Brazilian Jiu Jitsu

     As a William and Mary student, learning the martial art of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and the skill of grappling can and will improve all aspects of your life. As both a means of self-defense and a sport, jiu-jitsu is a great way to get in shape, make new friends, learn a new skill, and develop confidence. Jiu-Jitsu literally translates to “gentle art" and gets its name from the fact that it utilizes grappling techniques (grabbing/pinning) rather than striking techniques (punching/kicking). This "gentleness" allows grapplers to safely practice the art at full intensity without risking their physical or cognitive well-being. The same cannot be said for striking arts, as repeated blows take a heavy toll on the brain and body after long periods of training. In jiu-jitsu and grappling, strikes and blows of any kind are illegal which is why it is a safe and fun activity that can be enjoyed by everyone all the time. For this reason, the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu club at William and Mary is a safe environment for everyone. Martial artists of all experience levels are welcome, including complete beginners. A typical weekday session consists of a quick warm-up followed by a demonstration of a specific technique. After this, you and a partner will practice the technique without resistance so that you can familiarize yourself with the movements and details that allow you to execute the move successfully during sparring. At the end of each session, we always end with 5-minute rounds of sparring or as it is called in the jiu-jitsu community, rolling. Rolling is always completely optional but is strongly encouraged as it is the most effective way to improve your jiu-jitsu. Sessions on the weekend are “open mat” and designated for rolling but that doesn’t mean that you can’t come if you have no intention of sparring as you are welcome to drill with a partner and ask club members questions.

     The reason jiu-jitsu is one of, if not the, most effective martial arts is that it operates on the premise that the human body, like anything, has inherent weaknesses. These weaknesses are not unique to a single individual, but rather apply to the entire human population, which is why jiu-jitsu’s effectiveness does not depend on the opponent. There is always someone who can curl more than you can curl and there is always someone who can deadlift more than you can deadlift, but there is nobody who can curl more than you can deadlift. In combat and in grappling, there are techniques and positions which exploit these fundamental weaknesses in ways that are so intrinsically and mechanically robust that factors like strength and size become irrelevant. The strongest of these positions is the rear mounted position which takes advantage of the fact that although the human body is effective at dealing with threats from the front, it is extremely ineffective at addressing threats from behind. If a skilled grappler can get to one of these asymmetrical positions, they can finish their opponent and win the confrontation by applying a variety of submission holds. All submission holds function by isolating and threatening a limb, whether it be the arms and legs with catastrophic breaks or the neck with strangulations. An example of one of these submissions is the armbar (juji gatame) which utilizes the fact that the human legs are much stronger than the arms along with levers and fulcrums to break an opponent’s arm. If you know jiu-jitsu and how to grapple, you can consistently and confidently attain these positions and submissions that allow a smaller, weaker person to beat a larger, stronger person. In this way, jiu-jitsu makes combat a game of skill and knowledge instead of a contest of strength and size.