds. That is not just rumors or hype either, I have personally been choked out by good BJJ players. It is real and it does work and very few BJJ artists use it in the slow kind of grind it out way that Royce did, but are much more active in reversals and then applying their submissions.