Jiu Jitsu is a close contact martial art also known as “the gentle art” in english or “arte suave” in portuguese.

Jiu Jitsu came into existence in Japan in the 14th century as a combination of various martial arts techniques focused on throwing, immobilizing, joint locks and choking to be used on the battlefield for close contact in situations where weapons and striking techniques were ineffective towards someone using an armor.

The martial art continued to evolve as the Neo-Confucianism philosophy of China started to expand throughout Japan. Under this new ideology strict laws were imposed to reduce war which led the warriors to cease to use armour and weapons. This fact served as a catalyst to the expansion of Jiu Jitsu as self-defense and the creation of new techniques adapted to face new situations of unarmed opponents.

The art was first known as Ju Jutsu. If we break down the word into two parts we first get the concept of Ju, which means “to be gentle”, “to bend”, or better yet “to move out of harm’s way”. The second part is Jitsu which translates the principle or “the action” part of Ju Jitsu.

As Ju Jutsu continued to grow, many martial arts were developed and have been influenced by “the gentle art”. Some familiar examples are Aikido, Judo, Krav Maga, and later on Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.

Brazilian Jiu Jitsu was developed after Mitsuyo Maeda brought Judo to Brazil in the early 20th century and agreed to teach the art to Luiz Franca and Carlos Gracie. At that time Judo was named after its founder Kano Jigoro and it was called Kano Jiu Jitsu. Without any intention to pass on the knowledge Carlos Gracie ended up teaching the art to his younger brother, Helio Gracie. It was then after decades of training and experimenting that the two brothers refined the art and shifted the emphasis of Judo as a stand up combat to ground grappling for they thought it was more practical and efficient.

So it was under the Gracie name that Brazilian Jiu Jitsu was first developed. Their chosen method to promote the new martial art was by paying a visit to other martial arts schools and challenging the practitioners to fight. By proving the undeniable efficacy of “the gentle art”, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu has increased its influence all over the world. For many years now Brazilian Jiu Jitsu have been the basis of every unarmed military course around the world. It also became the most sought after martial art for MMA athletes, and a mandatory subject in the curriculum of schools in the UEA.

There are three essential skills in life which we all should learn. The first one is walking which is part of our evolutionary process, and it comes naturally. The second one is swimming, and the third is fighting. These three skills are essential to survival and perpetuation of our species.

Fortunately, for most of us walking is something we learn at a very early age just by watching the people around us. However, learning how to swim and fight requires a little bit more effort from most of us because we depend on others to teach us these skills.

Fighting is a skill that most of us take for granted. We either see it as something reserved for the natural born fighters or those who are aggressive by nature. The misconception about this essential skill not only puts a limit on our chances of survival but also limits our chances of getting more out of life.

The bottom line is not about being gifted or even like fighting, it’s about enabling yourself to stand your ground and knowing how to handle yourself in a physical confrontation. It’s about being respected and protecting your confidence. It’s all about giving yourself the chance to do more, to be more, and to achieve your highest potential.

The cool thing about Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is that while you learn self-defense, and exercise the body you also exercise your brain. It’s like playing chess with the advantage of exercising both brain and body at the same time. In live sparring you are forced to focus on solutions, you’ve got to figure out ways to get yourself out of constrained situations, and try to stay many steps ahead of your opponent, it’s a bit of a mind game. As a result you will improve greatly in many if not all areas of your life － Brazilian Jiu Jitsu will boost your confidence, enhance your focus, and help you to know yourself better.

Results always depend on the level of commitment of the practitioner, both goes hand-in-hand.

As you become familiarized with the training regimen you’ll start to feel more at ease and begin to have a broader view of the game being played. Within 6 months (72 Hrs.) of practice you’ll have enough confidence to apply the techniques, make connections, and transitions on live sparring without hesitating too much.

Unlike any other Martial Art which one learns a system of static techniques and becomes a black belt within 4 years of practice, sometimes less than that, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu has a different approach to graduation.

What makes Brazilian Jiu Jitsu so distinct from other Martial Arts is that there are no boundaries, no limitations on one’s creativity, and it has an infinite potential for expansion. Even when one becomes a black belt, the learning never stops, there will be always something new to be learned.

To become a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu black belt one must understand and embrace the journey. It’s a process of evolution and evolution takes time. On average, a BJJ student has to put at least 3.000 Hrs into practice in order to cross his/her own threshold of perceived limitations to graduate to black belt. The only way this feat can be accomplished is by showing up on the mat relentlessly.

It’s never too late to start learning something new, in reality just by seeking to learn new things is what keeps us young, motivated, and mentally healthy.

We feel alive when we’re growing, and growth comes from stepping out of our comfort zone.

The earlier you start practicing Brazilian Jiu Jitsu the better are your chances to get more out of life. The sooner you develop discipline and build confidence, both of these qualities are common characteristics of super successful individuals, the higher are your chances to succeed at anything you want to do in your life.

The optimal age to learn, develop, and “program” positive habits into our lives is between the ages of 4 and 7 years old. At this phase our mental state sets up the “program” to be played for the rest of our lives, or until one decides to change the “program”.

