BJJ vs. Aikido – The Ultimate Guide for 2020

Are you looking to take up either BJJ or Aikido? Are you unsure of how they are different? Read our article to learn everything you need to know.

People from different origins and walks of life practice martial arts for various reasons, including fitness, self-defense, entertainment, stress-relief, etc. It has also become an entertainment source through multiple sports such as the Ultimate Fighting Championship and One Championship. Two of the modern martial arts that are most talked about are Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and Aikido. In this article, we will discuss them thoroughly. 

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Differences Between BJJ and Aikido 

Most people who do not practice martial arts think that BJJ and Aikido are the same. While they may look the same to the untrained eye as they both utilize grappling techniques, that is not the case. There are some fundamental differences between BJJ and Aikido.

• Fighting Style: Aikido is used to fight upright on both feet, while BJJ teaches us to fight on the ground to overcome size and weight differences. Aikido teaches us to deflect the opponent’s attacks while BJJ teaches us to subdue them.

• Evolution: While Aikido has not changed since its creation, BJJ has changed and improved with different styles that were taught from within the fundamental techniques. 
• Philosophy: Aikido places vast importance on reducing harm to the user by redirecting the opponent’s attacks; BJJ focuses on subduing larger foes using different combinations of techniques.
• Aggressiveness: Between the two, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is the more aggressive martial art.

History of BJJ

One of the world’s fastest-growing martial arts is Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ). It is also written as jujitsu or jujutsu. In literal words, the Japanese term ‘Ju’ means gentleness, and jutsu means art or technique. Thus, its literal translation is ‘gentle art.’ Even though this form of martial art has come into attention only recently, mainly due to the soaring popularity of several mixed martial arts competitions, BJJ’s origins can be traced back to several centuries.

According to most people, BJJ was erected by a family known as the Gracie family, who were taught by Misuyo Maeda. While this is not wrong, it also does not paint the full picture. 

The beginning of the story of BJJ starts in Feudal Japan. The Japanese samurai practiced an early form of Jiu-Jitsu to use them on the field. These warriors usually engaged in armed battles on horseback, and they developed the gentle art as their last line of defense when they were to find themselves in the battleground bare-handed and on foot. This art form mainly contained throws, joint locks, using chokes rather than strikes as the samurais wore heavy armor, which restricted their movement too much to perform striking techniques. As time passed, this form of Jiu-Jitsu branched off to various styles and transferred its focus from armed combat to a self-defense technique. 

With the decline of Japanese feudalism, their martial arts also faced a decline. Then, a student of the traditional Japanese martial arts, who later came to be known as Jigoro Kano, made an effort to preserve these arts. In 1982, he founded a school where martial arts were taught and named it Kodokan. In this school, Kano instructed his students on his personal preference for the most effective Japanese Ryu or art techniques. A unique perspective of these techniques would later be known as Judo. 

In 1894, a son of a sumo fighter named Mitsuo Maeda began his training at the Kodokan. Eventually, he became one of Kano’s most prized students. While Maeda was well-versed in takedowns and throws, his specialty was Newaza or ground-fighting. Maeda traveled to the US in 1904, along with a few teachers from Kodokan. Their form of martial art had many American admirers.  Because of his incredible feats, Maeda was given the nickname of Conde Koma. In 1914, the martial artist sat his foot in Brazil and began the journey to change the history of this art.

After going to Brazil, Maeda settled in Belem, where he took on a capoeira artist named Pe De Bola. Maeda weighed 68 kg with a height of 5’5″ whereas his opponent was a man of 6’3″. While Maeda was unarmed, Bola used a knife. Nevertheless, Maeda came out victorious. In 1917, a teenage boy named Carlos Gracie saw an incredible display by the Japanese warrior known to take down giants. Maeda was a friend of that boy’s father, Gastao Gracie. Later, Maeda would take in young Carlos as his student.

As a faithful student, Carlos Gracie welcomed Jiu-Jitsu, and he started teaching this art to his siblings. One of his younger brothers, Helio, faced problems executing these techniques due to his weaker physique. So, he started to make some adjustments to the techniques so that the art can be executed no matter the physique or strength. It was from these innovative techniques made by Helio Gracie that Brazillian Jiu-Jitsu was born.

History of Aikido

The word ‘Aikido’ is often translated as a harmonious spirit of unifying with life energy. It’s a form of martial art that is focused only on self-defense. It has similar fighting techniques to that of Jiu-Jitsu and Judo as it also utilizes the technique of twisting and throwing, and it aims to turn the attacker’s momentum and strength against him. Aikido emphasizes the necessity of achieving mental peace and control of one’s own body to read any opponent’s attack. 

Aikido was originally developed in the early part of the 20th century by Morihei Ueshiba, now known as O-sensei or venerable. From a young age, Ueshiba studied different forms of martial arts, such as sumo, swordsmanship, staff technique, spear technique, and various forms of Jiu-Jitsu, especially the Daito and Yagyu styles as a way of making himself strong after seeing his father getting beaten up for political reasons. 

From youth, when we cannot finish watching a movie in one sitting to save our lives, Morihei Ueshiba had been a calm, sensitive, and deeply spiritual person. Even after gaining such knowledge about different forms of martial arts and becoming healthy, Ueshiba felt dissatisfied. He plunged himself into religion to find a more profound significance of life while continuing to pursue to develop his knowledge of martial arts.

He was then influenced by the charismatic spiritual artist and leader Onisaburo Deguchi. Ueshiba came to view his martial arts training as his way of personal purification through spiritual training.

During his lifetime, Ueshiba saw Japan get involved in some of the most vicious conflicts of the 20th century, culminating in the Pacific war. During that time, Morihei Ueshiba founded Aikido and declared it to be the way of joining the citizens of the world in peace. That is why Aikido is more than a bugei or martial art or a bujutsu or a martial technique. It is, in essence, a budo or a martial way. The true meaning of Aikido can be found in one of O-sensei’s most revered quotes, “True victory is victory over the self.”

Rule Difference Between BJJ and Aikido

Even though Aikido and BJJ originated from the same land, they vary greatly. However, they also have some similarities in their techniques and their philosophical stands. 

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is a combat sport. It has many tournaments and competitions at different levels, including country, continent, and world level. These tournaments are organized by distinguished federations such as IBJJF, UAEJJF, etc. These tournaments are usually broken up into style brackets. One can win the competition by making the opponent submit or by earning points throughout the match. There are some joint locks or strangles that are permitted by the BJJ federation that count as submissions.

On the other hand, Aikido is strictly a self-defense martial art. It has no competition. As its founder, Morihei Ueshiba has said, ‘There are no contests in the Art of Peace. A true warrior is invincible because he or she contests with nothing”. So, having competition would go against its founding philosophy. 

Belt Systems and Progression Differences

Although both these martial art forms follow a belt system, they are not entirely similar but have some differences. The ranking systems in both forms are done by color, but the systems are a bit different. The Aikido has six ranks represented from bottom to top: white, yellow, orange, blue, brown, and finally, the black belt. In contrast, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu has five levels for adults: white, blue, purple, brown, and black. 

BJJ Belts

White Belt: The white belt signifies the beginning of our journey through the world of BJJ. The wearer of this belt’s aim would be to learn proper defense and survive. There is no required time set for a practitioner of the art to stay in this belt, according to the IBJJF. However, it is advised to take 6-18 months before moving on to the next rank.

Blue Belt: Wearing this belt means that the wearer has a basic understanding of Jiu-Jitsu positions. After we put enough work into training to be acknowledged by the instructor, we would only be ready for the blue belt. The IBJJF has set a time limit of at least two years where the practitioner must stay a blue belt holder. 

Purple Belt: A purple belt holder has a basic understanding of every primary Jiu-Jitsu position and now the art is a massive part of their life. After getting to this rank, the practitioner focuses on filling the gaps in their techniques. Purple belt holders must put in a lot of work to become proficient in all the areas and because of that, they tend to get more attention from the instructors. The IBJJF requires a purple belt holder to remain in that rank for 1.5 years.

Brown Belt: A brown belt holder is a black belt holder with rough edges. They are the diamond in the rough. The practitioners put everything that they have learned over the years and mold them to sharpen their game. A brown belt holder understands virtually every aspect of the art, and they use this time to polish their skills. The brown belt holders usually spend 1-2 years in this stage.

Black Belt: A black belt represents that the practitioner has completed their journey through the world of BBJ and reached the top. They fully understand the journey through the art form and are technically sound in most positions. We have to note that having a black belt does not indicate that we know everything about the sport but that we have put in enough work to be a skilled and proficient Jiu-Jitsu practitioner. 

Aikido Belts

The different colored belts are a product of the new era. But when Morihei Ueshiba first founded Aikido, it had only two colors- black and white. The white belt symbolized a learner or beginner’s rank, and it had grades referred to as kyu. The practitioners could reach several cues starting from the 6th kyu to the 2nd kyu. After mastering the 2nd kyu and moving on to the next, the 2nd kyu student would be awarded a black belt that would indicate that they have reached the first dan or the first degree. There are three degrees one can achieve as a black belt holder. They are the 1st dan, 2nd dan, and 3rd dan.

Before Aikido reached Europe, the conception of the two-colored belts became confusing. To differentiate between the ranks, several schools began to implement the use of different colors. They are generally as follows. 

• 6th Kyu (Rokukyu-White): Requires a minimum of 20 days of training since the beginning.

• 5th Kyu (Gokyu-Yellow): Requires a minimum of 40 days of training after the 6th Kyu.

• 4th Kyu (Yonkyu-Orange): Requires a minimum of 80 days of training after the 5th Kyu.

• 3rd Kyu (Sankyu-Blue): Requires a minimum of 100 days of training after the 4th Kyu.

• 2nd Kyu (Nikyu-Brown): Requires a minimum of 200days of training after the 3rd Kyu.

• 1st Kyu (Ikkyu-Black): Requires a minimum of 300 days of training after the 2nd Kyu.

• 1st Dan (Shodan-Black): Requires a minimum of 300 days of training after the 1st Kyu.

• 2nd Dan (Ni Dan-Black with a thin gold stripe): Requires a minimum of 600 days of training after Sho Dan.
• 3rd Dan (San Dan-Black with a red stripe): Requires a minimum of 700 days of training after Ni Dan.

Class/ Training Differences

The difference between BJJ and Aikido becomes evident after seeing their training. Aikido training begins with ukemi which is primarily based on two partners acting out pre-determined forms or the kata forms. One of the partners learns to react or to receive (uke) an Aikido technique used on them by the other partner (tori) and neutralize this attack. Both the parts of this attack are equally important. These kata forms are acted out as a simulation of real-life situations. 

BJJ training is much more freestyle. It is focused on getting the opponent to the ground to make up for the difference in physique and strength. Different scenarios and submissions are drilled into the practitioner’s mind and body. In the practice rounds, the practitioners pair up and try to make each other submit by using the techniques they have learned.

Pros and Cons

BJJ

Pros

• Mentally Stimulating: BJJ is like playing chess using our bodies. Among thousands of techniques and their counters, we must keep brainstorming about our opponents’ moves and counter them.

• Physical Fitness: BJJ uses the entire body and improves its fitness. Practicing whole body movements onto the mat moves to our daily life and makes it more accessible.

