Gracie Jiu Jitsu

Martial Arts in America come and go like waves on a beach (deep). First America just had it's boxing, and boxing was great (and effective) and was popular for so long because there was no other alternative. (I mean, maybe wrestling, but wrestling hadn't been properly adapted to deal with real street self defense yet.) Soon Asian martial arts came along, and starting with Karate, each of them had their 15 mins of fame. Of course Bruce Lee helped this along with his seemingly invincible style. Even at the present time, if you ask any random person on the street which martial art is the most deadly or most effective, they will probably say Karate or Tae Kwon Do or some other Eastern martial art. Once UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) first started, there was another "fad" that came and went fairly quickly, but I feel it didn't get it's full 15 mins. Most people probably haven't heard of it, which is a terrible shame, especially because I feel it deserves MORE than 15 mins. Gracie Style Brazillian Jiu Jitsu.

You see, the purpose of the UFC's were to test the mettle of all martial arts - and it was a success. One outshone the rest. Karate masters, and ninja fighters, and street brawlers all were put to shame by the Gracie Family from Brazil. It all started at the turn of the last century when a Judo master traveled to Brazil and was put up and taken care of by a local business man there. As a repayment, the master trained his son in his martial art (is this a fucking movie or what?). That man was Carlos Gracie. He taught his brother who then taught their children and so fourth and so on. Eventually the style took on a more streetfighting feel and what eventually came out at the end was what exists now: Brazillian Jiu Jitsu or Gracie Jiu Jitsu. So confident were they (the whole family of men) that their style was the best, they established a knock on door challenge policy. Anyone - any master of any martial art - or any tough guy, no matter how big or strong can challenge them to a fight and they must accept. LET THE ASS-WHOOPINGS BEGIN!

Kung Fu

Judo

Tae Kwon Do

Hapkido

Karate

Karate

Kenpo Karate

Sumo Wrestling

Capoeira


Do you see? 1 on 1? A really good Gracie BJJ fighter will inflict fantastic pain. THAT is where I believe a rub comes in. If it was a fight with more than one person... I would rather use practically ANY martial art OTHER than BJJ. How effective would that style be - you rolling around with someone - when there is someone else kicking your back, or worse, stabbing it.

Well, I must be off, but let me say that I certainly do wish I had trained in BJJ for longer than 3 months, and anyone who's anyone should make it their damn business to train in BJJ for a while. It's a fantastic direction on the road to being a superhero, and isn't that what we are ALL after? You guys?