To see results you should practice at least three times a week. However, if you seek to achieve your highest potential, and become the best version of yourself you must consider putting physical activity on top of your priority list.

It’s not about doing intense workouts day in and day out. It’s about getting your body moving for at least 20 consecutive minutes every single day to reap the benefits that go beyond physical health. Exercising is an important factor to maintain a healthy brain because it raises one’s energy level, provides clarity and focus, and helps one choose better quality of food to feed the body.

As Jack Lalane once said “If you eat everyday you should exercise everyday”.

Children’s classes range from 45 to 60 minutes long. Adult classes are from 60 to 90 minutes long.

Since Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is a contact sport with emphasis on grappling you really need a partner in order to practice the techniques, and apply them to live sparring.

Watching videos as well as reading books on the subject are great tools to complement and expand your knowledge in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu but you can only learn by practicing it because knowledge without practice turns into philosophy. Think about it, in a real world situation you can only apply what you’ve learned if you have rehearsed long enough so your body can do better than your mind.

“When you hear something, you’ll forget it. When you see something, you’ll remember it. But not until you do something, you will understand it. “ (Chinese Proverb)

Brazilian Jiu Jitsu requires an open mind, a positive attitude, and consistency from the student. Without these characteristics the learning process can become hard and somewhat frustrating.

At the beginning the student has to choose progress over perfection. The brain needs time to process the information and make the connections. Everyone is different, while some students can easily understand and “get it” on a first try others may need more time.

It’s like moving up a level in a video game, in the beginning we make a lot of mistakes because we’re learning new rules, and trying to figure things out, but after playing for a while we start mastering it, and end up making less and less mistakes.

Brazilian Jiu Jitsu involves a lot of pulling, gripping, and throwing. That alone could potentially work against the physical health of someone who suffers from osteoarthritis or rheumatoid arthritis.

Would be wiser to choose an appropriate exercise program that focuses primarily on improvement of range of motion, such as mobility and active stretch which helps minimize joint pain, and preserve joint structure and function.

Lower back pain is usually associated with core strength, specifically the oblique muscles. If every time you perform a physical activity your lower back starts to bother, you could either have weak obliques or you don’t know how to properly activate your core to execute the technique. Instead you’re putting too much pressure on your lower back which results in back pain.

To address this issue you’ve got to spend some time working to strengthen the obliques, improve your range of motion by doing mobility exercises, and stretch to also release the tension on the targeted area. However, if you suffer from severe back pain you should seek medical advice from your doctor prior to training BJJ to not compromise your physical health.

For the uninitiated the word Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is used interchangeably with Mixed Martial Arts. This misconception has people to think that both sports are the same, therefore equally dangerous. This couldn’t be further from the truth.

In Brazilian Jiu Jitsu there is no striking, nor punching or kicking but it’s highly efficient because once you put someone on the ground the fight ends. It doesn’t matter if the opponent is bigger or stronger, for a BJJ practitioner size doesn't matter. What makes BJJ is tough is to deal with the ego, it shakes it to the core.

In MMA the practitioner has to learn as many styles of Martial Arts as he/she possibly can to raise the odds in his/her favor and stand a chance of overcoming an opponent. MMA is like an octopus with its many arms while BJJ is just one of those arms.

Absolutely not. Being in shape is not a prerequisite to start on your Jiu Jitsu journey. Getting in shape will be the result of your training practice.

We have deliberately designed our program for our students to work on conditioning, strength, mobility, and flexibility while they learn the “gentle art”.

Yes, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is extremely efficient for self-defense for two reasons,

#1. It gives the practitioner the ability to fight anyone, regardless of size or strength, and

#2. It teaches the practitioner how to have a quick response to his/her situational awareness, how to throw an opponent to the ground with precision, how to use simple techniques to neutralize the opponent’s will upon him/her, and how to quickly finish a fight.

Fighting on the ground is something totally foreign to most people because they have no clue of what to do once they find themselves rolling on the ground. On the ground is where a BJJ practitioner can best use his/her ability as leverage to overcome a struggle.

The core of BJJ is self-defense. However, as the Martial Art evolved and became more popular, new techniques were created as the result of an organic process of growth. As the practitioner progresses in the “gentle art” his/her focus will naturally shift from self-defense to competitive BJJ which requires the use of complex techniques in order to overpower an opponent. Just as it is in geometry, we can only solve complex equations if we know the fundamentals of math. Having a strong foundation is the key to building a solid house.

You can definitely achieve your goal doing one or all of those workouts, along with a well planned diet. If your goal is just to get fit and look good then Brazilian Jiu Jitsu isn’t a good fit for you.

Most injuries in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu are caused by not preparing the body with a proper warm-up before practice, and skipping the stretch after practice. Both can be boring and daunting, that’s why most people want to skip, but doing a proper warm-up with focus on joint mobility prior to training and performing a proper stretch to elongate and release muscle tension after training is fundamentally important to keep a BJJ practitioner from getting injured.

Let’s suppose you find yourself in a situation where you’re in close proximity with someone trying to cause you harm and you can’t reach fast enough for your weapon. What would you do? How would you react? How can you defend yourself and impose your will on the offender?