• Improved Endurance: BJJ is both an anaerobic and aerobic exercise that will improve our endurance.

• Increased Strength: BJJ is an effective way to build strength without having to lift weights. We do have the option to add weights if we want to, but we can get a sufficient increase in power without doing so.

• Increased Flexibility: While practicing BJJ, we will find ourselves in positions that we do not in our regular life. Following different move sets will increase our flexibility.

Cons

• Unprotected Vital Spots: BJJ does not focus on protecting some vital spots, such as the groin. 

• Less Useful Against Armed Opponents: While being very good in hand-to-hand combat, BJJ is not very useful against armed opponents.

• Takes A Long to Learn: BJJ is not easy to learn, and it takes quite a lot of time and commitment to learn and apply those techniques in real-life situations properly. 

Aikido

Pros

• Physical Benefits: Aikido is excellent for increased flexibility and strength, aerobic conditioning, improved timing sense, enhanced posture, better reactions, improved balance, and coordination. Other benefits include reduced blood pressure, better cardiovascular health, and pain relief. 

• Greater Body Awareness: With the practice of Aikido comes a more confident and relaxed presence. We will also have a greater awareness of the environment and ourselves. This is the main reason for a lot of people to want to learn Aikido.

• Improved Mind: As Aikido is a martial way, it has physical benefits and some mental benefits. These include increased focus, awareness, and relaxation. We will also have improved confidence and self-confidence and will gain the ability to deal with stressful situations more calmly and positively. 

• Self-development & Learning New Skills: Aikido’s process teaches us to resolve and overcome all types of conflict. By training Aikido, we can develop our inner power, awareness, and decisiveness. 
• Spiritual Benefits: We can also gain many spiritual benefits from learning Aikido. We can have an improved intuitive understanding of the world around us and ourselves. We will gain perception and clarity and see life with greater focus. 

Cons

• Time Consuming: Gaining enough skill in Aikido and to apply them in real life takes years.

• Minimal Offense: Aikido is mainly focused on defending, and so if the practitioner is faced with an opponent, he or she cannot initiate.

• Lacks Resistance: When practicing with a partner, sometimes they fall without resisting making the technique look very convincing. At the same time, it may not be effective at all in a real-life situation.
• Can be Watered Down: Not every trainer is proficient and it is tough to find someone who is. 

Which One is Better to Learn for Self-defense?

Martial arts are codified traditions and systems practiced for various reasons, such as law enforcement and military applications, self-defense, physical competitions, entertainment, mental, physical, spiritual development, etc. Due to self-defense, martial arts have gained popularity. Below we will discuss which martial art forms would be better. 

In the case of Aikido, its style has been developed to take down multiple enemies without injuring them fatally. However, it has nothing to fall back on and if you cannot take down each enemy with a single move, you will be in trouble. It also has very low effectiveness against opponents who have decent enough martial arts skills. But it’s not every day that we are faced up against people skilled in martial arts. It’s also beneficial for people who must control their aggressiveness and not want to leave others with broken bones.

On the other hand, BJJ’s concept promotes that no matter the difference in size, one can take down their opponents using BJJ techniques. It’s one of the best techniques to learn for self-defense purposes as it teaches us to utilize our body as leverage to turn the tables against bigger opponents. It’s a combat sport and it’s not one of those arts that are meant to stay within confined streets. A person skilled in BJJ techniques is street-ready and can take care of themselves anywhere. It also teaches us what to do if we end up on the ground. We learn how to get out of bad situations using sweeps, throws, rolls, etc. This is crucial because this can happen in daily life situations and knowing what to do in these types of situations can be a lifesaver. But we must note that this art form was designed to take down single unarmed opponents. We will have a disadvantage if we are up against an armed combatant or a group of opponents. 

We prefer BJJ for self-defense as it enables us to take on bigger opponents and utilize their strength against their own, plus its focus on ground fighting, where most street fights end up.

BJJ or Aikido for Kids

A burning question in every parent’s mind today is whether their kids should learn martial arts and if yes, which one they should learn. Now, not all forms of martial arts are created, not by a long shot. In this section, we will talk about what kind of martial arts is most suitable for kids.

Before that, let us say that learning any form of martial art is better than learning none. Kids fight. Moreover, if a kid is plunged into a fight without any skills or experiences, the most probable outcome would be that both the kids will come out from the fight with some bruises or possibly a bloody nose even. But if the kid has been taught martial arts, they can go into the fight with confidence and most importantly, a battle plan. 

There are three main criteria that a martial art should fulfill to be suitable for a kid. They are as follows.

• Practical Self-defense: It’s the most obvious of the reasons to be taught martial arts. The form that will give the kid self- defense is the most suitable one. Also, a style that teaches them the sooner, that is the better art form. 

• Include Sparring/ Simulations: For a kid to apply the techniques that he or she learned, there must be practice for it, so the is ready to use them when required.
• Minimize Harm: While we do not want our kid to be hurt during training, we also do not want them to beat their opponents to a hospital bed. Some martial arts require us to hurt the opponents badly to gain a win. That is how the kid ends up suspended or expelled, which is certainly not a win for anyone. So, we want our kids to learn self-defense while keeping the harm to a minimum level.

While Aikido is mostly based on self-defense, as we have mentioned before; it’s less effective against skilled opponents. Moreover, there is not a lot of actual practice involved in this form.

Whereas Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, also known as the gentle art, is 90% sparring, giving the kid a boost in confidence going into a fight. It also helps the children develop patience and problem-solving skills as they must keep trying to figure out how to subdue their opponents with a submission. Also, it teaches you that no opponent is too big for you and that is a valuable life lesson for kids.

So, after considering all the facts, between the two, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is more suitable for kids to learn self-defense.

Conclusion

It is not rare to find yourself on the street faced by a mugger. While we cannot say for sure that it will happen, it’s better to stay prepared to face the situation rather than losing your wits. Learning martial arts can prepare you for that. Besides, it’s also beneficial for any of us to learn a form of martial arts as they has many benefits. We hope that now you can make a choice between BJJ and Aikido.

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Jiu-Jitsu Street is a community of fun loving and hard rolling BJJ enthusiasts. Born out of our passion for the gentle art, we have decided to create this blog and help you on your journey. Let’s grow and learn together on this never-ending journey. Oss!

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Boxing vs BJJ - Which one is better and more effective?

Boxing vs BJJ is a classic striking vs grappling matchup that can play out in many ways. In fact, this is one of the hottest topics in martial arts circles and many have tried to find out which one is better. With the answer still up in the air, we have made a decision to give our view on it. And we must say it wasn’t easy as these two arts differ a lot.

Boxing is one of the oldest fighting styles that are very popular in every corner of the world. It is a standup style where fighters can use only their hands to do damage. BJJ, on the other side, is the best grappling style that doesn’t include any striking at all. The main goal is to use trips and throws to take the fight to the ground first. Once there, they use various chokes and joint locks to submit the opponent and win a match.

Keep reading this article to find out which one is better for self-defense, fitness, or would win in a street fight.

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Boxing vs BJJ – what are the main differences?

You will have a hard time finding two fighting styles that differ more than Boxing and BJJ. This is because boxing focuses on standup, while BJJ is entirely based on ground fighting. Here is all you need to know about how they differ from one another:

History and origins

People have been exchanging punches since the birth of mankind. This is why boxing is among the oldest fighting styles that have its origins in Ancient Greece (688 BC). These early events were bare-knuckle, brutal, and often seen as barbaric. The modern rules came in 1904 which made the sport much safer and allowed it to grow around the world.

BJJ, on the other side, is a much younger fighting style that emerged in Brazil in the 1920s. At the time, the famous judoka Mitsuyo Maeda came to Brazil to teach judo. His students Carlos and Helio Gracie would use Judo as a base to create their own style of fighting called BJJ. Although similar to Judo, BJJ focuses more on ground fighting and applying various chokes and joint locks.

Techniques and emphasis

Boxing is a striking art that will teach you all about how to use your hands to do damage or knock a person out cold. Yet, some people think boxing is not versatile enough as its fighters use “only” their hands to do damage. But boxing offers much more and here is what it will teach you:

• Great footwork and how to keep your distance
• How to use head movement to slip and dodge punches
• How to throw various punching combos

BJJ is all about grappling and it won’t teach you any striking skills at all. Since each fight starts on the feet, you will learn how to use trips and throws from judo to take the fight to the ground. Once there, they will first secure a dominant position from which they know how to apply chokes and joint locks to submit the opponent.

Boxing vs BJJ  -  which one should you learn first?

Training in both arts at the same time is ideal. This is because boxing is great for striking while BJJ is the best when it comes to grappling. Or in other words, you will develop all-around skills which prepare you for any type of fight. Still, most people don’t have enough time to train in both arts and have to pick one. So, which one should you learn first?

First of all, both of these arts are great and you won’t make a mistake choosing any of the two. But we think BJJ might be better for beginners since it is more complex and takes more time to master. If you commit yourself to it, you will need up to five years to get good at it, and ten years to become a black belt , which is much longer than in boxing.

Even though the training is even harder, boxing takes less time to become good at. Yes, you need to train it for years to compete in pro matches. But a year of training is enough to develop solid striking skills. In a single year, you will learn good boxing skills like:

• Solid footwork and how to keep the distance
• Good hand speed and boxing combos
• Improve fitness and strength

And you will also do some sparring in this time span. Sparring sessions will get your body used to absorb strikes, and give you that feeling of what it’s like to be in a real fight. It will help you grow both in terms of fighting skills and improve mental toughness.

To be honest, you can do it the other way around and won’t make a mistake. It’s all about your personal preference and which style suits you better. Some people are talented at grappling while others might be better at striking and vice versa.

Boxing vs BJJ – which one is better for self-defense?

Both boxing and BJJ are great fighting styles for self-defense. They will teach you valuable skills that may help you escape troubles on the streets. Even though they differ a lot, the concept of training and techniques is the reason why they are so good. Which one is better would really come down to details.

Both of these arts put a lot of emphasis on sparring. This is crucial for self-defense as it teaches you how to apply skills you know and get a feeling of how it is to be in a real fight. Sparring will trigger the rush of adrenalin and fear the same as when you are fighting on the street. But over time, you will learn how to control your emotions, stay calm, and make the right decisions.

Still, we must give a slight advantage to BJJ over boxing when it comes to self-defense. This is mainly because most average people don’t know how to defend a takedown or fight on the ground. On the feet, there’s always a risk that the opponent may catch you with a sneaky punch no matter how good you are at boxing. But it is a whole new world once the fight goes to the ground and you have a BJJ fighter on top of you.

In some way, the average person has zero chances of beating the BJJ fighter on the ground. And the other great thing about BJJ is that it allows you to beat the opponent without hurting them too much. The point of boxing, on the other side, is to knock the opponent out cold.

Boxing vs BJJ – which one is better for MMA?

Boxing and BJJ play a big role in modern MMA fighting and finding out which one is better is not an easy task. You need to have boxing skills to know how to fight in the standup, and BJJ is crucial when the fight hits the ground. But if you have to choose one skill, which one would be?

