Wouldn't Jujitsu be best for smaller guys and women?

Question

Correct me if I'm wrong but wasn't Brazilian Ju jitsu geared towards use by smaller people against larger opponents. As it is an offshoot of Judo which was developed by a small man and in part made famous by Helio Gracie which was a small man and used it to beat much larger opponents. I see some saying that women should do something different for self defense, but won't people that want to do harm to women grab them which would put the women out of their element in many arts. That situation in Jujitsu would be firmly in their realm of training same for a small man. I mean it was demostrated in UFC 1 by Gracie. He was much smaller than some of the people he defeated. Please correct me if I'm flawed in my thinking.

Answer 1

I do beleive that you're slightly flawed in your reasoning but with that said, I would agree that ju-jitsu is an excellent martial art for women. After developing and teaching rape prevention courses I can tell you that many ju-jitsu techniques have great applications in this self-defense scenario. But do not neglect your strength and cardio-conditioning. Missing these elements are often the downfall of many ju-jitsu practitioners.

Answer 2

Yes bjj can be used to choke or submit a larger opponent. Unlike what the other people said, it dosn't take years to learn simple arm bar, or rear naked choke, or other chokes. Can be learned in weeks. You may not be a black belt expert, but u can learn simple submissions like rear naked choke that can end a fight. However, if your opponant is larger then you and also is the same level bjj, you are out of luck. If 2 people are equal at bjj, the edge will go to the bigger stronger guy, unless the small guy gets lucky, or the big guy gets careless and the small guy can land a submission.

Answer 3

there are to many opinions on this with no common sense. Gracie jiu-jitsu is not a sport. Brazilian jiu-jitsu is.The style is better than most for a woman because a 110 lb. woman is NOT going to out punch or throw a 200 lb. guy as easily as some think. Neither are you going to trip him well. But chances are it will go to the ground. A HUGE percent of all fights do. Your not gonna have to worry about rape at first because he's gotta get your pants down. It's a fight and Gracie jiu-jitsu didn't forget that. Bite his *** or eye gouge him. get to his back and choke him. Man any ground fighting is better for a woman in my opinion. You can train all your life and still your likely to loose a punching match with a strong brawler.Grapple and let him tire himself out.

Answer 4

I don't know if it was designed for smaller people, but BJJ is one art that definetley nullifies size (height anyway), to an extent.

Think about it like this, if you are on the ground, you pretty much have the same reach as the other guy, and have just taken the advantage away from a taller guy. You also have the luxury of being much more likely to capture you're opponents legs than he is yours. Most people have no idea what to do when grappling besides try to overpower the other guy. And a properly trained grappler can be a dangerous thing.

Answer 5

Very flawed, very very flawed--Gracie Jujitsu like boxing is geared toward competition or choosing to fight this is completely different from self defense. Judo--Kano's own philosophy in action--is also a "sport". When a person is trying to kill you the last thing you want to do is trade blows or techniques with them. Now the ground fighting aspect of Gracie Ju Jitsu has certain elements that will be valuable if an altercation winds up on the ground. But we have to take into consideration that the Gracies were a dynasty established by the Old Man who trained his sons from day one. Since most of us are not that lucky we have to find someone to train us and practice very hard to be proficient. A woman would have to train about five years to handle an aggressive attacker who out weighed her by 50 pounds. and then it would not be an easy victory. i have heard many Martial artists say that the guy on the street does not know how to fall, or kick, or punch or wrestle or whatever. Guess what you walk the street, I walk the street, and young aggressive hoodlums in their physical prime roam the streets in gangs looking for victims.

Any time you choose to engage a person in close quarter combat them you are at risk--especially if you give up 50 pounds.

Think about this when the Gracie's dominated it was because they were better that every one else--now that the rest of the world has caught up--well they are not as dominating in the sport.

Self defence means doing what it takes to get away--not choosing to stand and fight unless is is the absolute last option.

In principle, arts derived from old school Daitō-ryū Aiki-jūjutsu have an advantage in pure self defence applications. But I am not saying that they are the best thing out there. Depends on the person and thier wilingness to train.

Answer 6

I would consider the "Hawaiian Bone Breaking Art of blah blah blah" and the other useless art forms Gracie went up against before just tossing around assumptions and preconcieved notions like that man.  We're talking big dudes he fought without a doubt, but let's face it those opponents he fought weren't "martial arts experts" by any stretch of the imagination.  He lost to actual fighters like  Matt Hughes, Kazushi Sakuraba and Harold Howard and had draws against Hideo Tokoro, Hidehiko Yoshida and Ken Shamrock.  As you can see he had a much tougher time with Japanese Judo and Japanese jujitsu practitoners who were all pretty close to his same height.  There's a difference between trained and a man like say, David "Tank" Abbot and other such pitfighters or wrestlers.  Where are the faces of UFC 1? I mean Gracie beats a boxer by the name of Art Jimmerson in the quarter finals then a pro-wrestler turned MMA cage fighter by the name of Ken Shamrock in the semifinals to finally move on to the final round to beat the likes of a 2 - 2 washed up "Savat" practitioner by the name of  Gerard Gordeau?  Where was height a major factor and not just crappy competition in UFC 1?  All I see Gracie beating is what his daddy knew he could beat in order to bill BJJ as some God Like art form, obviously Matt Hughes, Kazushi Sakuraba and Harold Howard all proved that by kicking Gracie's a** with proper technique.  Height has nothing to do with it, it's all in the training and technique that a well trained and practiced fighter uses.

UFC 1....get otta here..... then when he goes to fight hughes he yells, "This is the house that I built"....eeerrr wrong!!! Daddy built it my little glory seeking BJJ marketing  friend.  Ever since Americans watched UFC 1 BJJ is the sh*t overnight...UFC 1 was one of the best marketing tools out there I'll say that much...Gracie's daddy knew Americans loved their T.V.'s and believed everything they seen on them so why not let his son face c**p competition right? afterall it'll help put big bucks in the Gracie family's pockets for years to come....awesome man...I need to do that with my system....oops too late Dana White and the Fretita Brothers already beat me to it.....dang man!!!

Height....HA!!!

Answer 7

Part of what you say is true, but some of it is flawed. Think about this...What is going to be the number one reason for an attack on a female? Sexual assault. So would you advise a female to take it to the ground and do a lot of her attackers work him? Also think about if he is on top, considering the average strength disparity between a man and a women the same size, how much stronger is a larger male going to be? I am not saying that she does not need to know what to do on the ground to get away, but it definetly should not be her first option. Her first option should be to stand and try to do enough damage to get away, while trying to call as much attention to herself as possible.

Think about a 110 lb female under a 200 lb male trying to get a choke or armbar. One good punch or elbow and it is probably over.

Answer 8

Brazilian Ju-jitsu, like what most people will learn:  NO.  

Traditional Ju-jitsu:  YES.

Judo:  YES.

Aikido:  YES. (almost forgot about Aikido).  

If size and strength are a real issue, take JUDO or YUDO.  After you get that down, cross-train in a striking art.