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Street fighting is very common nowadays. Any time of the day, you may encounter someone who can threaten you. What will you do in those cases if you are not a trained BJJ player? Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is a combat sport that provides you with many benefits. This is just one case in your life where you will need BJJ. BJJ helps you in many matters of your life, whether it's fighting, psychological, mental, physical, or anything else. There are many reasons that people should train it even if they are not willing to take it as a career.
The fact is the majority of fights do end up on the ground, but at the same time you should not think that BJJ should be relied upon for self-defense only. Also, people should not have a false sense of security. BJJ is an awesome sport. But is this sport for you and should you train it? BJJ is for everyone is a common statement that you must be hearing all the time. But maybe it's not for everyone, but it's for nearly anyone on the mats.
You will see a variety of different people, young and old, people of all different shapes and sizes, people with physical disabilities, people with mental disabilities, and people of varying levels of education and income, and the list goes on. Nearly anyone can do BJJ and many love it with a passion that they never felt before for a sport or hobby. But why is that? You are going to know why you should train Jiu-Jitsu, whether you are already training or looking to train BJJ.
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1. Exercise
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is a form of exercise. In fact, it is better than the usual exercise which people do. Why do you exercise? Most people do exercise to burn calories. This is the primary reason for most people doing exercise. BJJ is better than exercise because it usually burns 300 to 800 calories per hour. Another thing that makes BJJ the best is that you don’t feel BJJ is a burden. You do it like fun. You enjoy it. You don’t feel like you are doing the workout. You are just having fun, and at the same time, you are burning calories and keeping yourself fit. You enjoy the BJJ and take it as fun, and burned calories come as a byproduct of this fun. Most people don’t enjoy doing exercise. Their primary focus is only on burning calories. With this focus, they can’t enjoy doing the exercise.
If you are doing BJJ apart from exercise, you must have noticed that you started burning more calories then when you were doing exercise alone. Exercise alone can’t burn enough calories. You may have to limit the daily calorie intake if you want to stay fit. Otherwise, you may start gaining weight. It also depends on whether you love eating food or not. If you are a foodie, then you can’t resist eating. It will result in you gaining weight.
Start doing Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu with the exercise, and you will not ever have to be worried about gaining weight by eating food. BJJ, like every other thing, can’t be perfect. It has one drawback. That is when you do BJJ daily, you eventually start getting good at BJJ. Being good means that you will not have to struggle as hard as you have to do before. This makes you burn fewer calories than you were burning before. But there is also a solution to this. That is, you have to keep learning new techniques and moves in BJJ.
This will keep you working harder and will burn more calories. You likely become stronger and more athletic from BJJ as well. If you're a gym rat and switching from barbells and dumbbells for Jiu Jitsu, this likely won't be the case. But if you haven't been as physically active, to begin with, then you'll definitely notice a big boost in both strength and cardio. This is why you don't need to get in shape before starting Jiu-Jitsu. This is a common misconception that potential beginners have and it often prevents them from starting Jiu Jitsu to begin with. But it's not true.
BJJ will get you in shape for Jiu-Jitsu. With that said, even if you are in great shape before starting BJJ, even if you're a gym rat or even doing almost any other sport for however long, you will likely be so inefficient in your Jiu-Jitsu movements that you will feel like you're not even in shape at all. So whether you're in great shape or not, just start because either way, you're going to be gassed on your first session quickly.
2. Your Mind
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu develops your mind. The amount of strategy and technique it requires from you to learn BJJ is insane. BJJ is ever-evolving. The depth that BJJ covers is incomparable with any other sport. Even if you are an experienced BJJ player with years of learning and playing BJJ techniques and moves, you will still find new techniques and moves that you have never learned. BJJ has never ending amount of techniques and skills to learn. You can fill pages and pages, hours and hours of instruction and technical details. There are so many ways to position yourself in relation to another human being.
The new moves in BJJ are constantly being developed. Older moves are constantly being refined. Details and instructions for new ways of controlling your opponent are continuously being introduced, such as buggy choke which is a new technique introduced in the last few years. It was a new technique that came out of nowhere, and everyone started loving it. That is the best thing about BJJ.
It is not about which techniques in BJJ are the best, it is more about what is the optimal solution for a particular situation here or the body type or the style of the grapple you are facing to find the options for attack. Defending yourself while simultaneously figuring out the best options for attacking your opponent is not an easy task. But difficult does not mean not fun. It is fun for your brain which you execute with your body.
You should try Jiu-Jitsu on a day-to-day basis rather than just watching TV. There is a time for entertainment. But give some time and prioritize challenging your mind and body daily.
3. Self Defense
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu can be learned for fun and fitness. But if the primary reason for learning BJJ is self-defense, then BJJ can serve the purpose greatly. If you are learning BJJ, then you don’t need to be worried about defending yourself in street fights. You can easily defend yourself against street crimes and fights daily.