Boxing will teach you great footwork and how to circle around the cage. You will do damage using long strikes from the distance or catch the opponent coming in with counters. But it won’t teach you how to throw or defend against kicks, takedowns, and submissions, which is bad.

BJJ on the other side won’t teach you how to kick or punch. But you will learn how to close the distance, get the hold of the opponent and take them down. Once on the ground, you will know how to secure a top position and submit the opponent to finish a match. And we think BJJ should be your option when it comes to MMA.

This is mainly because BJJ is more versatile than boxing. Even though they lack striking, grapplers can always catch a kick or level change under a punch to score a takedown. It is much easier for a grappler to score a takedown and hold a boxer on the bottom than a boxer to keep the fight standing.

Boxing vs BJJ  –  who would win in a street fight? 

Without a doubt, fighters from both boxing and BJJ have all the skills to beat each other in a street fight. But people often think that BJJ fighters have a bigger chance of beating boxers mainly because of what took place in the early days of MMA. Can you recall what fight we are talking about?

BJJ became very popular for street fighting with the birth of MMA in the early 90s. The early UFC events were street-fighting matches without rules in place. At the time, the UFC didn’t have weight classes or time limits and we saw many styles vs style matchups.

This is where BJJ emerged as the best thanks to Royce Gracie who put it on the map by beating fighters from other styles. One of his wins came against a pro boxer, Art Jimmerson, whom he submitted within three minutes at UFC 1. This fight was a pure match between a skilled BJJ fighter and boxer, and the main reason why people think BJJ would win in a street fight.

But, this is just a single sample we are using and we don’t know what would happen if they fight more often. For sure, boxers have all the tools to use footwork to stay at distance and knock BJJ fighters out cold with a single punch.

Boxing vs BJJ – which one is better for fitness and weight loss?

We must go with boxing in this aspect as training is very intense and hard. Even though BJJ is not easy neither, boxing training is better for fitness and weight loss in our opinion. In fact, many people join boxing classes just to get in shape and lose weight.

First of all, boxing classes last from 1.5h hours to even 2 hours in some schools. Training consists of various cardio workouts like striking a heavy bag, jumping rope, or shadowboxing. And of course, you will do a lot of ab and push-up workouts on top of that.

This makes boxing close to ideal for weight loss and improving strength. A single boxing class can burn up to 1,000 calories which is a lot. I mean, you need to run around 2 hours to burn the same number of calories. You will get rid of belly fat and get in top shape after just a few months of training.

BJJ training, on the other side, is also intense and often seen as a full-body workout. Rolling on the mats will activate the muscles in your body you didn’t know you have. If you sign up for the classes, expect to do a lot of stretching, squads, and burpees. But still, we think boxing is better for fitness and weight loss.

Can you learn boxing and BJJ at the same time?

Training in both BJJ and Boxing at the same time is, perhaps, the best combination. In fact, most people who want to develop all-around skills choose to train in these two arts. But bear in mind that this is very hard and you might have a hard time keeping up with the training schedule. Still, the benefits of cross-training are great as these two arts complement each other really well. 

As a boxer, you will know how to keep the distance using footwork. But BJJ will teach you how to defend against trips or throws if a grappler cuts your movement and gets a hold of you. If the fight still goes to the ground, you will know how to use escapes and sweeps to get back up. Or to attack from the bottom with moves like armbar or triangle chokes.

BJJ, on the other side, does not teach any striking. What boxing allows them is to learn footwork and head movement which improves their defense on the feet. But the best boxing tool for BJJ fighters are punching combos which they can use to set up takedowns. In MMA, for instance, we can often see BJJ fighters jabbing their way in to grab the opponent and take them down. 

Still, there is a third option. Instead of training in both BJJ and Boxing, you can join the MMA classes. In MMA, you will have around 2 classes of boxing and BJJ per week along with Muay Thai and wrestling.

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Jiu-Jitsu Street is a community of fun loving and hard rolling BJJ enthusiasts. Born out of our passion for the gentle art, we have decided to create this blog and help you on your journey. Let’s grow and learn together on this never-ending journey. Oss!

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Jiu-Jitsu Street is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. We are compensated for referring traffic and business to our Affiliate Partner companies.

BJJ vs. Capoeira: Comparison Guide for 2021

Among so many martial arts, the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and Capoeira are two of the best most interesting ones to learn. They both originated from Brazil, however are quite different. These martial arts combine different fighting techniques, some that are only for show, while others are for seriously injuring opponents. Whatever techniques these martial arts include, they are perfectly suitable for people of all ages.

Kids can develop their bodies and minds by learning these fighting styles as well. They can help in building courage and confidence in every human being. However, the two Brazilian arts have a lot of dissimilarities as well. We will see how these two fighting styles differ from each other. We’ll also discuss the similarities that they have.

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The Differences between BJJ and Capoeira

BJJ refers to Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, which is one of the most popular and complex martial arts of today. This sport teaches self-defense by controlling the opponent in the ground and gaining a dominant position while eventually submitting the opponent.

Usually, this combat sport is based on several techniques, e.g., grappling, ground fighting, and submission holds. In a self-defense scenario, it basically acts as a leverage for a smaller and weaker person who is being dominated by a heavier person than him or her. It helps to take the opponent to the ground by using weight distribution leverage. You’ll gain more strength and gain control over another person’s body.

It can protect you in the streets and give you the courage to fight back when attacked. The best part is, you’ll grow stronger and gain confidence by learning BJJ.

Capoeira, on the other hand, is a beautiful form of martial art and dance. It’s not destructive like BJJ; somewhat, this Afro-Brazilian combat is mellifluous with the combination of music and acrobatics. The art combines dance, acrobatics, and music disguising different forms of fighting martial arts. So, the critical difference between Capoeira and BJJ is that Capoeira allows to express oneself through fighting techniques expressed through dance, while BJJ is a traditional form of fighting with focus on the ground and self-defense.

By learning Capoeira, you’ll get a clear understanding of your body. It’s imperative to anticipate the opponent’s next move while applying Capoeira.

History of BJJ

The history of BJJ begins a century ago in Brazil. Though initially it was born in Japan, later it became a part of the Brazilian culture. It was built for Samurai Warriors so that they could save themselves in a lost battle. Geo Omori took the first initiative in introducing Jiu-Jitsu by opening a Judo school in Brazil in 1925.

His disciples Luiz Franca and later Mitsuyo Maeda, is one of the Kodokan’s groupwork experts who were sent overseas to spread this art across the globe. Maeda started his Jiu-Jitsu journey through Gracie Family in Brazil. The family’s son Hello Gracie introduced a softer but pragmatic Jiu-Jitsu which focused on using leverage rather than strength.

Both the Gracie family and Maeda promoted the same martial arts with a different perspective. Gracie family emphasized more on ground fighting which is still evident till today. Similarly, Maeda and Luiz Franca is prominent for their influential use of footlocks.  

Speaking of the origin of the name Jiu-Jitsu, this name is derived from an older romanization from its spelling in the West. In modern Hepburn Romanization, the word is spelled “Jujutsu”. If we translate the word “Jiu-Jitsu”, the literal translation comes out “gentle art”. Although the Japanese government officially mandated the name as Judo, Brazil still preferred to keep it jiu-jitsu.

When the Gracies flew to the US, their followers started calling it “Gracie jiu-jitsu” while the non-Gracies have given the term Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu or BJJ. Members of the Gracie family each have built their personal forms of jiu-jitsu which were all unique in style.

They had personalized names such as Ceaser Gracie jiu-jitsu or Renzo Gracie Jiu-Jitsu. Imitating, the Machado family had also built up unique styles, which they used to call Machado Jiu-Jitsu (MJJ). Consequently, four major branches of BJJ have been developed ever since in Brazil. They are Gracie Humaita, Gracie Barra, Carlson Gracie Jiu-Jitsu, and Alliance Jiu-Jitsu. Hence, BJJ being born in Japan has become native in Brazil.

History of Capoeira

Now that we’ve learned about BJJ, here’s the history of Capoeira presented to you. Capoeira is an old-aged martial art that originated back in the 16th century. It was the time Portugal colonized Brazil. The Portuguese used to buy, sell, and trade African people for slavery. In the Brazilian colony, these African slaves were forced to work inhumanly.

From Dr. Desch-Obi’s Capoeira history records, it’s evident that Capoeira was initialized following an ancestral tradition named N’golo/Engolo (modern name – Angola). This traditional dance included kicking, headbutting, slap boxing, walking on one’s hands, deception, evasion, etc.

Inspired by N’golo, a martial setting grew, which focused more on combat and warfare. As the Atlantic slave trade grew more extensive, this traditional movement spread across many countries of the globe in different names such as America, Brazil (Capoeira), the Caribbean (Damnye), and the United States (knocking and kicking).

Day by day, the African slaves were trying to find out a way of liberation. By utilizing Capoeira as combat, several enslaved people freed themselves. Some of them formed a multi-ethnic state where other colonial slaves could get freedom. They were called the Quilombo. They used to practice Capoeira to achieve freedom from the Portuguese.

However, at the end of slavery decades, Capoeiristas started using their skills in street fights. As a response, the Brazilian Republic had to prohibit Capoeira in the entire country. Eventually, by the 1920s, Capoeiras prohibition was lifted.

Martial artists started taking Capoeira as a fighting style , forming martial arts performancse. Gradually, it became a popular throughout the world. Many foreign students and tourists have now started visiting Brazil to learn this beautiful martial art.

Rule Differences between BJJ and Capoeira

BJJ is usually divided into two groups – the Gi and the Non-Gi. We’ll be referring to the rules related to the Gi as it’s the most commonly practiced style.

You can’t slam your opponent in a BJJ match or practice. Also, talking to the referee and leaving the mat to escape submission is a serious violation of the rules. In order to get sweep points, you have to involve your legs, or else you’ll achieve no points. Following, neck cracks are not allowed in BJJ.

However, Capoeira also has some ground rules which are quite different from BJJ. Unlike BJJ, Capoeiristas can fight up to several hours when they are performing roda. The fight should be only a pretentious art, yet cannot directly contact the opponent just like BJJ. Here, the fight is more informal depending on the tempo of Brazilian music. Well, as a main part of the game, music is a must in capoeira. There is also a belt system in Capoeira where green belt indicates a novice fighter and the white denotes the most professional fighter.

Belt System and Progression Differences

Speaking of the belt system, both BJJ and Capoeira might seem quite similar in ranking, but there are some distinctive features that make these two unique forms of martial arts. In Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, the practitioners are ranked according to the advancement in their skill level.

Each martial artist is given a unique colored belt as per their experience and technical skill. Usually, white belt doesn’t need any minimum age to be earned. Green, Orange, Yellow, and Grey colored belts are for kids aged under sixteen. They are called the junior belts. As they start experiencing it in years, they earn the leverage of gaining blue and purple belts. For this, the practitioners must be above sixteen years old.

However, it takes two more years to gain the brown belt. Gradually, as the experience tier levels up, the martial artists tend to go more closer in achieving black, white and red combinational belts. Notable martial artists from other disciples have the leverage of achieving black belt without an intermediate rank. However, this rule is now becoming obsolete.

If we talk about Capoeira, the ranking system totally depends upon masters. This martial art performance never had a formal agreement about the belt system. So, if a Capoeiristas master doesn’t support any system at all, his disciples would graduate without ranks. In the modern age, the commonly used system supports colored ropes as ranking the practitioners of capoeira is called Corda.

