What is jiujitsu?
As much as the sport seems to be growing, it is still just the Martial Art that Joe Rogan is always raving on about. Jiujitsu is yes, a martial art, a combat sport, “the gentle art” but let’s face it, there’s nothing so gentle about breaking bones, tearing muscles, spraining ligaments, the occasional eye gauge, nut hit, tooth chip and constantly choking people unconscious… but nonetheless, yeah I guess it is the most gentle out of the run..
Theres a fun little handshake to begin and you can choose to pick the pace. For the most part it does look a lot like cuddling, rolling and squeezing, most of it is spent laying on the floor and if it does gets too hectic, you can always “tap out”. Let me reiterate, no there is no striking in jiujitsu. Except in combat jiujitsu but we’re getting ahead of ourselves… Jiujitsu is a grappling sport, kinda like wrestling. Actually, almost exactly like wrestling with a touch of judo, except when you land on your back, the game continues. And no slamming on the head if it can be avoided.
Whats the objective?
Pure dominance by any means. When facing a competitor, half the battle is lost during the initial handshake. As soon as your opponent doubts their abilities, you’re already a step ahead. Confidence puts you in the lead, followed by execution, reinforcement and submission. “Uhh you’re speaking nonsense”. Right – so it starts standing, you shake, or not, you wrestle or not, you sit or not, basically you are trying to get the other person to do something they don’t want to do and visa versa. So that’s why confidence in the mental game aids execution in the physical game. Yes there is a point system which you earn through noticeable moments of dominance like picking them up and slamming them to the floor (gently of course… most of the time), or pinning your opponent in a vulnerable position, or reversing from a vulnerable position to now an optimal one. However, all the stats go out the door if you manage to submit your opponent before the timer runs out.
How do you win?
Well it’s a bit of a dance. As I said, you’re trying to force the other person to put their body in a certain position all while they’re trying to do the exact same thing to you. With speed, strength, technique and ability, its a back and forth race where you’re constantly stopping your journey and having to reroute. And you might ask, “so how do you reroute?”. Simple – learn as many routes as possible and through consistency, repetition and dedication, you’ll not only memorise most of the map but your muscles will remember it too. Like anything, if you want to get good at something, just keep doing it.
The hierarchy
Right, the belt system. You hear blackbelt and you mind travels to ninjas or some Asian discipline like Karate. In Brazilian Jiujitsu there’s some dumb notion that back in the day you wouldn’t wash your belt and through all the hard working years of training, blood, sweat and tears it would eventually change colour over time from white to black. This is not how it is, this is unhygienic and if you come to the gym with an unwashed belt, you will be victimised…
Now you start with white, where you’re just learning and mastering your fundamentals. Learning the pathways connecting you from home base to the secret world beyond the horizon (going with my map analogy, keep up!). You get some cool sneak peaks of whats over the fence but the longer time you spend on your white, the more you learn the foundations and applied technique is worth more. You then get promoted to blue, then purple, brown and eventually black, if you can stick it out long enough.
How do you get promoted?
This is a controversial topic but i’ll give you my honest opinion. First of all, it depends on your school, head coach, legacy and what not, but I believe you should be promoted based on skill level. It’s like putting a 1st grader in a 5th grader exam and expecting the same outcome. Makes no sense right? So why would you look up to a blue belt the same as a brown belt if they aren’t as competent? Sure there is a window between white and blue, blue and purple, etc, etc – where you go from the top of the food chain back to the bottom of the barrel and that’s for your coach to make the decision as to whether you’re ready or not, even if you don’t know within yourself. For me, white is mastering the fundamentals, Blue is for exploring all the avenues and which paths suit you, Purple is for mastering the path you have chosen, Brown is manipulating your path, individualising it and adding your own flavour, and Black is for reinventing your path, signing your seal of commitment and going back to basics to start all over again. In saying all that, every level it seems you are constantly going back to fundamentals to learning new tricks to tightening your A-game and slowly realising the more you learn, the more you don’t know!
In between the colour ranks, there are what we call “stripes”. Stripes too are controversial and inconsistent throughout! Some give stripes based on skill level, some give stripes as learning curves, competing experience, consistency and dedication or because they felt like it. Every school is different. Some grade for their stripes and some are just given. Some no-gi gyms don’t even have stripes at all (i’ll get to that in a sec). So quite frankly, in my upmost, personal and uncensored opinion – the stripes don’t mean shit. They should but hey, try get every household on the planet to have the same dish cleaning routine. It’s not gonna happen.
