BJJ and grappling are martial arts that are booming in the last 20 years, the main goal is to achieve a dominant position and force your opponent to surrender. The main reasons for this boom are:

 

- Is very easy to learn

- Is really effective in a real fight

- Is very safe to practice

- Is really fun

 

Practicing Brazilian Jiu jitsu comes with many benefits, both physical and mental.

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PHISICAL BENEFITS:

 

1. USE SKILL AND LEVERAGE.

Because you’re not relying on brute strength or muscle, Jiu-Jitsu is called “the gentle art.” BJJ teaches you how to use leverage and technique to take down your opponent. Strategy and your BJJ skills are your primary form of defence. Which makes your opponent’s size and strength secondary. Ultimately, size and strength don’t dictate your success. A smaller or weaker individual can take down a bigger, stronger person by using good BJJ techniques.

 

2. LEARN SELF-DEFENCE.

In a real-life physical conflict, the fight will frequently end up on the ground. The skills and techniques you learn through BJJ will prepare you to defend yourself during a physical confrontation without use of violence.

 

3. ANYONE CAN LEARN!

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu isn’t for a particular age, fitness level, or body types. Children, adults and even elderlies can practice BJJ safely. BJJ is not a predominantly male sport, women also benefit from learning Jiu-Jitsu. Anyone can learn!

 

4. ENGAGE YOUR BRAIN.

In addition to learning self-defense and getting in a good workout, another benefit of BJJ is the mental workout it provides. Jiu-Jitsu is like a “human game of chess.” It involves quite a bit of strategy and critical thinking. To bring down your opponent, you can’t rely on physical skills alone. You must also engage your brain to think ahead and plan a strategy.

 

5. SOCIAL SKILLS AND INCLUSION.

Rather than practicing BJJ all on your own, you get matched up with a partner. Pairing off gives you a chance to spar so you can practice applying what you’ve learned. In BJJ, you’re always training with different partners, so you get plenty to make friends and include kids who are shy or have problems at creating relations.

 

MENTAL BENEFITS:

 

1. It teaches patience

In BJJ you’ll often have to wait for the best time to make an escape or bait an opponent. When trying to escape you’ll need to patiently defeat each of your opponent’s obstacles before successfully making an escape or an attack.

 

 

2. It develops your problem solving skills

Oftentimes in BJJ you’ll come across situations you’re not familiar with. Sometimes you’ll have to improvise in order to continue the fight. Sometimes this will result in failure and sometimes you’ll be successful.

 

3. It builds discipline

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is mentally and physically challenging. To continuously make it to class each week consistently requires discipline in the face of regular and normal “losses” in sparring. As mentioned above, this is important for growth.

 

4. It develops your ability to deal with pressure

One of the biggest lessons I learned when starting jiu jitsu was to relax, especially when in an unfavourable position where your first reaction might be to panic. Relaxing under pressure allows you to think and find smart solutions.

 

5. It builds humility

It’s normal to regularly experience failure when sparring in BJJ. These losses are necessary and crucial for your learning journey. Still, the act of submitting and losing means that your ego necessarily takes a healthy hit every time you go to training.

There is a famous quote that say "There is no loosing in bjj, either you win or you learn".

 

6. It builds confidence

After training in BJJ for an extended period of time you’ll have an impressive list of successes when sparring or competing which will help build confidence. You’ll also eventually progress in the belt rank system that proof you ability to fight. The self-defence benefits of jiu jitsu might also help to inspire confidence when you’re out of the gym.

 

7. It can clear your mind

I’ve personally entered my gym on numerous occasions with stress or after experiencing a bad day. Every time I step off the mats later that night after some sparring, I feel mentally clear and often forget what I was worried about in the first place.