"You've already made your decision. Now it's up to you to know why you've made that decision." - the Oracle

 

'How is Brazilian Jiu Jitsu different'?

To put it very simply, it's a lethal martial art yet has the dubious distinction of being called the 'gentle art'. "What?" you say. Yes, lethal and gentle the same time. How is this possible?

Jiu Jitsu is a NON striking martial art. That means, it has NO punches, kicks, strikes, any gouges of any sort. Rather Jiu Jitsu is entirely based on two key principles. 1. Joint locks and 2. Chokes.

The key difference between BJJ and other martial arts is that it can be practiced entirely at 100% effort with no lasting damage to your opponent. This is achieved by the 'tap out' code of conduct honor system. When an opponent, if at ANY time, feels threatened or vulnerable to injury of any level or magnitude, he/she may simply 'tap out' either physically or verbally and our opponent will release you.

Now, this doesn't mean that on the mat we go 100%  from beginning to end. No. Rather, a typical day looks like this.

• Start with 15min of warm ups (you always choose your level of comfort)
• 20min of technique learning, included with specifics training and/or progressive resistance training to hone your muscle memory
• Lastly, followed by the last 20min of live sparring at 100% or at least whatever you are comfortable with

This last portion is key. Live sparring at 100%. There are few martial arts that can make a similar claim (without seriously injuring or maiming their students). You WILL learn at an incredible speed unlike anything ever before experienced because there is nothing holding you or your opponent back. It's game on to the finish. And that's a good thing. Because when you can as closely approximate a real world experience in a safe, monitored and controlled environment, you will get to feel the real deal and learn from it.