Although the belt system is great recognition and a stepping stone for your progress, in a competition setting, at the end of the day what really matters is skill for skill. You see blue belts defeat black belts all the time in high level competition so it really shouldn’t matter too much to the individual. For a lot of people, it’s just something cool to talk about at parties!
Gi? No-Gi? Is it pronounce gee or jee or guy or…
The gi (pronounced g-eeeeee) is the cute little pyjama, karate looking uniform thing. No-gi means not wearing a gi and for optimal comfort, movement, and your training partners’ sake, your uniform is preferably a rashguard and tights. But by God, please put some shorts over your tights okay. Don’t be that guy. No one appreciates that guy. We won’t hate you for it but we will hate rolling you in it, especially in a position where your crotch is so close to your partners face, they can basically smell your ball sweat! Yeah, an extra layer of clothing will do nicely thanks.
Anyway… the gi gives you an advantage to use the material of the uniform – the sleeves, collar, other random pieces of the garment and even the belt to manipulate your opponents weight distribution, disarm their attacks, limit their movement and using another tool to aid in your progression. But again, whatever you’re trying to do to them, they are trying to do to you. So with every advantage comes a disadvantage. A lot of the gi game comes with initiating those types of grips and confronting their’s. The advantage of no-gi means your opponent doesn’t have an extra weapon, meaning you don’t either but also the ability to slip out of tricky situation easier and visa versa. Most people have a preference but for the minority group I belong to, I like both. I just like to roll. Pyjamas or surf-wear!
“To gi or not to gi? That is the question!”
The mind game
Uh huh. One of the most crucial aspects of this race. Some have compared it to a chess match. You start in an even playing field, someone makes a move and the game won’t progress until someone does. If your opponent makes the first move, you follow with a reaction and visa versa. As the back and forth game continues, like chess you may even create a trap or distraction, putting yourself in a vulnerable position on purpose to get the most expected outcome to then be ready to counter that movement and therefore be two steps ahead of the opponent, and visa versa. You’re constantly thinking, constantly planning and trying to envision the roadmap and all of the route options ahead of you and changing which map to follow as each action your opponent makes, causes your reaction and start your thought all over again. Oh and all while physically exhausting yourself which everyone knows, the more exhausted you become, the harder it is to not only think but for your body to listen to the messages your brain is trying to send it. Pretty awesome huh!
The best part about jiujitsu
If you know, you definitely know. As big and broad as it seems to us in it, our tight nit community is filled with a mixture of humans of all stages of life. But all in the same, our sport lifestyle is laid back, everyone is cracking jokes, a lot of Brazilian related ones at that. We’re notorious for staying back after class and talking shit, everyones having a laugh before and after rolling but will rip each others heads off when it’s go time. It is also a combat sport where you are constantly back and forth loosing and winning, so your ego will be checked. It’s the one environment where someone will get you in a nasty position or transition and your wanting to know how they did it is as equal to how badly they want to share it with you!
It’s the one community where stoners meet nerds, meets meatheads, meets conspiracy theorist, meets police officers, meets people with ADD or on the spectrum, etc, etc. And if you’re just addicted to fun, learning and physicality, this is your medicine.
My favourite part of jiujitsu
Ah my favourite question. My favourite part of jiujitsu is the mind, body and spirit synchronisation. The physical chess game as we have called it, and being able to use my mind and body at the same time. I’ve heard a similar thing said to describe rock climbing. But as jiujitsu is a back and forth flow between two bodies, you do need another person to do it so it feels sort of like a dance and in a weird way, some therapeutic meditation while connecting with another human. Yes, the sport of rolling around and trying to hurt each other! Go figure.
Should you do jiujitsu?
Well I am a firm believer in trying anything that interests you and only then can you make that decision. Like any sport, skill or hobby, you need to get past the introduction stage and really have a feel for what its about before you can come to your conclusion. Like anything, its not for everyone but the great part about jiujitsu is there are levels to it. You don’t have to take it to the extreme and become a professional. You can do it for skill development, physical fitness, mind and body perseverance, giving your muscles attention they need, all while helping the guys who do compete, get themselves ready for their matches. You can always choose the easier options but if you continue doing it, you’ll only grow and advance more and more anyway. So if you’re physically able or want to be better physically then yeah go for it. It’s probably one of the most fun and addictive ways to get your heart rate up. Otherwise there are plenty of other sports and physical activities to choose from that are beneficial. I’ve written about the importance of getting moving in a previous post. There are so many sports and games to choose from, if you’re unsure, try them all until you find one!
Take care of yourself, make the most of this life and don’t ever think its too late to try something new. Your future, older, wiser self will never forgive you for that!
Peace.