Quick, pick up the phone and call your significant other, your mother, your neighbor, or someone else who only has a vague idea of what you really do with your free time, and explain to them what Jiu Jitsu is.
Can you? Can you do so in an articulate by concise manner that defines what Jiu Jitsu is but also captures its essence? Can you put Jiu Jitsu into context?
Don’t be too worried if you can’t. I really don’t believe a lot of people can. This includes a lot of people who are heavily involved in Jiu Jitsu! I mean to say, they know Jiu Jitsu, they live Jiu Jitsu, but are hardly ever asked to explain Jiu Jitsu in a manner beyond the standard marketing brochure answer.
I suppose that is a little harsh to say, so let me rephrase my position. The definition as given by Wikipedia is actually pretty good in some respects and is an excellent intro to the art:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gracie_Jiu_Jitsu“Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) is a martial art and combat sport that focuses on grappling and especially ground fighting with the goal of gaining a dominant position from which to force an attacker to submit. The system developed from a modified version of pre-World War II Judo including some techniques from Japanese Jujutsu and with a focus on ne-waza (ground technique). It promotes the principle that a smaller, weaker person using leverage and proper technique can successfully defend themselves against a bigger, stronger assailant. BJJ can be trained for self defense, sport grappling tournaments (gi and no-gi) and mixed martial arts (MMA) competition. Sparring and live drilling play a major role in training, and a premium is placed on performance, especially in competition.”
What I’m looking for, however is a definition of Jiu Jitsu that goes beyond merely explaining what Jiu Jitsu is to initiates, but can actually serve as a point of reference for practitioners and give them a deeper understanding of the art. In other words, to put Jiu Jitsu in a proper context overall and explain a Jiu Jitsu mind frame to those within the art. I want to give the essence of Jiu Jitsu, if you will, merely than just its definition.
Jiu Jitsu in Context
Okay, I suppose what is really bothering me nowadays with the explosion of Mixed Martial Arts type fighting is that Jiu Jitsu has merely become a substitute for the word “ground fighting”. The thing is, if you only define Jiu Jitsu as techniques used on the ground, you’re missing out on the much larger picture. Some schools tend to place a greater emphasis on sport Jiu Jitsu or grappling competition, which is enjoyable, yes, but if that is the only thing that one is worries about you stand to miss out on the bigger picture as well. Jiu Jitsu is a martial art that has many different applications, for sure, but it should not necessarily be defined by those applications.
Have you ever seen the movie “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon”? Good movie (although as a long time fan of Hong Kong Cinema I didn’t see what all the hype was really about). At any rate, one point that always struck me the character of Jen (portrayed by Zhang Ziyi) appears to be a very dangerous fighter at first, and using the techniques of Wudang as described in a stolen scroll, is able to defeat many opponents. However, when she encounters Li Mu Bai (portrayed by Chow Yun Fat) she is easily defeated, and Li explains that while she has become very skilled in some of the techniques of their martial art (Wudang) by has failed to understand its essence and cannot place her techniques in a proper context. To some extent I feel that is a perfect metaphor for Jiu Jitsu nowadays.
To be fair, that context of Jiu Jitsu usually eventually comes, but not without a lot of hard work, thought, and mat time. More often an introduction to Jiu Jitsu comes via the techniques of Jiu Jitsu, and the essence of Jiu Jitsu is left unsaid, and unknown by initiates for quite some time and often they are left to discover things on their own. The process of discovery of the context of what Jiu Jitsu is, as opposed to merely the learning of techniques of Jiu Jitsu, is the true path to enlightenment.
A game of “human chess”.
For my favorite explanation of Jiu Jitsu, I have to give credit to my friend Henry Akins, a black belt under Rickson Gracie (so I’m unsure if this is his words or Rickson’s, but I think I’m covering my bases as far as credit goes): Jiu Jitsu is akin to a physical game of chess, in the sense both opponents begin with the same amount of options. During the course of the match, opponents will progress by taking away options from their opponent until there are no options left (aka a checkmate).
On one hand the description is vague enough that while we can certainly apply it equally well to chess and Jiu Jitsu; there isn’t a lot in the metaphor to distinguish the two. There are of course many differences. Having followed chess to some degree there are many players who will tell you that chess is as much a physical game as a mental game. I’m not going to comment too much on that statement, I will say that I believe that Jiu Jitsu is much a mental game as it is a physical game. As a matter of fact, I think there are few if any activities that actively present a challenge mentally AND physically that Jiu Jitsu does. Both have to be in sync in order to succeed.
Now, I like this description because it is very demonstrative of a proper mindset for Jiu Jitsu and in a way describes any encounter. We start off with the same positions and same tools. What that situation is isn’t defined yet, for purposes of Jiu Jitsu it could be free sparring, it could be a competition, or a MMA fight, or it might even be a street fight. Immediately I’m going to assesses the situation and gain as many advantages as possible. I am then going to press those advantages until I get the final outcome I want, that is the end of the encounter with myself as the victor.
The Jiu Jitsu Mindset
As an encounter develops, a combatant versed in a Jiu Jitsu context will keep the following things in mind in sequential order.
1. Safety
2. Position
3. Submission
Safety- By safety I mean the ability to keep yourself from being finished in the fight. The importance of safety is constantly emphasized by no less an authority than one of the founders of Jiu Jitsu, Helio Gracie who often states something to the effect that as long as you haven’t lost the fight, you
