Brazilian Jujitsu, commonly referred to as BJJ, is gaining a lot of traction in North America, the UK, and Australia as both a sport and a viable self-defense martial art. This rapid increase in popularity is thanks to several factors, but the the reason most often cited is because it was, and continues to be used with excellent success rates in mixed martial arts (MMA) competitions and vale tudo matches.

BJJ is unique in the martial arts realm in that practitioners can attack from what would normally be considered a defensive position and vice versa. This leads many people to assume that a BJJ practitioner is in danger when he might actually be attacking.

The fundamental principles of BJJ enable a small fighter to successfully attack a much larger practitioner by applying leverage, and using strong muscles (or multiple muscles) to attack weaker muscles or joints. Early vale tudo videos (Brazilian for “anything goes”) show many of these tactics in action.

BJJ fighters can also end a fight through traditional means (punches and kicks), but these attacks are often opened as a result of traditional BJJ attacks, leaving himself vulnerable in the process; or directly through the use of BJJ attack sequences. BJJ attack techniques are designed to render an opponent unable to continue a fight, either by inflicting damage to a joint or limb, or rendering him unconscious or immobile.

The three primary types of attack are:

1) Joint Locks: a fighter will attempt to isolate one of his opponent’s joints and use leverage to move the joint beyond its normal range of motion. Examples include Kimura, knee bars, Americana, arm bars.  

2) Chokes: the word “chokes” is sometimes mistakenly used for “strangles,” but the two are very distinct, thought they both focus on the neck. A choke occurs when a practitioners attacks the windpipe of his opponent to prevent the opponent from breathing properly. 

3) Strangles: with a strangle, a fighter attempts to restrict the blood supply to the brain by constricting the carotid arteries. Strangles are seen more often when fighters are wearing gis (mata leo being a large exception), which are the traditional training and sparring uniform. You can view BJJ gi videos to see what these look like.

BJJ is a fascinating martial art. It takes years or even decades to rank, but even inexperienced BJJ practitioners fare very well against expert practitioners from other arts like karate or tae kwon do. There are many vs videos available which demonstrate one art vs another. These videos will provide a glimpse into why BJJ is so effective for self defense.