Greetings! This will be the first of a recurring blog about our Brazilian Jiu Jitsu program at Undisputed Fitness. In the blog, we will go over techniques we are learning, tournament news/results and, well, just about anything going on in the world of Jiu Jitsu at Undisputed Fitness. If you’re unfamiliar with Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (BJJ), consider this an introduction of sorts.
BJJ is a martial art that focuses on grappling and ground fighting and teaches that a smaller, weaker person can successfully defend against a bigger, stronger assailant by using leverage and proper technique -most notably by applying joint-locks and chokeholds to defeat the other person. BJJ has gained a lot of notoriety in recent years because of its use in mixed martial arts. It is also a great form of self defense and very real world applicable.
At Undisputed, we teach both gi and no-gi jiu jitsu. The difference being that in gi jiu jitsu, you wear a thick, cotton kimono called a ‘Gi’. In no-gi, you wear just shorts and a rash guard or t-shirt. Although the same martial art, there is a vast difference between gi and no-gi. N0-gi is very fast paced and makes it able to slip and muscle out of certain holds/positions. In gi, it is much slower and technical because you are able to hold on to yours and your opponent’s clothing making slipping out of things virtually impossible.
An example of one of our no-gi classes:
Every class starts with a warm up where we go through certain drills and calisthenics to get our bodies good and warm/loose and to also practice the movements that are common in BJJ.
Next, we see Professor Henry demonstrating a move from a position called ‘mission control’. Mission control involves having your opponent between your legs (position known simply as ‘guard’) and breaking down his posture, then keeping him down with your leg across the back of his neck while your other foot is in his hip. From here, there are various attacks and sweeps that you can work to get.
(Fun Fact: In BJJ, our instructors are called “Professor” because professor is Portuguese for instructor or teacher.)
After the demonstration, the students will drill the move.
After class, everybody will line up and shake hands/hug each other. 
And, occasionally, we like to get everybody together for some group pictures.
So concludes our first BJJ blog. I hope you enjoyed it and will come back for more! And if you’re interested in learning a martial art, getting in shape and associating yourself with a community of people dedicated to positive personal growth and supporting one another, come down to Undisputed and try us out!