Brazilian Jiu Jitsu vs Ju Jitsu Traditional

Ps. To underline one aspect, even then there was the controversy that MMA events were a show and that real combat with multiple attackers, cutting weapons, sticks, is concrete floors is another thing, so we have been talking about the same things for years.

The things in common between BJJ and JJJ

Even these two arts have things in common as well as with other systems of struggle because I repeat human anatomy/biology is common.

• Both JJ systems have the concept that favors the effective use of the technique to control and subdue the physical force of an aggressor/opponent.
• Many classical finishing techniques , some projections, etc. are common to both traditional BJJ and JJ but also to other fighting systems.
• Both use the Gi with the belt but in BJJ it is also used to do No Gi lessons
• Both take place on the tatami

Let’s see many differences between the two arts:

The role of the master and the approach to the training method

• In traditional Jiu Jitsu often the instructor says what to do but without actively participating and you are forced to perform and have respect without ever having a confrontation with him fighting. This is the master’s label.
• In The Brazilian Jiu Jitsu the instructor will teach but then work with you. When you fight with him or see how fight you understand what’s going on, respect for the instructor is implied by practical means. Like saying you get respect on the field. Clearly it must be understood that some famous masters have a certain age and consequently this approach “fails” if not for the technical study or the rolling light that is becoming a way to work with all age groups or with those with physical problems.

Competitions and scores in the BJJ

Both in MMA at the beginning but also today where the BJJ has successfully imposed itself several times both in MMA competitions and in ground wrestling Gi and No Gi, the same thing did not happen for the traditional JJ.

Already this must make it clear that they are different limbs!

The Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu has important technical, methodological and combat approach elements that are not present in the traditional Ju Jitsu.

Consider that the large participation in wrestling tournaments and the increasingly widespread and growing competitions have made a strong contribution to the technical growth of art where in addition to important names of athletes have created real techniques and approaches to the fight with peculiar characteristics.

The scoring system

The BJJ is a sport and like any sport if you don’t win by submission it has a points method to decide who won.

The BJJ’s regulation is designed a regulation that reflects the reality of a real clash and this approach to give the points in BJJ’s training through a points system (which is the same or similar used in BJJ races) where those of the two opponents take a certain position relative to each other are rewarded.

These positions are thought in a hierarchy with different scores based on location.

The scoring system in the BJJ then also awards points to the athlete who goes from a disadvantage to a better position and the more valid the position the more points are awarded.

But beware, the reverse is rewarded but if the athlete escapes from a bad position he is not given points because it is considered as a foregone conclusion to run away from a position of advantage.

The highest score in Brazilian jiu jitsu

If you consider the principle by which the score was created if you consider that in a real fight, if you can get a rear mount, the control position behind your opponent, it is clear that you have a double advantage because:

• from there it’s hard for him to apply a finalization and even more to hit us,
• You have a wide choice of blows (not in sports competitions), choking/strangulation, painful pressure, arm levers, cervical levers, etc.

This dominant position gets the highest score in the BJJ where getting the control position of the opponent’s shoulders makes you assign the maximum score (4 points).

The submission of your opponent corresponds to the KO of striking, gives you victory ahead of time or if you were at a points disadvantage it gives you immediate victory.

A curiosity about the name JiuJitsu and jujitsu

As you can see several times I wrote it in reference to Brazilian or Japan the word JJ differently.

By now we all write jiu jitsu to indicate the Brazilian one because at the time when Maeda (both judoka and jujutsuka) arrived in Brazil it was used to pronounce these 2 words, today instead we opt for the most correct jujutsu, but because Brazilians have always called their art jiu jitsu it keeps the name “wrong”.

The evolution of JJ in BJJ is a misconception

Often when asked to explain the difference it is used to say that Japanese Ju Jitsu is the martial art and BJJ is the sports version of Jiu JItsu to the point of diminishing the art of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu as a ground fighting system or as a more effective evolution of JJJ techniques.

Although clearly there are common techniques the differences are important and go deep into art.

The BJJ’s positioning strategy

This is one of the central features of the Brazilian fighting system, the positioning strategy that is unique in the BJJ.

