All Females Should Learn Brazilian Jiu Jitsu

"All Girls Should Learn Jiu Jitsu in a Rape Culture World", is an article by a writer, Jef Rouner, for the Houston Press. After reading the article, I immediately knew that I needed to add it to our blog as a curated piece. If you practice Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, much of what this article contains will not be news to you... but then perhaps this article isn't for you.

This article is for the person looking for self defense options. This article is for someone who knows they need to do something to ensure their safety, but aren't quite sure how or why Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (BJJ) is the ideal martial art for self defense. As pointed out in the original piece for a woman, BJJ is the best self defense option

I’ve always been a fan of Brazilian jiu jitsu going back to the early days of UFC and Pride, and I knew that if my kid was going to learn any system it would be that. Having enrolled, has made me very sure I picked the right choice for several reasons.

First, she is a girl and BJJ teaches you to fight from your back. I hope I don’t need to explain why that might be helpful. Unlike a lot of other disciplines, BJJ considers being on your back with an opponent on top of you a pretty normal position to be in. There are several submission holds that can be applied from that position, as well as numerous tricks to get out of it using mechanics.

On the physicality of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu...

BJJ gets you used to being in a physical contest of domination with another person. It takes all the fear out of the basic act of trying to move in a way where you can hurt them but they can’t hurt you. Constant practice at that not only helps avoid panic in a future altercation, it gives you a wonderful sense of what your body can do. You feel at home with your capabilities instead of blindly relying on them when it comes times to start swinging.

Society is still in the stage where we treat a lot of women as fragile dolls unable to handle the brutality of the world. As such, they don’t get to test themselves physically the way boys do. Putting women on the ground in a controlled environment makes their bodies completely theirs in a number of ways, in addition to giving them the tools needed to defend themselves.

On how BJJ works against bigger, stronger opponents...

Last, BJJ is what you use against an out-sized opponent... watch my absolute favorite match of all time, Royce Gracie versus Akebono in 2004. It’s a man weighing only 180 pounds taking on a champion sumo wrestler more than twice his size, and Akebono gets his ass absolutely handed to him. Akebono’s weight, his reach, his strength, none of it means anything except to make the big man tired and easy prey for Gracie’s shoulder lock.

(Want to learn how to protect yourself? CLICK HERE and schedule a free lesson! We’ll teach you how to do an awesome arm bar and give you a chance to get 3 months for FREE.)