The Brazilian Capoeira Confederation selected the colors of Brazilian flag, green, yellow, blue, and white for the ranking. Kids and adults have different ranking systems according to years of experience. However, different influential groups use several unique systems. For example, Porto da Barra focuses on belts that represents Brazilian slavery history. If we notice the Angola school system, we can observe that there are no belts according to tier level, but there are different ranks visible. These ranks are simply student, treinel, professor, contra-mestre, and mestre.

Class / Training Differences

In training, BJJ’s emphasis is more on submissions without the use of strikes. There are three fundamental technique drills in BJJ that allows the practitioners to boost up their strength. The first technique drill includes practicing BJJ against a non-resisting partner, following isolation sparring and full sparring. In isolation sparring, only certain techniques are used, but full sparring allows the submission of the opponent using different techniques.

The practitioner must have physical conditioning too. However, the core techniques include defending techniques. Before submission, the practitioner needs to gain some dominant positions for attaining leverage. These positions are side control, knee on belly position, full mount, back mount, north south position and guards or grappling. After gaining control over opponent’s body, the BJJ disciple can take down the opponent by joint locks or, chokes.

Capoeira training differs wholly from BJJ. It basically focuses on using the lower body to kick, seep and take down the opponent. The upper body acts as an assistance to those movements. Sometimes the upper body can also be used for attacking. Well, as the performance is meant to be shown with the rhythm of a traditional song, it has a series of techniques that resembles unpredictability and versatility.

A vital move is Ginga, which is important for both attack and defense purposes. It is a technique that keeps the practitioner in constant motion from getting caught, while misleading the opponent for attack or counter-attack. The attacks are mostly done by legs with direct or swirling kicks, rasteiras or leg sweeps, tesouras or knee strikes. Some other important styles include elbow strikes, punches, and other forms of takedowns. In this case, head strike is also a vital move.

However, the defense must be completely non-resistant. Capoeiristas are forbade from using evasive moves while fighting. In Capoeira, acrobatics take a huge space in the training field. A series of acrobatic moves let the practitioner to balance himself even in a fall-down.

Clothing and Equipment (differences/similarities)

Every martial has its own uniform. It resembles the uniqueness of that specific art. BJJ and Capoeira also have uniforms that carry similarities and dissimilarities from each other. The Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioners wear Gi or Kimono as their fighting suit. It’s similar to Judo Gi. A kimono is made of lighter material and tight cuffs on the pants and jacket.

The uniform allows the practitioner to be benefitted from a tight-fit, less trouble material. It is designed to gain leverage in getting heavier opponents down. BJJ uniforms also include colored belts according to experience and training level. The practitioners will require some safety measures because of the fighting. As a result, the followers wear rash guards, mouth guards, groin protectors, head gear, knee pads, and gear bag to stay safe.  

Having similarities in the belt system, Capoeira also includes belt system to some extent. Although every school doesn’t necessarily have to follow this rule. However, there are differences regarding the belt color of BJJ and Capoeira. Both of the martial arts don’t value the same ranking and don’t have the same colored belts as well. They only have similarity to the fact that adults and kids belt colors and ranking system are distinctive in nature.

There is another major dissimilarity between the two, art performance. Unlike BJJ, Capoeira has a special pant named Abada. It’s a pant that is generally white in color with a school logo on the left pair, used for the rhythmic dance of Capoeira. The white color represents the pure and righteousness, a symbol of purity. As this martial art performance doesn’t emphasize on grappling or any form of fighting, Capoeira practitioners don’t necessarily require guards as BJJ disciples do.

BJJ vs Capoeira: Pros and Cons

As we are comparing BJJ and Capoeira, we need to look at the pros and cons too.

Pros

BJJ is a martial art that allows the practitioner to grow constantly. Even the chubbiest person in a class can learn how to master the art of BJJ in a few years. The good thing about this sport is that people from any age can start practicing BJJ. Capoeira allows the same benefits.

However, Capoeira provides mental peace to the practitioners. With the rhythm of music, it helps the mind to refresh and relax. Capoeiritas perform as if they are about to hit the opponent, but apparently it is all pretentious.

Cons

The first disadvantage of BJJ includes grappling techniques or, in simple words, fighting. You need to be extremely good at wrestling/Judo or else, the opponent can cause serious damage.

However, Capoeira might seem an excellent sport as a martial art, but the dancing movements don’t actually work as self-defense. In order to protect oneself, the practitioner can’t use Capoeira. Again, Capoeira requires physically fit people. Without years of training, serious damage can occur.

Which is Better to Learn for Self-defense?

From the previous discussions, we can observe that BJJ is the better martial art for self-defense. On the other hand, Capoeira is a combination of dance and acrobats that imitate the fighting styles yet don’t actually perform real fights. So, the predominant reasons why BJJ is better than Capoeira for learning self-defense is given below:

BJJ allows the practitioner to wrestle with the opponent and take him down to the ground. Some grappling techniques are used to physically take control over the opponent’s body. Usually, these techniques involve kicks on the joint-locks so that the opponent can’t get back up. Also, it acts as leverage for a weak person to take over a healthier and stronger person’s body and conquer victory. In contrast, Capoeira doesn’t allow any form of contact.

It contains movements that are not functional. Apparently, it is a treat to the eyes, with the sweet rhythm of the music in ears, but, completely not a fighting game. In fact, fighting is strictly prohibited in this sort of art. Therefore, we can definitely say that BJJ is more efficient than Capoeira for self-defense.

BJJ vs Capoeira for Kids

Both of the martial arts carry significant steps for building up a person’s body and mind. These are better for kids too! If you notice in the previous sections, you will see both BJJ and Capoeira offer distinctive belts to support the kids also. Therefore, we’ll see how are these martial arts affect kids:

BJJ is highly useful in building kids’ physical strength. It allows them to learn how to take a man down to the ground even if he’s bigger than the kid. It not only builds up strength in kids but also courage and confidence boost up very quickly. Again, it is suitable for encouraging kids to make them take care of themselves on their own. They learn how to make quick decisions and solve problems in any situation.

Now, focusing on Capoeira, it’s evident that Capoeira also allows kids to benefit. This art includes dancing, acrobatics, rituals, with nice music flowing on ears. It teaches how to bring self-discipline, how to control oneself. By adopting this martial art, kids become more confident and courageous.

The music naturally attracts their concentration and helps them to train well. Undoubtedly, it guides them to the path of conflict resolve without any violence. Moreover, it allows kids in muscle building from the beginning of their childhood. Kids can be motivated by the belt awards that help them to focus more on training.

So, we can say that BJJ and Capoeira both are fantastic martial art teaching techniques that develop both physical and mental health.

Final Verdict

Whether martial arts teach us fighting or fighting styles, both are important. These arts help us to broaden our senses and increase our strength. Though there are some differences between BJJ and Capoeira, these two sports are from the same origin. They share almost a similar concept but vary in style. We tried to provide the contrasts, pros and cons as much as possible between the two performances. We hope this article will give the reader a clear understanding on which sport he/she needs to learn according to his/her interest.

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BJJ Vs MMA - Which One is Better and Why?

BJJ is an integral part of modern MMA and in some way, you can’t expect to succeed in cage fighting without, at least, basic BJJ skills. But, what would happen if we separate them and match BJJ vs MMA against each other? Have you ever asked yourself which one is better when it comes self-defense or who would win in a street fight?

BJJ is, perhaps, the best grappling martial art you can train in. It will teach you all about how to take the opponent down and use ground fighting techniques to submit them. MMA, on the other side, is more versatile as it prepares you to fight in standup, clinch, or on the ground. Each fighter has all-around skills as they know how to strike, grapple, and apply various chokes and joint locks.

Keep reading this article to find out all the differences between BJJ and MMA, how do they compare in various aspects, and which one is better for you.

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BJJ vs MMA - What are the main differences? 

BJJ and MMA are two separate fighting styles that apart from grappling, do not share much else in common. Here is a brief look at how they differ from one another:

Emphasis and techniques

BJJ is a fighting style that focuses only on grappling and ground fighting. Since each fight begins on the feet, you will learn how to use trips and throws to advance to the ground. The emphasis is on ground fighting and securing a dominant position from which you can apply various chokes and joint locks. Some senior students might learn the basics of striking, but this depends on the school.

MMA is a mix of techniques from various martial art put into one style of fighting which makes it very versatile. Every fighter must know how to strike on the feet, grapple, and fight on the ground to cover all aspects of the sport. They can achieve this by training between the following four martial arts:

• Muay Thai (Standup; Clinch)
• Boxing (Standup)
• BJJ (Ground Fighting)
• Wrestling (Clinch; Ground fighting)

History and place of origins

Founded in the 1920s in Brazil, BJJ has its origins in Judo. The famous Gracie family used Judo as a base to develop their own fighting style that puts more emphasis on ground fighting. It became really popular with the birth of modern MMA in the early 90s. At the time, Royce Gracie took part in many style vs. style matchups in the early UFC events. He stayed undefeated and proved that BJJ is better than other fighting styles of that time.

The earliest records of MMA date all the way back to ancient Greece and the sport called “Pankration”. Although brutal, Pankration was very similar to modern MMA that arrived in the mid-80s. The first-ever promotion was “Shooto”, founded in 1986 in Japan. However, most people are taking the foundation of UFC in 1993 to be the exact birth of modern MMA.

Uniforms

There are two forms of BJJ called Gi and No-Gi that differ a lot. In a “Gi”, fighters must wear a cotton jacket that looks a lot like a Judogi, and pants. As its name suggests, “no-gi” doesn’t include this type of uniform as fighters only wear shorts, a t-shirt, or a rashguard.

Due to the lack of rules in the early days, MMA fighters could wear a gi, kimono, or even boxing gloves. But according to the modern “Unified Rules of MMA”, all fighters must wear shorts, a mouthpiece, and a pair of 4 OZ open finger gloves.

BJJ vs MMA – which one is better for self-defense?

BJJ vs MMA has been one of the most heated debates for many years now when it comes to self-defense. Even though MMA is more versatile, many people think BJJ is better. This is mainly because MMA is often seen as a sport while the concept of BJJ was built with self-defense in mind. But, there is a lot more to it.

Although it focuses on the sport, the concept of MMA is close to ideal for street fighting. It prepares you for most types of scenarios you may face on the streets. You will know how to fight standing, in the clinch or if the fight hits the ground. Street fights are chaotic and it’s important to be versatile and have weapons to use no matter where the fight takes place. And this is what MMA will teach you.

The biggest issue with MMA is that it won’t teach you how to use or defend against dirty tactics. Even though these strikes land now and due to the nature of the sport, you won’t learn or practice eye-gouging or groin strikes in training. But on the other side, BJJ also won’t teach you these tactics.

BJJ is a famous style when it comes to self-defense mainly because it has built its strong reputation on the streets of Brazil. It is the only style in the world that allows you to beat the heavier, taller, and stronger opponent. The focus is on technic and leverage rather than relying on sheer power as most people do. This is crucial for self-defense as there are no weight classes on the streets.

