All the way across the ocean an island called Japan created a devastating Martial Art known as Jujutsu in the 1400’s. It has been known as an effective martial art for many reasons including controlling your opponent through joint locking or throwing your opponent to the ground using their own body weight making them useless. These factors contribute to knowing or learning JiuJitsu can make it easier to escape an attacker.
Jujutsu came to Brazil with Count Maeda when he started to teach the Gracie family in 1921. Hélio Gracie fought a famous Jūdoka, practitioner of Judo, named Masahiko Kimura. It was a special moment for JiuJitsu proving that Gracie Jiu-Jitsu could stand up to Judo. In the 90’s Rorion and Royce, sons of Hélio, started the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) to prove that their JiuJitsu could handle any fighting situation the world throws at it. In the wake of their success, JiuJitsu became world famous and Hélio’s legacy cemented in history.
In the past decade Jiujiteros all over the world would come to know of Gracie JiuJitsu or Brazilian JiuJitsu, UFC, or the Machado family—cousins of the Gracies. Now, many stars in the world even practice JiuJitsu, such as Maynard Keenan of the band Tool, Dave Mustaine of the band Megadeth, Keanu Reeves the action movie star and so many more. Being able to defend yourself against potential threats gives you a sense of security and confidence that can translate to your personal and professional life. Regularly working with a group of like-minded individuals intent on improving themselves contributes to physical,mental, and emotional well-being. Confidence breeds confidence, and together we can all succeed.
