A Brief History
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) is a grappling centric form of fighting that developed in Brazil in the 1920’s. It is an offshoot of Judo, which itself is a hybridization of Japanese Jiu-Jitsu and Wrestling techniques from Europe, America and Asia. Unlike Judo, BJJ focuses on ground fighting; bringing the opponent to the ground, controlling them, then forcing them to give-up by placing them in a joint-lock or strangle-hold.
Following its inception in Brazil, BJJ practitioners had unrivaled success in challenge matches against every other popular Martial Arts style of the day. In the 1990’s, BJJ was showcased to the world in Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) competitions. It took the world by storm and set a precedent that if you don’t learn BJJ, you’re going to lose to it. Today, every top fighter trains BJJ, and it is considered one of the four-pillars of MMA.
Beyond fighting, BJJ is a sport unto itself; it’s a fun, addictive, competitive and relatively safe combat sport. There are thousands of techniques, new techniques are always being created and the sport is constantly evolving. Since it’s low-impact, practitioners can train hard, spar daily and still have better longevity than most combat sports. With all of this in mind, it’s not surprising that BJJ is by far the most popular Martial Art for adults in America. An estimated 3 million people in the USA practice BJJ and it’s still growing.
People practice BJJ for different motivations: some want to learn self-defense, others want to be doing something fun and exciting while they get in shape, some train to win competitions and many do it just for the genuine love of the art.
Whatever your motivation is, contact Pine BJJ to find out more.