This is where Brazilian Jiu Jitsu can help. BJJ is a very efficient tool one can use to overcome situations like this one. However, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu isn’t just about self-defense, it’s about self-empowerment, stepping out of your comfort zone, connecting with a community of like minded people, and achieving more in your life.

There are two situations in which you must try to get away from as fast as possible, and should consider running your best option, 1. Multiple people are trying to cause your harm, or 2. Someone is armed with a deadly weapon ready to use it against you. Both situations are dangerous, and could cause irreversible damage to your integrity and physical health, thus would be irresponsible of you to try to engage in a confrontation where your life is at risk.

Physical confrontation should always be avoided but once you find yourself in a fair one-one fight you have got to be able to stand your ground, impose yourself, and protect your confidence at all costs because your level of confidence reflects the way you carry yourself and how you act in the world.

We understand life can get hectic sometimes, you’ve got a lot on your plate and at the end of the day you don’t have the time nor the energy to do anything else. As you may know going on like that day in and day out is neither healthy nor sustainable in the long run. We can only pull a string so much before it breaks.

There are a few suggestions for you which is worth a try:

Open up time in your schedule by eliminating things that don't serve you anymore.

Depending on the flexibility of your schedule, move things around and try to squeeze in a group class.

If the suggestions above aren’t possible for you to join a group class, you still have the option to take private classes, from 30 to 60 min., tailored to your needs and to fit your busy schedule at the time that is most convenient to you.

If you find yourself in a situation like that your primary goal should be to protect your physical integrity at all costs. Trying to engage in a confrontation which you’ve been overpowered by many would be irresponsible to say the least since the situation represents a great threat to your life.

The most sensible and rational action to take is to get away from the aggressors as fast as you can, and find a safe place to hide.

At first, getting into some positions may make you feel uncomfortable but as you make progress in your training, become familiar with the environment and training partners the discomfort will no longer be an issue. The feeling of discomfort is just a sign of resistance needed to be overcome.

The word cost is usually associated with expenses and it has a painful feeling attached to it. Although it’s used interchangeably with the word investment, both have very different meanings.

While cost is the amount of money or time you pay for a product or service that has limited value or benefits associated with it, an investment is the amount of money or time you put into something that will bring you back value. It could be a product or service that brings you benefits for a long period of time, and also has a feeling of satisfaction attached to it. The cost for a product or service is high when it brings you back little value, or zero return on your investment.

By making the decision to practice Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is to choose a healthier lifestyle, to become more, and get more out of life. It’s an investment you make in yourself that will never depreciate, it only appreciates and it’s yours to keep.

The question is how much is it worth to you to improve the three major areas of your life?

As you can’t take the hoop out of basketball for the same reason you can’t take the GI out of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. The GI is a fundamental tool in Brazilian Jiu JItsu, It’s what enables you to practice and perform techniques such as a choke, or a sweep. It’s like the middle man acting between you and the Gentle Art.

If rolling with men makes you feel uncomfortable you can speak with your instructor and voice your concern. He can partner you up only with women, but as you may know this is a limitation that will slow down your progress.

In order for you to get better and make advancements you gotta be willing to roll with anyone, be it a male or female, the more you challenge yourself the bigger is the pay off.

Either, Karate or KravMaga prepares you to fight on your feet. Both Martial Arts focus on striking, and offer little to no guidance when the fight goes to the ground. Not to mention they're rigid systems that kill creativity, spontaneity, and self-expression. Brazilian Jiu Jitsu teaches you the knowledge, and prepares you to fight where most people feel uncomfortable, totally out of their element. The ability to control and neutralize an adversary fast is a virtue of BJJ practitioners, this advantage is what will get yourself unharmed and out of any physical confrontation at any given time.

As a beginner you don’t need to practice with world champions in order to get better. Top level athletes don’t usually practice with beginners because 1. beginners can’t keep up with their intensity, and 2. they can’t see how training with beginners could help them to improve their craft.

A white belt can certainly make progress and improve his/her game just by training with blue and/or purple belts. Practicing the drills is what really helps one refining the techniques.

Although it’s cool to be part of a National school with many world champions, most champions were made somewhere else. The great majority of world champions come from smaller teams, which they’re very loyal to, but because they seek better opportunities they end up having to move away from their roots.

Since Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is a contact sport and also takes place on the ground it’s hard, if not impossible, to practice the martial art without the risk of getting your face on the mat. Still, it doesn’t mean you’ll end up with a deformed face. You may get a bruise here and there, but these are exceptions to the rule. As for your ears, a headgear can be used during practice to protect, and prevent it from getting burned from the friction on the mats.

We understand that competing in tournaments is not for everyone. While some enjoy the mixed feelings and increase in heart rate associated with the release of adrenaline others may feel extremely uncomfortable, and it’s totally fine we’re all on a different journey. Our business program is designed for those who don't want to participate in tournaments but still want to learn, practice, and experience the thrill of live sparring as any other Brazilian Jiu Jitsu practitioner. The major differences between the Recreational and the Competitive Program is in the intensity, and length of training.