By Sarah Johnson
I have been doing Jiu Jitsu for the past 2 years. I have learned a lot of interesting, fun and important techniques.
Jiu Jitsu is a kind of martial art that teaches you how to defend yourself, weather on the ground or on your feet. The modern form of this martial art comes from the battlefield art of Samurai of Japan. It allowed the samurai to defend themselves when disarmed and on foot. Since it was harder to fight with armor on, Jiu Jitsu evolved to include throwing, joint locks, and strangles or chokes.
There are many pros and cons in this sport which can effect you in many ways. Here are some of those pros and cons.
PROS:
Control:
This sport teaches you how to control someone in a difficult situation. If these unfortunate events happen, you will know how to control the person in order for you to either get away or wait out until help arrives. Chokes, guard, mount, back control and many different joint locks are helpful examples of controlling positions. Learning this can be essential, especially when your opponent is bigger and stronger than you.
Limited Strength Included:
When fighting using Jiu Jitsu, you are able to learn how to save your strength. Your strength is replaced by technique. If you try to play tug-a-war with someone who has more mass and/or muscle, you are going to lose no matter what. If you learn Jiu Jitsu, you will learn how to replace most of that strength with technique. Technique will allow you to outsmart your opponent and possibly defeat him.
CONS
Injuries:
Injuries are a part of Jiu Jitsu. Since physical contact is involved there is a possibility that there may be injuries involved. Sometimes it may be minor like a bent finger but sometimes it could be as serious as a broken bone, fracture, or a concussion. Even this sounds bad, this is what makes you tougher as you go through your learning journey. You learn to shake off the pain and keep going, never give up. Learning the skills though? It’s worth it.
Winning is Not an Always:
When go against someone, either on the street or in your class, there are always days where you will lose the fight. Whatever it was, running out of energy, the timer went off, or the opponent makes the final move {choke, arm bar, etc.} there will always be some times where you will lose. This is okay though, especially if you are beginner. You are still learning, even as far as brown belt or, even, black belt, you are still learning new skills, and new ways to defeat someone in a fight. It is totally worth it though, I am sure it is.
Conclusion-
Jiu Jitsu is a great way to get tougher, learn something new, and defend yourself in a tough situation. There are pros and cons to this technique of fighting though. You learn how to control someone in order to keep them at bay. But you will get injured in the process because of the physical contact involved. There is limited strength needed which will save energy but you will not always win. Jiu Jitsu is a fun martial art to learn and I´d encourage anyone to try it.