The best thing about BJJ is that it teaches you how to quickly take the opponent down to the ground where most average people don’t know how to fight. We can all throw a punch, but most of us don’t know how to defend a takedown or defend against chokes or joint locks on the ground. In some way, a person who gets taken down by a skilled BJJ fighter has 0% chance of winning a fight or even surviving. And this fact makes BJJ great for self-defense.

Can a BJJ fighter beat an MMA fighter in a street fight?

BJJ fighters certainly have the weapons and tools to beat MMA fighters in a real fight. But, they would have a really hard time dealing with them on the feet or even in the grappling exchanges. And, this also depends on what type of fight we are talking about?

If the fight is in the open, then BJJ fighters don’t have many chances of beating a well-rounded MMA fighter. This is because MMA fighters will use footwork to keep the distance from which they can do damage with kicks and long punches. BJJ fighters would have a hard time closing the distance and taking the fight to the ground. It would be a pretty one-sided fight.

But the tables start to turn around when we are talking about a fight in a small space like a room, elevator, or bar. This is where MMA fighters don’t have a space to move which allows BJJ fighters to quickly get a hold of them and use leverage to take them down. Even though MMA fighters know how to defend against takedowns, skilled grapplers have more tricks up in their sleeves.

In our opinion, it would be very hard for any grappler to beat an MMA fighter in a fight. Sure, they can beat them under grappling rules. But modern MMA fighters are too good in every aspect of fighting and we can’t expect that someone can beat them using only one skill. They simply have more weapons in their arsenal.

Why BJJ is so important in modern MMA?

BJJ has been a key part of modern MMA since the first UFC events back in the early 90s. It is so important that we can even say you can’t succeed or achieve anything in MMA without BJJ skills. Sooner or later, the lack of grappling will backfire on you. To understand why this is so, we have to start with the early UFC events.

The early days of the UFC were basically street-fighting events. There were no time limits, weight classes, or even gloves. We saw many style vs. style matchups in which BJJ emerged as the best. Royce Gracie dominated the early UFC scene, and he beat many fighters from other arts like boxing, wrestling, or Judo.

Soon, other fighters, notably the ones with a striking base, have realized they must cross-train and learn BJJ skills. It became obvious that you can’t survive an MMA match without grappling skills and being one-dimensional fighter.

Not a single other grappling art will teach better ground fighting skills. BJJ fighters are masters in taking you down, securing a dominant position, and submitting the opponent using chokes and joint locks. And above all, it matches well against other martial arts like Muay Thai or wrestling.

For instance, wrestlers have better takedowns on paper. But they would be in trouble once the fight hits the ground. BJJ fighters would start attacking from their back with various moves like triangle chokes or armbars.

BJJ vs MMA - which one is harder to learn?

Becoming an expert in any fighting style is very hard. It asks for a lot of hard work, sacrifice, injuries, and years of learning, and BJJ and MMA are no different. If you thought you can get the black belt or become an expert in one year, go and search for something else.

BJJ is so complex that is often seen as a “human chess match”. The learning process is slow as there are hundreds of techniques and positions you need to master. Not to bring up that you will eat a lot of humble pies. But on the other side, it is very, very fun to train and each class will put a huge smile on your face.

If you commit yourself to BJJ, expect to earn a black belt after around 10 years of training, which is a lot.

MMA, on the other side, might be even harder. As said earlier, it is a mix of techniques from various martial arts put into one style of fighting. Or in other words, you must become an expert in at least three fighting styles to cover all the aspects of the sport. Each week, you will take wrestling, Muay Thai, boxing, and BJJ classes which make MMA training very dynamic.

Even though it is hard, the best thing about MMA training is that it can’t become boring. In other arts like Muay Thai, classes all look the same and can get boring over time. But there is so much to learn in MMA and this mix of grappling and striking will always keep your mind busy.

It takes around 4–5 years of hard MMA training before you can start competing as a pro-fighter.

BJJ vs MMA - which one is better for you?

BJJ and MMA are two separate martial arts that differ a lot in various aspects. Since there are so many differences, deciding which one is better for you should not be that hard. Here is our last opinion that might help you make the right decision.

BJJ is for people who are in love with grappling and want to learn the best ground fighting skills. Hands down, not a single martial art out there will teach you better grappling skills. Training is hard and includes a lot of sparring, but that’s what makes it fun to train. Even though it doesn’t teach striking, it is great for self-defense and you can easily shift to MMA later.

MMA is for you if you want to develop all-around skills and master multiple fighting styles. You will learn how to strike, grapple, and fight in the clinch or on the ground which is great for self-defense. Like in BJJ, training in multiple fighting styles all the time is very hard, but on the other side, can’t get boring.

The best thing about both of these fighting styles is that it’s never too late to start training. We can often see 60 or 70-year-olds rolling around in BJJ classes and having the time of their lives. The same stands for MMA where you don’t have to be young or in shape to start with the classes.

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Jiu-Jitsu Street is a community of fun loving and hard rolling BJJ enthusiasts. Born out of our passion for the gentle art, we have decided to create this blog and help you on your journey. Let’s grow and learn together on this never-ending journey. Oss!

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BJJ vs. Sambo: What are The Differences? Which ones better?

BJJ vs. Sambo, which one is more devastating? Check here to know everything about these martial arts and how they’re different from each other. 

We’ll discuss the history of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu or Bjj and Sambo, basic rule differences between them, and belt system and progression differences as well. Also, we’ll focus on their training differences, equipment differences, and will explore which one is better for kids and for self-defense. So, without further ado, let’s dig into today’s discussion.

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Origin of BJJ vs. Sambo

First, we’re going to start with a bit of a history lesson. In this section, you’ll know about the origin and history of both BJJ and Sambo. 

History of BJJ

To understand the roots of BJJ, we must know about the roots of Judo, as BJJ branched off from Judo (BJJ vs Judo Comparison). Jiu-Jitsu was created to aid the Samurais if they ever lost their horses and weapons. Jiu-Jitsu used to comprise a series of 

In the late 19th century, Jigoro Kano created the Kodokan Academy, where he would teach the arts of Jiu-Jitsu. The teachings of Jigoro Kano were later established as Judo. It was Kano who created the belt and progression system of Judo, which was later taken up by the other martial arts. 

A student and later instructor at Kodokan, Mitsuo Maeda, traveled to the United States in 1904. He held a lot of presentations back then and traveled to Brazil in 1914. During his stay in Brazil, he made friends with a businessman known as Gastão Gracie. 

Gastão’s son Carlos started training under Maeda. Carlos was an able teenager, and he successfully learned the art of Jiu-Jitsu from Maeda. Later on, Carlos tried to pass this knowledge on to the rest of his brothers. 

However, one of the brothers, Helios, was of short size, and he lacked the strength to perform Jiu-Jitsu as well. But that didn’t stop him from trying. Unable to perform the basic Jiu-Jitsu techniques, Helio started to revamp the techniques so that anyone could perform them. From here, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu was born. 

BJJ is a form of Jiu-Jitsu that doesn’t discriminate a person according to his size or strength. In fact, anyone can learn to perform the BJJ techniques if he’s instructed properly. This accessibility to BJJ is what makes it so famous. 

BJJ gained fame all over Brazil as the Gracie brothers implemented this technique in every contest that provided flexibility. The Gracie brothers rarely lost, which made a lot of martial arts trainees, and practitioners follow their methods. 

However, even at this point, BJJ was restricted to Brazil only. Later in 1970, Helio’s son Rorion Gracie arrived in the US, and he did so with a plan. He had aimed to make his family’s art well-known across the globe. 

Once Rorion came to the USA, he partnered up with some businessmen and started a tournament known as UFC, a martial arts tournament that would provide extreme flexibility so that techniques like BJJ could be used. The first UFC was held in 1993. 

To prove the effectiveness of BJJ, Rorion selected his younger brother to participate in it. His brother, Royce, was of small build. When the tournament had begun, the spectators had expected to see Royce getting beaten up easily. To their surprise, the small Brazilian took down each of his opponents one by one with great technique. This was enough to get BJJ the highlight it needed, and it spread across the world like wildfire.

History of Sambo

While BJJ was developed to be used in competitions, Sambo was created for more practical applications. The founding fathers of Sambo are Vasili Oshchepov and Viktor Spiridonov. This duo had worked relentlessly with a team of experts to create a martial arts form that would help the soviet army dominate in hand to hand combat system. 

Although Sambo is a bit different from basic Jiu-Jitsu, it was inspired by it. Vasili Oschepkov was a second-grade black belt holder in Judo, and he was a former student of the very founder of Judo, Jigoro Kano. 

On the other hand, Viktor Spiridonov was proficient in Greco Roman martial arts and freestyle wrestling. Plus, he also held an interest in Jiu-Jitsu. This duo combined their years of experience and knowledge. Thus, Sambo was created, combining Judo, Karate, Jiu-Jitsu, and various other fighting styles. 

Sambo was used by the military of the Soviet Union during its early times. It wasn’t until 1938 that Sambo was recognized as an official combat sport of Russia, and this was done with the help of the USSR- all Union Sports Committee. This gained a lot of popularity, and there were many factors working behind it. In fact, the point that it wasn’t content from pre-communist times made it much more suitable for that time. 

Unlike BJJ, which was created only for competitions, Sambo came with versatile techniques that focused on chokes, armlocks, leg locks, throws, and also weapons disarmament. As you can see, Sambo is a mixed martial art that can be applied to both competitions and practical life. 

One of the major differences between Sambo and BJJ is that Sambo didn’t gain worldwide popularity, as BJJ did. The fame of Sambo actually started to grow when the Sambo practitioners started participating in international Judo competitions. The aggression and versatility of Sambo attracted many eyes, and many Japanese and European practitioners started taking an interest in Sambo. 

As the added leg locks, disarmaments, and ground grappling techniques kept attracting more people, Sambo finally reached the USA around 1970. From then, Sambo is being taught along with BJJ and Judo.

Rule differences between BJJ and Sambo

Although both BJJ and Sambo offer a range of grappling techniques and no striking, there are a lot of differences between the ground rules of them. In this section, we’ll go through the rules of BJJ and Sambo, and later we’ll highlight the differences.

Rules of BJJ

When it comes to BJJ, the winner is declared depending on submission or points. If anyone of the contestants submits, the other is declared the winner. Here are some rules of a BJJ match:

• A BJJ contestant will win if the other submits
• If the competitor loses consciousness
• The contestant with the most points will be declared the winner
• If the points of both are equal, it depends on the referee, who can choose the winner freely.
• Lasts from 2-10 minutes depending on belt and age
• The contestants can stall, but if they don’t make any physical move for some time, the referee may call them to stand up
• Includes a variety of chokes, armlocks, and leglocks.

As you can see, BJJ is mostly dependent on the submission of the opponent. That’s why BJJ practitioners need a lot of patience. Unlike Sambo, BJJ isn’t an aggressive sport. Plus, BJJ relies more on ground grappling techniques, which is a huge limiting factor.

