Throughout the years, Jiu-Jitsu has evolved to many branches and styles, such as the Brazilian and Japanese ones. It’s no secret that it’s one of the widely trained martial arts throughout the world. So, you may wonder which style of Jiu-Jitsu is best for self-defense?
Gracie Jiu-Jitsu, or GJJ, is the best Jiu-Jitsu style for self-defense because it teaches a wide variety of practical and highly effective fighting techniques. These movements primary revolve around ground grappling. However, it also teaches striking, clinching, and even takedowns.
Frankly, when you see a GJJ trainee, you better watch out, as one is likely to be a competent fighter. Although all Jiu-Jitsu styles are effective and practical for self-defense, Gracie is, indeed, the best one for that purpose.
BJJ, for example, is a suitable martial art for self-defense. However, it teaches neither striking nor any other fighting technique. That means that in a real self-defense scenario, you’d be limited to a single fighting technique, ground grappling.
Of course, we don’t want that.
For self-defense, you want to have the widest tool box. If, for example, you’re unfamiliar with common defenses against kicks, you better hope the attacker doesn’t know how to kick. So, it’ll be best to learn a martial art that teaches various fighting techniques out of many kinds.
This article will explain why Gracie Jiu-Jitsu is the best style of self-defense out of all the other styles. It’ll also briefly go over how BJJ and other martial arts came to life.
Before diving in, I encourage you to read an article I wrote about the best grappling mats for your money. Buying one will ensure you’re capable of training at home, which will boost your progress.
What is Gracie Jiu-Jitsu?
Before going further to what GJJ teaches and whether it’s effective, let’s briefly go over how and why it was born. As you may know, JJ (Jiu-Jitsu), started from the Samurais. They wanted to learn a weaponless way of fighting, so they constructed a new martial art.
Later, the Gracie family, notoriously known for their adoption and reconstruction of JJ, hosted the first Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). In it, they sent their best fighter, Royce, to compete.
In the event itself, Royce Gracie managed to win with using the new martial art they designed. This martial art, as you can guess, is GJJ. The victory attracted countless people to start training in this effective, practical, and unique fighting style.
Gracie Jiu-Jitsu, or GJJ, is a self-defense system and a martial art that the Gracie Family constructed. GJJ uses various fighting techniques, such as kicking, punching, and grappling. Because of that, its fighters become competent and able to adapt to any situation, which is why it’s suitable for self-defense.
Today, some will claim that it’s better than MMA, indeed, a wild claim. Nonetheless, this fighting style has proved itself time and time again. It’s worth learning and investing the time to learn it. And, thus, if you want to study self-defense, GJJ is a suitable choice.
What does Gracie Jiu-Jitsu (GJJ) teach?
The world of fighting offers countless offensive and defense techniques. Most of them are effective. As such, some of them aren’t. This section will describe what Gracie Jiu-Jitsu teaches and whether it is effective.
GJJ is the art of grappling, striking, and kicking. That said, its primary focus is on grappling and ways to finish a fight quickly. Because of that, it’ll include highly effective techniques, such as submissions, chokes, takedowns, punches, kicks, elbows, and even knees.
Again, grappling is GJJ’s main focus. For that reason, it’ll teach fewer striking techniques, including punching and kicking. Rather, it’ll teach ground grappling and how to submit an opponent swiftly.
The book that Helio Gracie wrote about GJJ—is where you should head if you desire to study it. Combining reading the book with actually training the fighting style will lead to a faster progression rate.
If you want to progress faster in BJJ, do ensure to follow the link to an article of mine on the topic.
Eventually, if you want to study grappling with striking and kicking, Gracie Jiu-Jitsu is a suitable choice. Likewise, if your goal is to learn how to fight fiercely, don’t hesitate to start learning it, as it’s a self-defense system.
Should you learn Gracie Jiu-Jitsu?
Learning any martial art is a wise choice because it provides numerous mental and physical benefits. Some of these results include better physical shape, increased confidence and self-esteem, and reduced stress levels. So, is Gracie Jiu-Jitsu worth the time?
You should learn GJJ because it teaches proper and realistic self-defense while improving your physical and mental selves. Some benefits Gracie Jiu-Jitsu provides include increased confidence, better self-esteem, improved mental health and well-being, and reduced violence and stress levels outside training.
If you were to ask anyone whether these benefits sound like something one would want in one’s life, everyone would agree. However, few are the people who put in the time and effort to notice such results.
Learning GJJ—is difficult because you must be willing to push your physical and mental boundaries every single time. If you don’t notice yourself having a difficult time, consider amping up the pace of training. You’ll see how much more rewarding it gets.
Here’s a medical study proving my point:
Results revealed participants reported a broad variety of benefits arising from their participation in BJJ. Personal benefits were self-confidence, analytical thinking, perseverance, stress relief, and physical health.
SOURCE
As you can see, the benefits of training in any martial art, or in our case, Jiu-Jitsu, are plenty. Hence, if you desire to see such results in your life, it’ll be best if you start training as soon as possible.
The earlier you begin, the earlier results will flow.
Best martial art for self-defense
Learning self-defense is beneficial for those who want to feel safe, even when they’re alone and weaponless. Martial arts can be the one step you need to never feel defenseless. So, which is the best one for self-defense?
Mixed Martial Arts, or MMA, is the best martial art for self-defense because it teaches broad and practical fighting techniques. MMA primarily focuses on kicking, punching, striking, and even grappling. Because of that, its trainees become competent fighters capable of adapting to any scenario.
Real self-defense situations are extremely dangerous because they’re unpredictable. So, to ensure you’re best prepared to deal with such a situation, you need to know as many fighting techniques as possible. That way, you’ll be ready to adapt yourself to beat the attacker.
If you want to read the full list of the best martial arts for self-defense, be sure to follow the link to read a piece of mine revealing the complete list.
90% of all martial arts serve the same purpose: to teach others how to fight properly. In the past, people wanted to learn how to defend themselves properly. For example, the people of Okinawa, an island in Japan, wanted to protect themselves, as times were times of war.
So, they constructed a new martial art; today, we know the famous Okinawan fighting style as Karate. Eventually, this is how all martial arts come to life. Their initial reasoning for existence is to teach others how to fight, especially in times of war.
As a result, 90% of martial arts will teach you self-defense. And yet, MMA is the best one because it’s the most realistic and provides the most fighting experience. In fact, you’ll spar in most training sessions, which is the closest you’ll get to fighting in training.
That will, of course, best prepare you for real self-defense.
Final words
GJJ, or Gracie Jiu-Jitsu—is the Jiu-Jitsu style for self-defense—because it teaches practical and effective fighting techniques. Moreover, it teaches a broad variety of fighting techniques, which is best for self-defense.
Self-defense is dangerous since it’s unpredictable. As a result, to ensure you best prepare yourself, you must be willing to incorporate numerous fighting techniques in your training schedule. Such techniques can range from clinching and elbowing to grappling and kicking.
Because of that, martial arts, such as BJJ, aren’t as effective as GJJ for self-defense. That said, BJJ is one of the best martial arts in the world because it teaches such elegant and effective fighting technique. As BJJ’s second name suggests, the art of ground grappling—is a martial art everyone should consider doing.
Monthly payments on Jiu-Jitsu classes can be a real burden. Because of that, you can save money by training it in home; so follow the link to learn about the best ways to train BJJ at home. Likewise, follow the next link to learn about the best grappling dummies for your money.