Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is a grappling art that dates back to the early 20th century. It originally stemmed from Judo, which itself stemmed from Japanese Jiu-Jitsu. The biggest difference between BJJ and Judo/JJJ is that it heavily focuses on ground fighting.
Such obsession with ground fighting can be explained by the fact that the people who developed BJJ (aka the Gracie family) wanted it to be as realistic and effective in real-life situations as possible, considering that an overwhelming majority of street fights usually end up on the ground.
Another specificity inherently linked to BJJ is the use of potentially very damaging submissions, unlike in Judo. Finally, a decisive concept about BJJ is positional dominance; that means you should strive to get into the adequate position in order to apply a submission if you want it to be the most effective possible.
BJJ is the most influential martial art of the last century, and arguably of all time. Its approach to fighting (making it heavily ground-based, and relying on technique rather than brute strength) has revolutionized the sport of mixed martial arts since its genesis. Walk into any MMA gym and you’re bound to see people working on their BJJ; that is a sine qua non condition if you’re willing to be able to ever compete in MMA.
But remember BJJ was originally developed to be utilized in street-fighting scenarios. There are no rules or weight classes in street fights; that’s what makes them particularly dangerous and unpredictable. So, is BJJ effective in the street? Check out the following footage to find out!
In the video below, the girl in blue is obviously harassing the girl in white and trying to instigate a fight; the girl in white won’t let herself get into a fight though. The bully in blue walks to the girl in white’s face and feint a strike before shoving her. And that, was too much for the bullied girl.
The both of them exchange wild, sloppy punches until the bullied girl manages to get the bully’s back and sink in a deep rear-naked-choke. The bully tries to defend, in vain. She ends up unconscious, lying on the concrete like a starfish. I’d say BJJ is still effective.