Rules of Sambo

Sambo offers more versatility when it comes to techniques, and there are a lot of differences between Sambo and BJJ when it comes down to the rules. Let’s take a look at them:

• Submission will bring one defeat, just like BJJ
• If one of the contestants can gain a lead of 12 points 
• If a contestant can perform a perfect throw, he’ll be declared the champion.
• The contestant with the highest points will be declared as the champion
• It offers versatility when it comes to the techniques. However, the Sambo practitioners can’t use Chokes
• If it’s not Combat Sambo, the practitioners can’t strike their opponent
• A match can last up to 5 minutes

Although Sambo offers more variety when it comes to techniques, it doesn’t allow the Sambo fighters to use chokes. Chokes are one of the most effective moves when it comes to Sambo. However, there’s freestyle Sambo that allows the fighters to use chokes.

Then again, there’s Combat Sambo, which is another form of this art. In Combat Sambo, the fighters are allowed to strike their opponent, and it’s essentially the art that was taught to the Soviet Military and Police.

Belt System and Progression Differences

Although the belt system of martial arts started with Judo, different forms of martial arts took and implemented it differently. Now, we’ll talk about the belt systems of BJJ and Sambo. 

Belt and Progression System of BJJ

While Sambo doesn’t offer any belt system, BJJ offers a great belt system (we have a review of best BJJ belts to buy as well). In fact, the belt system of BJJ is a simplified form of the Judo belt system, which has a complex hierarchy. Let’s look at the belt system of BJJ, shall we?

In BJJ, the trainees, practitioners, and masters all have belts that can visualize their proficiency in BJJ. It starts with a white belt. Everyone who starts in a BJJ academy will receive a white belt, and it has no age or time requirement. 

Usually, a student may spend six months to 18 months in a white belt. During their time in the white belt, the students mostly struggle to learn the very concept of the martial art, and they get to know the fundamentals of BJJ. 

They are taught the postures, the basic sweeps, submissions, and defense. They are also taught how to close or open guard and how to escape. A few intermediate techniques are also taught while in a white belt, but that doesn’t mean that the trainees have to master them. 

After the white belt comes the blue belt, a student must be at least 16 years old to receive a blue belt. Although the white belt is given to anyone, the blue belt can only be achieved through training and by proving one’s skill. 

During this time, the trainees are motivated to try out new techniques. The trainees will venture into the unknown, seeking out the styles and techniques that work the best for them. Usually, the students remain in the blue belt for two to five years. 

Then comes the purple belt, and the minimum age requirement for the purple belt is the same as the blue belt, 16 years. Attaining a purple belt is quite difficult, and a person must put a lot of effort to get a purple belt. 

A blue belt will only be promoted to a purple belt if the mentors find that the trainee has enough confidence in his skills. If a blue belt feels intimidated or if his confidence drops in front of other blue belts, he won’t be promoted to purple belt. 

The main reason behind this is that the purple belts will not only practice to improve themselves, but they must guide the blue belts in their journey. That’s why it’s said that you start contributing to the BJJ community from the time you get a purple belt. 

During this time, the trainees not only focus on the skills and techniques, but they try to understand the very essence of martial arts. A purple belt must be able to understand the mindset of the partner he’s sparring with. 

A purple belt must also be able to perform complicated techniques, and they must spar regularly with the brown belts. 

After being done with a purple belt, a person will be promoted to brown belt. To get a brown belt, a person must be at least 18 years old. The brown belt is considered to be a transition phase, as it’s the last belt before the black belt.

At this stage, the practitioners must be able to perform complicated techniques properly, and they should start experimenting with a particular set of skills. This is the time where the practitioners specialize in a certain style. Usually, a brown belt must spend 1 to 2 years before he is promoted. 

Then, there’s a black belt, which is the most sought-after belt in all forms of martial arts. Earning a black belt is very difficult, as there are many official proceedings of getting a verified black belt. Plus, a black belt must be proficient in his art. Usually, a trainee requires around ten years to earn a black belt. 

Finally, there’s the red belt. However, to receive the red belt, the practitioners must have the red and black belt and the red and white belt. These belts are awarded depending on the time the bearer spent as a practitioner. The red belt is known as the grandmaster belt. However, there are two degrees to this belt. 

There’s the 9th-degree grandmaster belt and the 10th-degree grandmaster belt. The 9th-degree grandmaster belt can be achieved after following the procedures, but it’s impossible to attain the 10th-degree grandmaster belts because these belts were awarded to the founders of BJJ only.

Belt and Progression System of Sambo

Unlike BJJ or Judo, there’s no belt system in Sambo. Yes, there’s no way to determine the skill of a Sambo fighter using a visual cue. However, that doesn’t mean that the Sambo fighters won’t wear any belt. 

During the competitions, the Sambo fighters will wear either red or blue belts. The purpose of this belt is to hold the jacket together, and it doesn’t depict any sort of rank. 

In fact, Sambo doesn’t have an organized ranking system that you can climb with practice over time. However, some academies or clubs may issue a belt system in Sambo to inspire the trainees.

As you can see, BJJ has a well-crafted ranking and belt system. This allows the instructors to divide their students accordingly, plus it’s easier to acknowledge practitioners of different levels easily. However, the same can’t be done with Sambo, which is definitely a drawback.

Class / Training Differences

There aren’t many differences in the BJJ and Sambo training and classes. Although they teach different techniques, the method is more or less the same. Here’s a short description of how a class of BJJ and Sambo might be:

• The class will start off with a warm up session. During this time, the instructors will guide the trainees through some stretches from the head to the legs. The aim of the warmup session is to prevent any muscle pulls during the session.  This takes around 10-15 minutes on average. 
• After that, there’s the instruction session. In this section, the trainees will be paired with each other, and they will be taught new techniques, or they’ll polish their existing techniques by practicing them on their partners. 
• Finally, there’s the sparring session. In this session, the pair will spar with each other under the guidance of an instructor.

Clothing and Equipment

There are a lot of dissimilarities between the clothing and the equipment of BJJ and Sambo. Let’s talk about them here:

Clothing of BJJ

In BJJ, the participants wear a BJJ Gi made of reinforced material. As BJJ includes a lot of gripping, the clothing is made to be stitch-free. Sometimes, the BJJ Gi might feel light, but they are very durable. 

Then again, the BJJ Gi is usually tight. This allows the participants to grip each other easily. Then there’s no Gi BJJ. Nowadays, no-Gi BJJ is becoming increasingly popular. Although the participants don’t wear a BJJ in this form of BJJ, they wear BJJ rash guards to protect themselves and their opponents from direct contact.

Clothing of Sambo

Unlike BJJ, there is a lot of protective gear in Sambo. Here are the gears that you’ll see in a regular Sambo match:

• Sambo Gloves:

The Sambo Gloves are made of soft cushioning, and the fighters must wear these during the fight. The Sambo gloves are designed in such a way that the opponents are not injured badly during the session. 

• Boxing Helmet:

The boxing helmets are the standard helmets you see at most boxing or wrestling tournaments. These helmets are padded, and they’re designed to minimize injuries to the head and jaw. There are plastic coverings with these helmets that protect the ears of the wearer. 

• Groin Guards/Cups:

The BJJ groin cups are worn as an undergarment, and these are worn to minimize the damage to groin areas of the wearer. 

• Mouth Guards:

The BJJ mouth guard is a common protective measure. The gum shield helps the wearer protect his teeth, lips, and tongue.

BJJ vs. Sambo: Pros and Cons

Although BJJ and Sambo are different forms of martial arts, they both offer some common advantages. Then again, there are some pros and cons that they have over each other. Now, we’ll talk about those in detail. 

Advantages of Both BJJ and Sambo

• Helps the learner stay fit
• Offers peace of mind to the practitioners
• You can learn how to defend yourself by practicing BJJ and Sambo
• BJJ and Sambo can provide a confidence boost to the trainees, allowing them to take on real-life challenges easily. 
• Both BJJ and Sambo offer a great community. This offers the trainees a great opportunity to grow as a whole. 

These are the advantages that both BJJ and Sambo offer. However, there are some advantages that one offers, and the other doesn’t.

BJJ Pros

• BJJ offers a variety of ground grappling tricks. If you want to learn ground tactics, BJJ is the one you should learn. 
• BJJ is more renowned than Sambo
• A lot of BJJ competitions are held regularly

Sambo Pros

• Sambo offers more versatile techniques. While BJJ is limited to ground techniques mostly, Sambo isn’t.
• Sambo is better for practical application
• Sambo is better for self-defense when weapons are involved

Which is Better to Learn for Self-defense?

Take it like this, when someone attacks you, he’s more likely to be aggressive. Aggression can only be countered with aggression, and by aggression, I mean fast movements and powerful strikes. 

Sambo is fast-paced, it offers some amazing striking techniques, and Sambo also offers techniques that can be used to disarm an opponent. Sambo was created for practical hand to hand combat for the Soviet army. If you have enough Sambo skills and techniques up your sleeve, you’ll be able to fend off multiple threats, even if they’re armed with melee weapons. 

While much of BJJ doesn’t offer any technique related to striking it definitely teaches self-defense maneuvers and blocking strikes. Also, we need to consider that most street fights end up on the ground and this is where the true advantage of BJJ shines through. With its highly effective techniques, it is easy to control your opponent on the ground and submit, or hold them there while you’re waiting for help to come.

That’s why, if you want to learn martial arts for self-defense, you may choose BJJ over Sambo.

BJJ vs. Sambo for Kids

If you’re looking for the one that’ll be better for your kids, that’s definitely BJJ. 

Sambo is a lot more aggressive and violent than BJJ. Even if your kid doesn’t participate in Combat Sambo, it’s still violent and aggressive. This is one of the major reasons why you can teach BJJ to your kid. 

Sambo doesn’t offer a ranking system like most other martial arts. Although this shouldn’t matter to the adults, it’s a huge drawback for the children. The belt and ranking system are a major factor for driving the children. When this is absent, the children might not feel enthusiastic about learning Sambo. 

Then again, it’s been proved that the participants burn more calories during a BJJ session. Although there isn’t much research in this sector, the data from calorie-tracking apps lead to this conclusion. So, if fitness is one of the main reasons you’re trying to get your kid into martial arts, you should definitely get him or her into BJJ. 

Final Thoughts

Both BJJ and Sambo are amazing forms of martial arts. However, both might not appeal to every person, and that’s what it comes down to eventually. You should definitely choose what you like.  However, if you’re looking forward to learning martial arts because you want to defend yourself, you may choose BJJ. If you’re training to eventually compete and immerse yourself into an international community of practitioners, BJJ offers more international competitions. So, it’s your choice to make.

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Jiu-Jitsu Street is a community of fun loving and hard rolling BJJ enthusiasts. Born out of our passion for the gentle art, we have decided to create this blog and help you on your journey. Let’s grow and learn together on this never-ending journey. Oss!

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BJJ or Wing Chun for Self-Defense: Our Full Guide [2021 Update]

BJJ and Wing Chun are fundamentally very different martial arts though both of them have self-defense at their core of values. Wing-Chun is a striking based art-form which makes it very useful when someone comes charging at you with punches. BJJ, however, is ground-fighting based martial arts. This makes it, in our opinion, a little more suited for self-defense scenarios because most street-fights end up on the ground. That does not mean though that Wing-Chun can’t help with street fights at all. Read on to find out more.