You will have the ability to protect yourself if needed, and that is a byproduct of the fun you are having by training BJJ. Although the commonly heard statistic of fights going to the ground is definitely just a made-up number, the truth is the majority of fights do end up on the ground. Whether someone initiates a takedown or two people fighting just fall to the ground. Having skills on the ground puts you at an advantage. It's the kind of skill you'll definitely be glad you have if a fight does start. But at the same time, BJJ should not be relied upon for self-defense, nor should people have a false sense of security. Even with all that training and expertise in fighting, you will seek to avoid a fight nearly at all costs.
True toughness is walking away from a fight, even if the aggressor is saying things that hurt your feelings or ego. Because your ego can recover and you'll likely never think about that person again. But with the number of things that can go wrong in a fight, like accidentally killing your opponent, getting charged for potential weapons like guns and knives, the potential for multiple attackers, etc. The risk is not worth it to protect your ego.
One thing goes wrong even for the best of fighters. It can be life-altering. One of the major values that BJJ brings to the table for self-defense, especially when you first start off is that you realize how tough you are actually not how people half your size can beat you up. And how hard it is to actually get someone to the ground and how hard it is to control someone when you do get there. It is good that the lower belts walking around with the false sense of confidence that they can take on anyone and they are just waiting for the opportunity is a very damaging and dangerous mindset. Don't willingly fight ever. Use your words. But if you are forced into a fight, you will be glad you have Jiu-Jitsu.
4. Friendships
In today’s world, making and finding true friends is very difficult. Most people will come to you only when they need you. When you are training for Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu at the gym, you will meet with people who have common interests.
When many people with common goals and interests meet in one place, they become friends easily. You will start having a social life. You will have fun with friends you make at your BJJ academy. So, besides learning BJJ, you will be making friends at the academy. This will keep you happy and develop your social life.
5. Ego
The best part Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu plays in your life is that it destroys your ego. When you start BJJ, you will realize that you know nothing. You will realize that you cannot do anything you thought you could. If you have been a gym rat or athletic, you will think that on your first day, you will be given a purple belt. You will have confidence that you can win easily against already practicing BJJ athletes.
But on your first day in your first fight, you will be amazed to see that even white belts smaller in size than you will be wiping the floor and submitting you. It will be too easy for them to do this. You will be helpless. All your confidence will be shattered and thus your ego. BJJ shatters your ego and confidence in the best of the ways. Then, work will begin to gain your lost confidence back.
As you start getting better and better at BJJ, you will get confidence again. You gain confidence not only in BJJ but also in your real life. The best part is when BJJ shatters your ego, you want to build it again. Some people think that BJJ shatters all your ego, and you no longer have an ego. But this is a misconception. There are many big players in BJJ who are egomaniacs. The reality is ego definitely shatters in the beginning when you are just starting Jiu-Jitsu. It dives in the start but later comes back with soaring a little too high.
6. Last Words
BJJ is a must-learn sport for everyone. You should learn BJJ whether you are of any age. It develops your mind. By making you learn different techniques and moves, and that too in specific situations, BJJ makes you strategic. You learn problem-solving by practicing BJJ because, in BJJ, you have to escape when you are in a submissive position. BJJ makes you physically fit. It burns many calories over a short term of period. You become physically active and fit. BJJ also makes your social life fun and amazing. You learn to interact with different and new people. You become an extrovert. You start making new friends. BJJ develops confidence in yourself, which you exhibit in your real life. All these reasons are enough to make you start training BJJ.
7. Frequently Asked Questions
7.1 Is It Necessary For You to Learn BJJ?
The decision to do BJJ depends on personal interests. However, BJJ provides many benefits to its learners. If you want to achieve the following benefits, you should learn BJJ.
BJJ burns your calories and makes you physically fit.
BJJ is fun to do, and you don’t get bored of doing it.
As you start practicing BJJ, you start developing confidence in yourself which is helpful for you in your real life.
You make new friends, and you start developing your social life.
BJJ develops your mind and makes it strategic and strong.
7.2 Is Doing BJJ Better Than Doing Exercise?
Yes. BJJ is better than exercise because When you train BJJ, you burn 300 to 800 calories per hour. But you don’t burn many calories when you do exercise. Moreover, most people don’t enjoy doing exercise. But you will definitely enjoy training BJJ. BJJ is a fun. You train BJJ, and burned calories come as a byproduct. When you are doing exercise, your focus is only on burning calories. You don’t enjoy yourself. This is not the case with BJJ. You make fun, learn BJJ, prepare yourself for self-defense, and develop your mind all at the same time. That is why BJJ is better than exercise.
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