The Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is considered one the best form of the martial arts and also the best kind of combat sport to learn self defense. The Brazilian Jiu Jitsu has become widely popular now because of the many physical and mental benefits that you can get from learning it. Many parents nowadays have even started admitting their kids into Brazilian Jiu Jitsu classes because of the benefits children can reap by learning Brazilian Jiu Jitsu early on in their lives.
Other than learning self defense there are many other benefits of learning the Brazilian Jiu Jitsu that can have a positive impact on your mental and physical health.
- Self Discipline
- Reduces Stress and Anxiety
- Reduces Depression
- Helps Improves Focus and Concentration
- Encourages Communication
- Helps Become more Acceptable
Other than improving your personality and making you a more confident and approachable person, the Brazilian Jiu Jitsu will also help you become more in control of your body as you will need to do rigorous exercises to achieve the skills required to become a true Brazilian Jiu Jitsu athlete.
One of the best parts of learning the Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is that anyone can join Brazilian Jiu Jitsu classes as it is approachable to anyone. It does not matter what your height, weight or size is; if you truly want to learn self defense then the first step is to acknowledge that everyone and anyone is in danger of getting attacked or harmed at any time. Keeping this notion in mind the Brazilian Jiu Jitsu will accept you with open arms with the vow of training you to become more vigilant and so in control of a given situation that you can easily handle an unfortunate experience with proper skills and techniques.
It is true that you can enter the Brazilian Jiu Jitsu classes with any physique but from then onwards you will need to really focus on your training and your ability to grasp instructions of your trainer so you are able to fully evolve into the person you aim to be. The training will require extra attention, passion and devotion from your behalf if you are truly serious about learning Brazilian Jiu Jitsu techniques.
At first the classes will seem extra difficult especially if you are a beginner; however gradually you will get a hang of it and you will soon realize what your strengths and your weaknesses are. But to fully develop into a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu athlete you need to be open minded and acceptable of the critiques your trainer gives you. Only when you will be able to take these critiques constructively will you be able to grow and progress.
Our advice to you is to definitely start training to make your body stronger and more flexible as this will definitely help you progress in the training. For example, start working on your stamina and your balance; these two things will definitely help you reach great heights when it comes to learning the Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. The other thing that we would focus on is upper body strength; why we say this is because most of the moves that you will be expected to learn in the Brazilian Jiu Jitsu classes require upper body strength.
It has already been established that the Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is considered to be first and foremost a self defense teaching class; in it you will learn the importance of staying calm and calculating your moves so you are able to establish a distance from your opponent or attacker. Now safe distance does not only imply being so far away from your attacker that they cannot reach or harm you; safe distance also means being so close to them in space that you are able to directly restrict their movement and hence the extent of harm that they can cause you.
This might sound like something that’s almost impossible to establish or the least ideal thing to do when under attack; however years of research, observation and practice has gone into the sport of self defense and it cannot be denied that most of the times when you are under attack it becomes impossible to over throw and dominate your opponent or push them away physically so you can escape. In Brazilian Jiu Jitsu classes you will no doubt learn techniques that will teach you how to escape your attacker, but at the same time if you can’t seem to free yourself from the grasp of your attacker then what other ways can you restrict their movements will also be taught.
For us this is extremely important because not only this way will you be training your mind to stay as vigilant as possible but also learn how to stay calm in an otherwise panicked situation so you can calculate your future moves. Whether you want to create a long distance between your opponents or limit their movement, you will need to keep a clear mind, read the situation, determine your moves and then use each and every ounce of strength that you have to be able to carry out your moves.
Brazilian Jiu Jitsu will teach you how to do all these things and do them very quickly but also skillfully. Brazilian Jiu Jitsu will also teach you how to use your strength, regardless of what your physique is, to overpower and escape from your opponent. You can’t really start training your mind to think quickly and remain calm at the same time that will come gradually to you through practices; however you can train your body beforehand by doing strength training. And the most important strength would be of the upper body.
It is true that your strength needs to disperse from all over your body as lower legs and upper arms both play a significant role in learning Brazilian Jiu Jitsu techniques. However the upper body has a more prevalent role to play and that is because as a human you have more control and free will to use your upper body as compared to your lower body. The Brazilian Jiu Jitsu will teach you how to push away your opponent as well as your to grapple and pink them down until safety arrives. To be able to over throw someone who has completely restricted your movement you need to think carefully and then you need to use your upper body strength as much as possible to grasp a hold of them and to then over turn them and pin them down to find your true escape and make a run for it or call for help.
Hands will play a very important role as you will learn especially if you will be dressed in the traditional Brazilian Jiu Jitsu GI. This kimono styled Brazilian Jiu Jitsu uniform is designed in a way so you can learn of the importance of using your attackers garment as your biggest support to push them off, pull them closer to you or to pin them down. All these techniques and many more in the Brazilian Jiu Jitsu require immense upper body strength because your hands need to grasp their garment and keep them restricted for as long as possible.
Especially for women the Brazilian Jiu Jitsu GIs work as wonders because women really need to train more rigorously to be able to channel that sort of power and energy that will allow their muscles to perform better and with more fierce than men. In this case training in a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu GI will provide women with the best opportunity to practice holding a strong grasp of their opponents who are unfortunately mostly more powerful than them.
Hence if you are someone who is interested in developing upper body strength then we definitely suggest trying out Brazilian Jiu Jitsu classes as you they are the best opportunity to train your upper body muscles to work at their optimum level.
Disclosure: This article was written by a guest author.