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You can be the most peaceful person out there, but sometimes it is the fights which come to you. Whether you have been in the unfortunate situation of having had to defend yourself, or whether you feel the need to keep yourself, your family, and friends safe, learning a martial arts will come a long way in developing the skills needed to be “street-ready”

Of all popular forms of martial arts – BJJ and Wing Chun are the most well-known when it comes to self-defense. If you are aiming to pick one of them to get yourself trained in self-defense – first you need to know the differences between them to determine which one would work best for you. 

The below section manifests all the major differences that you should consider to make up your mind. So, without any further ado, scroll down and read them carefully.

Differences Between BJJ and Wing Chun

BJJ and Wing Chun, both are almost neck and neck when it’s come to self-defense, yet they have their fair share of differences that can clearly change your life forever. While both of them are “empty-hands” forms of martial arts, BJJ covers one-on-one combat and Wing Chun covers close distance combat. Starting from this, they have many more considerable distinctions between them which sets them apart. Have a look at them below.

Principles

The principles of BJJ and Wing Chun can be said to be almost the opposite. Whereas Wing Chun focuses on attacking the weak points of enemies, BJJ emphasizes using the strength and weight of the enemy against him.

Wing Chun is fundamentally based on reflexive actions, it trains you to respond instinctually and immediately to a sudden attack. It aims to teach you defense and counter-attack simultaneously for unforeseen attacks.

On the other hand, BJJ prepares you to battle against what you see coming to you and teaches you to overpower your enemy by grappling. Favorably, both of them are less concerned with practitioners’ size, weight, and strength. Nevertheless, a certain amount of flexibility is expected for both of them (but that’s someone everyone of us can easily work on every day for just a few minutes).  

Techniques

BJJ and Wing Chun both offer several intuitive techniques for attacking and defending. Between them, BJJ focuses on grappling and Wing Chun focuses on striking, punching, and kicking.  

However, BJJ techniques will solely permit you to fight against only one attacker. On the other hand, Wing Chun may come out to be better for street fights as its techniques allow you to fight multiple attackers alone.

That being said, it is important for you to know that since Wing Chun doesn’t include grappling techniques, the possibility is that you are likely to lose a fight if your enemy manages to throw you down which is what usually happens in street fights.

Teaching Process

Now that you know that BJJ and Wing Chun both entail relatively different styles of fighting, it is obvious that training and practice is also going to be quite different.

In BJJ training classes, first, your instructors will select the pairs according to the present practitioners’ physique, as all BJJ techniques involve two people. And, then the coache will demonstrate the techniques that you are supposed to perform. You will basically have to repeat those moves after them with your partner. 

As Wing Chun has 108 varieties of movements, initially the trainers proceed with the basic techniques at first. In this case, the trainer gives brief instructions to all the students present in the class at once.

Again, both of the two teaching processes use drilling as the means of practicing and brushing up students’ learnings. During the assessment period, instructors evaluate the students’ performance and following that, help them by correcting and improving their form.

How Long Does It Take to Learn? 

BJJ is thoughtfully designed to be learned within the shortest possible time compared to other standard martial arts, at least when it comes to self-defense. To learn the very basic techniques of BJJ, it would take up to one to one and a half years of practicing – depending on the number of classes you attend per week.

In comparison to that, Wing Chun requires a longer time duration. Although its techniques are said to be easier than BJJ’s; yet with having such a whopping number of movements, it only makes sense that it’s going to take longer to learn.

If you happen to be very keen and intend to be very regular with your training, then it might take about three years of time, or otherwise, the duration would be stretched to five years or more.  

Risks Involved

If you start digging around about the potential risk BJJ brings, you will be surprised to find that in relation to accidents, it a very safe sport overall. Although, minor injuries during practice can occur, for instance, elbow, or knee sprain. 

But when it comes to Wing Chun, the injury risk is more apparent as it involves varieties of techniques including different types of kicks, punches, push-backs, and similar moves. These moves are likely to cause injury if you lose your focus even for a jiffy.

Benefits of BJJ

While learning BJJ techniques can be a bit overwhelming sometimes, yet the plethora of benefits make it worthwhile. Not only does it help you learn self-defense, but it also comes with myriads of other benefits. Given how easy it is to get in shape with BJJ, you would never want to hit the gym ever again. 

Moreover, if you are too caught up in your work schedule and seem to have a really hard time there, BJJ can alleviate your stress too. In fact, doing BJJ regularly not only helps relieve stress but also restores your energy and boosts up your working spirit. You’ll find yourself more enthusiastic and focused than before. 

Benefits of Wing Chun

For anyone who wants to learn powerful self-defense skills while enhancing their health, fitness, and well-being to a great degree, Wing Chun works like a charm for them. If you want to burn your calories off without feeling the hard work, while developing a skill for life, Wing Chung is the way to go. 

It will improve your health in a way that’ll make you feel good from the inside and strong on the outside. You will discover a powerful mental endurance that you never knew you had. You may not even realize it at first, but soon you will see a great deal of improvement in your focus and strength. Your life will change for the better and your productivity will take you to a whole new level.

BJJ vs Wing Chun: Pros and Cons Overview

This section is to let you know the specific pros and cons of the two art forms – BJJ and Wing Chun. Skim through them carefully to check out all the benefits and disadvantages to decide which one would be the best for your self-defense training. 

Pros of BJJ

• Allows you to overpower your opponents with a stronger physique
• Enables women to defend themselves from any iffy situation
• Allows you to de-escalate a situation while avoiding violence and blood-shed, for example with rear-naked chokes and armbars
• Helps to lose weight and gets you into a better shape
• Prevents the possible risks of chronic illnesses
• Releases all your physical and mental stress 

Cons of BJJ

• Doesn’t include any techniques that allows you to fight multiple attackers
• Does not necessarily include any techniques that allow you to fight armed attackers
• Cannot be drilled without a partner (Should actually be a pro because partner training leads to more realism in practice)

Pros of Wing Chun

• Enables you to fight multiple attackers
• Strengthens your muscle’s tone and endurance
• Drilling a variety of techniques extends your flexibility
• Enhances your health and nerve system 

Cons of Wing Chun

• Comes with numbers of potential health risk s
• Only teaches you to defend Wing Chun attacks
• You’ll lose the fight instantly if your enemy happened to grapple you

Final Words

This article is dedicated to those who are planning to dip their toes in self-defense lately but got stuck into the dilemma of whether to go with BJJ or Wing Chun. Aside from being just a sport, BJJ and Wing Chun both are hailed to be a great solution for self-defense. Both of them fairly own their distinct techniques and advantages, however when it comes to street-readiness we would recommend BJJ due to the nature of street-fights ending up on the ground more often than not. 

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BJJ vs Krav Maga: Which one should you learn in 2021?

If you’re unsure whether you should learn BJJ or Krav Maga, then you’ve come to the right place. We can tell you that, by the end, we will have helped you get a better idea on both fighting styles.

We’ll discuss the history of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu or BJJ and Krav Maga, basic rule differences between them, and belt system and progression differences as well. Also, we’ll focus on their training differences, equipment differences, and will explore which one is better for kids and women and for self-defense as well. So, without further ado, let’s dig into today’s discussion.

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The Differences between BJJ and Krav Maga 

In this section, we will walk you through the considerable differences between BJJ and Krav Maga, which clearly set them apart. To save up your time, we have only focused on the major distinctions and added them with bullet points below. 

Principles

In terms of principle, both BJJ and Krav Maga equally own quite distinct tenets. Whereas Krav Maga emphasizes targeting opponents’ weak points, BJJ emphasizes using the opponent’s body strength and weight against him. Both forms require fitness and flexibility to a certain extent, but BJJ is less concerned about the players’ size, weight, and strength. In fact, using BJJ techniques, an individual can take down nd submit a heavier or stronger untrained opponent, which is unlikely to happen by using Krav Maga techniques.

Techniques

The fundamental techniques of BJJ are based on ground fighting and graplling – once a practitioner takes his or her opponent down to the ground, he or she would get on top of the opponent’s body and hold him or her so that the person can’t move. Gaining an advantageous position always comes first in the ‘position before submission‘ led fighting philosophy of BJJ. BJJ techniques are then based on an almost chess-like possibilities of moves to finish an opponent, whether for self-defense or in competition.

On the other hand, the Krav Maga techniques are inspired by a combination of Wrestling, Jiu-Jitsu, Wing Chun, and Boxing. It is said that Krav Maga has over 200 combat techniques. These are mostly – varieties of punches, kicks, and grappling techniques to zap the opponent’s weak points – eyes, temple, nose, jaw, ribs, joints of elbow, and knees, to name a few.

Objectives

Again, the objectives of BJJ and Krav Maga have their fair share of differences because Krav Maga is just a self-defense system, whereas BJJ is more ‘pure’ and traditional martial art. The basic objective of BJJ is to teach its practitioners the art of taking the opponent down by disabling their arms and legs joints, later immobilize the opponent by by applying weight as well as well as grips and thereby gain control over the situation.

However, BJJ consists of only of techniques that only allow you to fight with a single opponent. Whereas, Krav Maga techniques will let you fight with multiple attackers. Its objective is to teach its practitioners the techniques of defending themselves amid life threatening situations. Its training includes lessons on using knives, handguns, and even long guns for both defensive and offensive purposes.

Rules

Talking about rules, Krav Maga involves no rigorous rules except for the general etiquette of a training center. It expects you to follow rules such as maintaining a dress code, paying attention to instructions, not disobeying your trainer, not bringing your own personal brawls here, and not intentionally harming your partner. If you are found to engage with any of them, you will be fired.

In addition to these, BJJ occupies a couple of serious rules concerning the game, like as you are only allowed to make a submission via chokeholds and joint locks, then when your opponent taps to stop, you have to release the submission; and such.

How Long Does It Take to Learn?

When you are aiming to learn only the basics, BJJ takes precisely a longer time than the time needed for learning the selective techniques of Krav Maga. For instance, when you have average fitness and attend training classes regularly, grasping the basics of Krav Maga would take only 4/5 months, whereas BJJ would take almost 1/2 years.  

Then again, when you are training for belts, e.g. black belt so to say the highest belt would require more or less 3 years of consistent training for Krav Maga. The time period would extend to 10 years, when you want to achieve the black belt in BJJ.

Risk

It is said that BJJ brings zero risks of injuries. Although, during your practice, you may get minor injuries along the way. Elbow, ankle, wrist, or knee sprain are pretty likely to take place. However, it’s quite obvious that Krav Maga comes with more risks since its training involves a range of fatal techniques along with injurious weapons. 

Yet, getting wounded during practice is rare as all Krav Maga training centers are quite aware of its possible risks and equip all necessary safety measures. Nevertheless, unforeseen accidents may cause joint sprains, bone fractures, and similar unfortunate injuries.

History of BJJ and Krav Maga 

Let us share with you a brief overview of the history of both art forms that we are now talking about. Interestingly, both BJJ and Krav Maga encloses very discrete yet interesting origin stories.

History of BJJ 

So the story goes like this, during the Feudal period a few sporty Japanese fellas refined grappling techniques into a game which later came to be known as Jiu-Jitsu. These techniques were next followed by another combat sport, known as judo. A boy named Carlos Gracie came to Japan to receive his training in Judo (BJJ vs Judo comparison) and upon completing his training, he returned to his land Brazil. 

