Why Jiu Jitsu versus other martial arts

Alright so,

Why Jiu Jitsu instead of other martial arts.

So my previous entry was talking about all the benefits you can get from Jiu Jitsu.  It is true, you can get a lot of those benefits from other martial arts. But this article will explain why Jiu Jitsu is the better option still.

Jiu Jitsu vs other martial arts:

A decent excuse to not train Jiu Jitsu could be training a different martial art.  I will agree, training something is better than training nothing ...but all things considered, Jiu Jitsu is definitely the better option…and this is coming from a guy who grew up doing Tae Kwon Do, getting my black belt in that art, and also has done Muay Thai, Boxing, Wrestling and Judo. 

-Most humane - because we don’t use blunt force trauma, it’s possible to put someone unconscious, or put them in a holding position until help arrives.  Whereas a striking martial art is going to cause real damage in order to win, possibly death  with a head strike.

-Most longevity on your body/brain - again, because we don’t use blunt force trauma, we don’t typically sustain damage.  If you get caught in a choke, you either tap and it’s over, or you go to sleep.  No real damage.  If you get caught in a joint lock, that can end really badly, but if you don’t let your ego get in the way, you can just tap and it’s over before anything bad happens.

When compared to the other grappling arts, wrestling and Judo, both of those are high impact when it comes to achieving the goal of the sport, the takedown.  Jiu Jitsu has had a bit of a bad history when it comes to takedowns, because most Jiu Jitsu guys suck at takedowns.  And yes I agree if you’re trying to be a high level athlete, you need this skillset, but as far as a hobbyist, a couple of simple trips and a solid guard is more than sufficient, for training and in a real life situation.  

You commonly see older people training jiu jitsu, but it’s pretty rare to see an old person still on the mats actually doing wrestling or judo…I’m talking actually getting thrown, not just moving around where the other athlete is basically taking turns and not going for real.

Most realistic - You always hear all the statistics about X percent of all fights hit the ground.  Also, I think grappling is more inherent to humans, vs striking.   Striking feels like a way bigger risk, vs getting the opponent to the ground, where it feels safer.

You also have a great chance of breaking your hand or ankle when punching or kicking someone.

There’s a big debate in martial arts and mixed martial arts about whether or not Jiu Jitsu is “real” or “still works”.  This is such a stupid conversation.  The only reason this conversation exists is because EVERY single fighter in MMA has learned submission grappling.  If they hadn’t trained Jiu Jitsu, then they would EASILY be submitted.  This was proven in the early UFC’s.  When guys didn’t know what it was, they ALL got submitted.  That would still be true if current day athletes had never done any submission training.

If you enjoy this article, please find the video content I post to my youtube Gil Alcocer YouTube. A like a subscribe would be greatly appreciated.  Also consider following myself and my Jiu Jitsu academy instagram at these links here: Gil Alcocer IG and JJI IG. And lastly, my academy YouTube page at JJI YouTube.

Thanks,

Gil