When you fight whether you’re standing and on the ground in space, you can take up multiple positions and there are plenty of ways to occupy this space.

In ground fighting positions are called positions and are studied relatively respecting each other.

Some of these positions give advantages to the wrestler, others disadvantages and some are more or less neutral those called 50/50.

For example, if a person while fighting manages to put himself in the mount position or in rear mount (ie able to place himself above or behind his opponent) he has an important positional advantage and could hit him effectively with punch blows, while if the opponent is below or from behind he puts him in a disadvantage condition.

So the search for a fighter to “take” an advantage position is a prerogative of the BJJ wrestler before finalization.

A good attack position also allows you to be less exposed to the reaction of your opponent and an excellent control of the position correctly carrying the weight on your opponent greatly increases the possibility of using what is the prerogative of both Brazilian and Japanese JJ to finalize with a lever or a suffocation, what is called submission, finalization and that in the sports field finds the answer in the Tap out of the opponent

The traditional JJ like many other fighting systems have a vast arsenal of techniques of submission of the aggressor with the aim of making him desist and surrender or alternatively if it does not hurt him with joint ruptures, dislocations or loss of consciousness.

Now why is positional strategy at the heart of the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu system?

Because as an approach it brings finalization only when an opponent is sufficiently under control through a dominant position.

Many of these levers and suffocation without positional control are difficult to apply in non-cooperative combat as a real fight if the aggressor or opponent is not sufficiently controlled when seeking finalization through levers and suffocation.

For this you use the master cycle in the Gracie system, because you study the same finalization from multiple dominant positions.

This is the key concept that allows and allowed the success of the BJJ in MMA fights, in the challenges between different schools and real street fights.

Many argue that this characteristic positioning strategy was born precisely from the experience made in the real fights carried out by the Gracie while they were engaged in training and real clashes and that these experiences were crucial to the development of this art.

Experience is not what happens to a man. That’s what a man does with what happens to him. (Aldous Leonard Huxley)

The BJJ’s strategy

This positioning strategy is best applicable through a fight-oriented style because holding someone still standing is something much more complicated and once you’re on the ground and you’ve directed your opponent’s position and movement to your advantage you can hold it in that position to be able to apply leverage or suffocation.

But only after taking the dominant position!

If you don’t control the position your opponent can move and move to go from an uncomfortable area to a comfort zone to try to get a more advantageous position for him or run away, or get back to his feet in the striking where he feels more confident.

This is often seen in UFC matches!

The most suitable way to limit someone’s movement is on the ground for two reasons:

• most people don’t feel comfortable on the ground and move badly because they don’t know the techniques of ground movement
• you can use your body weight as well as strength to land and immobilize someone on the ground which would be harder to do standing

That’s why the BJJ’s strategy is to close the distance on the aggressor and bring it to the ground to look for a position of advantage over your opponent and if everything works as it must keep sufficiently the position apply levers and suffocation to end the match if it is sport or the clash if it is real street fight.

So as a strategy the positioning techniques lead the wrestler to create the opportunity to place finalizations and for this reason the attention to position is more important than the finalization technique.

Without a good dominant position you can not place an effective lever or choking technique.

Positional control puts you in optimal condition for applying submission grips and limits your opponent’s ability to place his submission techniques.

This is one of the essential strategic elements of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu but there are other distinctive elements between BJJ and traditional Ju Jitsu.

The BJJ’s 5 technical categories

The BJJ has a very large number of techniques and movements in its technical program but all can be included in 4 broad categories of techniques:

1. Positioning techniques that are the techniques that allow the fighter to implement the strategy to advance from one position to another more dominant (called positioning techniques)
2. Submission techniques that are the ones that allow you to finish the fight (techniques called submission or finalization)
3. Reverse Techniques (position tipping techniques)
4. Escape techniques (exit techniques from a lever or choking technique)
5. Personal defense

BJJ and self-defense

This is not the post but I want to make a clarification!

Using BJJ for a real confrontation can be effective but must be contextualized to the situation because the terrain, multiple opponents, an opponent armed with a knife, etc. need a technical and strategic readjustment.