Around 1920, Carlos Gracie and his brothers began to modify the rules and regulations of the sport to turn it handy for their weak physique. Since then by persisting a series of severe trials and changes of decades we get today’s Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. So, even though many do not acknowledge the Japanese root, technically we can’t really deny the lineage, right?

However, Mitsuyo Maeda was the athlete who initially introduced this form of art to the world and spread it across the board. Now, you might be wondering, how it came to America! It was again a descendant of the Gracie family and his name is Carley Gracie. Carley Gracie came over to America and established the Carley Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Academy in 1972. This is how BJJ made its way to America.

History of Krav Maga

The person who devised Krav Maga as a self-defense system was an Israeli martial artist, named Imi Lichtenfeld. He was an excellent gymnast as well as a boxer and wrestler since his early life. He literally put all of his skills together into this self-defense system to teach people to protect themselves in practical life-threatening situations.

Imi Lichtenfeld first taught this combat system to a few people of Bratislava during the time of the late 1930s. At that time, the fascist groups along with other anti-Semitic parties came to power and started to enact violence on Jewish people.

His initial purpose was to make the local Jewish people erudite enough to protect themselves from the armored Nazi militia. This way, Krav Maga propagated and spread around the world as time passed. Later in 1983, a few close students of Imi established the Krav Maga Association of America and the journey of Krav Maga found its path to America.

Belt System and Progression Differences

Belts connote a practitioner’s rank based upon the skills so far he or she has gained. To pursue the belt of the next level, a participant has to earn 3 to 4 stripes – depending on the principle of the art form you are following. BJJ and Krav Maga occupy different belt systems and progression. Check them out from below –

BJJ Belt System and Progression 

The belt system and its progression in BJJ start from white to blue, followed by purple, brown, black, and finally the final rank of the red belt. White is what anyone gets right after joining a BJJ training course.

However, kids between the ages of 4 and 15 are only allowed to get white belts and their progress rewards come in the form of belt stripes. Once they hit 16, they get the opportunity to achieve further belts. Yet, again to jump from one rank to another, each practitioner must receive 4 pieces of stripes on their current belt. 

Of these 6 progress indicating belts of BJJ, the blue one is SAID to be the most challenging to achieve. Next, the black one is considered to be the hardest, and of course, it’s needless to say the red one, so to say the ultimate one is the trickiest and toughest one to get. Reportedly, it takes about 20 years of a person’s consistent practice; indeed it requires one’s perseverance at its best!

Krav Maga Belt System and Progression

Krav Maga’s belt progression also comprises 6 belts, but the colors and the rank aligned to it are not the same as BJJ. The sequence goes like this – first yellow, then orange, green, blue, brown and lastly the most cherished black belt.

Although the black belt is not the highest in BJJ, it is in Krav Maga. Here, no specific belt is awarded upon joining, instead, it provides its first ever belt yellow after the successful completion of Level 1. Here, practitioners need to attain 4 pieces of stripes on their current belt to level up from one rank to another.

Consequently, as you complete up to level 5, that can only open your door to the highest rank with almost 200 plus potent defense moves. Approximately, achieving the black takes 3/4 years of consistent practice of a practitioner of any age. Here is one of the things you must note down that, there is no age limit attached to Krav Maga, so regardless of your age, you can achieve higher ranks through your own performances.

Class/Training Differences

Now, as you know that both of the forms are relatively different from each other, hence it is very obvious that they entail separate training processes and systems. Even technically both of them mandate different gears as their techniques, modules, and moves are also vastly different. For your better understanding of the training sessions, a comparison is drawn below with all the pertinent information that you might need to know before joining a course.

What Will Happen in the First Class?

First, you will have to sign up for the course you want to enroll in. The paperwork is roughly the same for all training centers, after that, as you walk through the door you’ll find your future fellows and instructors. 

A staff will accompany you to give a tour around the place and take you to your locker where you can hoard up your daily necessities. However, if you are there for Krav Maga training, then the staff will introduce you to the equipment and safety gear that you must need to purchase and carry in the upcoming classes.

Otherwise, if you are there for BJJ training, you really don’t really need a lot of safety gear except an elbow and knee pad. The thing that is most important in the first class of BJJ is you must select a partner from the class as all BJJ techniques require the involvement of two people.

The Teaching Process

The teaching process is clearly contrasting as you have already read BJJ techniques always require the involvement of two people, whereas Krav Maga initially teaches individually. At the beginning of BJJ training, instructors will demonstrate to you the actions to overpower your opponent.

You’ll have to repeat after them to grasp the techniques while doing them in a pair. Whereas, in the first phase of Krav Maga training, you will get to learn primary knacks and techniques of kicking, punching, boxing etc. Gradually, you will be taught to apply those fighting techniques to a partner. 

In both classes, drilling is the main process of how the practitioners will hone up their skills. And, the instructors will be there to facilitate their performance by correcting and fixing their wrong approaches or postures.

Dress Code

For BJJ classes, you need to get yourself  Gi of your own size. Gi is basically a uniform inspired by the Japanese Kimono that is specially designed for BJJ. It typically consists of a thick cotton jacket, a pair of drawstring trousers, and a belt referring to the practitioner’s rank.

On the other hand, for Krav Maga classes there is no specifically fixed dress code, but it best put on comfortable clothes. It could be gym shorts, sweat pants, yoga pants, a simple shirt, or cut off, anything that would let you move comfortably. 

Here, one thing you need to keep in mind for both cases – whether you are picking your Gi or the outfit for Krav Maga, make sure the dress is not that loose which is likely to fall off again and again. Also, the dress should not be that much of close-fitting which would make you suffocated or cause you extreme sweating.

Warm Up Style

Before starting your everyday workout, warming up is extremely beneficial as it prepares your muscles ready for the physical exercise you are about to perform. It truly reduces the possible risk of injury by improving your muscles’ blood flow and loosening your joints.

As BJJ and Krav Maga covers different styles of techniques, so according to their moving styles, their warm up styles are also poles apart. BJJ’s warm up styles mostly include running laps, forward and backward breakfall, push-ups, and shrimping.

Whereas with myriads varieties of moves, each class of Krav Maga, can ask you to perform different warm up exercises. Yet, mostly these are very common exercises like lunges push ups, sit-ups, or other weight-lifting exercises.

BJJ vs. Krav Maga Direct Comparison

We have organized this section with the pros and cons of the two art forms, BJJ and Krav Maga. Skim through it to identify their benefits and flaws on your own. Certainly, this will help to come to a decision on which one to pick.

BJJ Pros

• Teaches you to defend yourself on and off the mat
• Allows you to overpower opponents of heavier or stronger physique
• Helps you in losing weight and to get you in a good shape 
• Reinforces your stamina and boosts your confidence
• Relieves your stress and fatigue 
• Inspires you to follow a healthy lifestyle
• Comparatively, inexpensive and perfect for people of all ages

BJJ Cons

• Does not teach you to fight with multiple attackers
• Does not teach you to defend yourself against armored opponents
• Takes relatively more time to learn
• Cannot be practice without a partner

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Krav Maga Pros

• Makes you prepared for real life street fights
• Let you ace the floor against multiple attackers
• Teaches you to wield weapons for both defensive and offensive purpose
• Makes you competent to defend yourself in front of armored opponents
• Encourages you to eat healthy food and follow a healthy lifestyle
• Practicing of a wide range of techniques expands your flexibility
• Attending each class burns tons of calories and helps you in losing weight
• Apparently, builds muscle tone and fetches you a buff physique
• Enhances your working spirit and improves your confidence

Krav Maga Cons

• Relatively expensive as the training covers a large number of movements
• Likely to occur accident even if you lose concentration for a sec
• Can seem intimidating for people with weak hearts as it teaches real-life fighting techniques

Which is Better to Learn for Self-defense?

When it comes to self-defense, BJJ and Krav Maga are almost neck to neck. Both art forms have gone through several courses of development with self-defense in mind. Yet, the two share considerable distinctions that make them preferable for different stripes of learners. 

If you want to avoid any possibilities of physical harm and also budget is a concern for you, then BJJ is your call. Also, for those who are small in size, or happen to have lesser weight or strength, again for them BJJ is relatively the better art form to learn for self-defense. 

On the other hand, when you are rooting for grasping the basics of self-defense techniques within a short period of time, Krav Maga may be your next choice. Age is also not a factor for Krav Maga, just when you are ready to face real-life challenges along with the risk it carries, you can start over your training session. 

Even though both of the art forms will teach you basic self-defense to stand for yourself on and off the mats, yet BJJ is less likely to come in handy in street fights when your opponents are multiple and armed. Unlike BJJ, Krav Maga teaches its learners to wield weapons for both defensive and offensive purposes.

So, to sum it up, people with a weak physique or those who aim to master the self-defense program being on a cost-effective budget are better off with BJJ. Conversely, those who desire to learn all the defensive techniques quickly or want to ace the street fight scenarios should kick off their self-defense learning journey with Krav Maga.

BJJ vs. Krav Maga for Kids

One of the trending questions on the planet right now is – BJJ or Krav Maga, which one is the best for kids? To our best research and understanding, we have found that both of the art forms are excellent in their own way. Placing one over another is arbitrary and depends on individuals’ comfort and preference.

If you prefer the non-violent art form for your little one, BJJ should be your choice. Yet again, if you see your kid being an expert in wielding weapons like knives, swords, handguns, and long guns; you must go for Krav Maga training. Aside from that, if you want to train your kid for competition then you have to move forward with BJJ. Because, Krav Maga is only a self-defense system and has no competitive bouts, tournaments, or any sort of competitions happening around the world.

Perhaps you know that BJJ can also be chosen as a future career option where practitioners will have to take part in the competitions. Thousands of BJJ competitions are taking place every day across the world, and by participating in such BJJ competitions one gets the opportunity to make around $20,000 to $50,000 at a professional level.

So, if you want to open up this career opportunity for your kid while making him or her skilled in the self-defense system as well, BJJ is the sport you must choose. In opposition, if this is not your intention and you just want your kids to be capable of pulling off all possible assault or life-threatening situations all by themselves – that they may come across in their life ahead, then Krav Maga would be the best choice for you.  

BJJ or Krav Maga for Women

Women have always been the victim of bullies, physical and sexual assault, molestation, and a lot. This is high time women should giddy-up and dip their toes in self-defense to defend themselves from such iffy situations. In deciding which self-defense is better for women, we would emphasize on grappling techniques.

When you will be able to grapple your attacker, he will not get any chance to harm you. However, both BJJ and Krav Maga teaches grappling techniques, yet with BJJ you will be drilled in overpowering your opponent with a stronger physique.

This drill will come in handy if you ever happen to confront any sexual assault. Again, if you want to conquer the street fights as well where the attacker might be armed with harmful weapons, then you should enroll yourself for Krav Maga training.

Final Words

This article is dedicated to those who were in a dilemma whether to choose BJJ or Krav Maga to ace themselves in self-defense. For their convenience, we have broadly deliberated all the important aspects of BJJ and Krav Maga in this article. We can vouch that, reading this will help you decide. Both – BJJ and Krav Maga are cherished for decades to this modern time. So, whichever you choose, you are in luck.

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