Starting Jiu Jitsu can be a daunting thought filled with personal uncertainty or fear. Rest assured, that Jiu Jitsu can truly be for anybody and should be for everybody! Practicing Jiu Jitsu is not easy by any means, but it is accessible to all. Practicing Jiu Jitsu can be as easy as learning a move and drilling step by step to full out rolling 100% with your partner. The great thing about Jiu Jitsu is that the practice is adaptable to a person’s weakness or limitations. The art is so adaptable that a perceived weakness or limitation can even grow into an advantage not available to others. I‘ve trained with all sorts of people and each has developed characteristics in their skills that are individual to them and an advantage.
Throughout the years I’ve had many friends and acquaintances ask about my Jiu Jitsu hobby and were interested in trying it out. Below are some of the most common questions and concerns I’ve heard from new people looking to try out Jiu Jitsu.
Am I too old to start Jiu Jitsu?
Honestly, you’re never too old to start anything and if you think you are you might have one foot in the grave. There are many examples out there where practitioners started their Jiu Jitsu journey at the age of 50+ years old and many many examples of dedicated legends training right up to when they died. Helio Gracie, one of the founders of BJJ, continued to train when he was 95!
Jiu Jitsu is a physical sport, and it would be lying to say that age doesn’t play a factor in performance, but technique development is something that equally spans all ages. Age may factor into strength, stamina, speed, and recovery. In some of these categories, you might have an advantage based on your age and foundation.
The key to starting Jiu Jitsu at a later age is to pace yourself and take extra precautions with preventative and recovery measures like the development of strength, flexibility, stamina, diet, and sleep.
Does everybody who tries Jiu Jitsu like it?
Unfortunately, while Jiu Jitsu is available to everybody, some people will not find joy in Jiu Jitsu. Jiu Jitsu requires very close contact with another sweaty human being and that is one thing I’ve heard from a few people who’ve tried and quit the practice after a few sessions. There is usually a culture that goes with a Jiu Jitsu gym and sometimes it does not jive with an individual. I always encourage a person to think about what some of their hesitancies might be with trying Jiu Jitsu and then finding a solution or alternative to the barrier. For close contact issues maybe wearing spats in rash guard so that there is a barrier between skin contact would help ease the way for somebody with close contact issues. For the cultural issue, I always recommend a person do their research on gyms before committing to going to a gym.
The good news is that in my experience those that try Jiu Jitsu have a blast and it’s not the lack of liking it that makes them leave, but usually an external life event with many long-lost practitioners returning at some point.
Do I need to be in shape before starting Jiu Jitsu?
You do not need to be in shape before starting Jiu Jitsu. Will it help? Yes, Jiu Jitsu is a contact sport where opposing bodies are meeting in mutual combat where technique, strength, speed, and stamina all play a role in performance. Even though it counts performance-wise, fitness does not need to be a limiting factor, we start somewhere. The great thing about Jiu Jitsu is that a large part of a class is spent learning specific moves. When it comes down to trying them out live in a rolling session, at any point you can stop the roll by tapping or verbally halting the round. You can also skip rolling altogether and learn and improve by drilling a move repeatedly. Most of what I see is people getting in shape because they want to perform better at Jiu Jitsu.
Will I get in shape and lose weight by doing Jiu Jitsu?
I believe if you train Jiu Jitsu regularly at a decent pace you will get in shape to perform Jiu Jitsu. Even properly drilling an armbar from a closed guard over and over can make your core burn and the repetitive movements as you learn moves will develop your body like doing reps of a lifting exercise. Since starting Jiu Jitsu I’ve increased my stamina, flexibility, and core strength through regular training.
Weight loss is a different story. From my personal experience, Jiu Jitsu will not make you lose weight unless you also practice discipline in the kitchen. You must eat fewer calories than you expend in addition to any training you are doing to lose weight. The nice thing about Jui Jitsu is that it is both anaerobic and aerobic exercise that does expend additional calories.
Can I do Jiu Jitsu with a disability?
You can train Jiu Jitsu with a disability. One of the unique things about Jiu Jitsu is that you are grappling with another person on the ground. Grappling on the ground changes the equation when it comes to moving around and throwing strikes. When it comes to Jiu Jitsu and grappling with another person infinite positions and strategies are happening in real-time. Having a disability such as lost limbs or other body deformities can be turned into an advantage for the grappler. With different physical disabilities, a grappler must adapt to what they are able and capable of doing. In these instances, they may be able to reinvent a move that is superior to what a normal grappler can execute. Another advantage is that normal grapplers often have not had much experience grappling with a person with a physical disability and the ability to surprise an opponent with an innovative move crafted around their disability can be a major surprise. I’ve grappled with many people with physical disabilities and they have been excellent rolls and my partners with disabilities are just in love with Jiu-Jitsu as the next person.
Is training Jiu Jitsu safe?
In my experience, Jiu Jitsu is just as safe if not safer than most sports, and lean towards it being safer than other contact sports. I will caveat my first statement with you will get injured at some point practicing Jiu Jitsu, but most likely you will experience minor injuries like strained muscles or a sprain.
I’ve found that as I’ve practiced Jiu Jitsu more and more I’ve learned how to better move my own body which in itself is injury prevention. The worst injury I’ve had thus far has been a torn MCL in my knee that did not require surgery. The injury happened because I missed placing my feet during a bridge and bridged much harder than was necessary. Another factor that comes with experience is the standing/takedown phase of Jiu Jitsu. Two bodies falling on each other can be a high risk for injury. As with learning how to move your body, learning how to fall without getting injured is a skill that comes with practice. Learning the break fall and instinctively tucking your chin are ways to help prevent injury when being taken down.
Another high injury circumstance in Jiu Jitsu is non-experience. Not knowing when to tap or having too high of ego, not tapping can lead to injury in many beginners. I would also say that beginners grappling with each other increases the probability of injury. It is important to put your ego to the side and be there to learn as a beginner and to protect yourself by communicating with your partner and tapping early especially when practicing with another new person. Another important factor is to have experienced leaders and coaches who supervise new practitioners and support a safe practice environment.
Injuries I’ve Sustained While Practicing Jiu Jitsu
Is practicing Jiu Jitsu hard?
Practicing Jiu Jitsu can be very hard. There is not much else like grappling with an opposing person. You effectively have a body on body strength on strength exerting on each other until one submits. Mat cardio is something else and it is tough to describe without experiencing it yourself. I’ve grappled with extremely in-shape marathon runners and jacked weightlifters. When these types of people are new to Jiu Jitsu you often will see them frustratedly gas out quickly while rolling. I’ve found that cardio work can benefit mat cardio, but nothing improves mat cardio like rolling.
While Jiu Jitsu can be physically hard, the nice thing about it is that during practice intensity can be modulated. At any point, you can turn up or turn the intensity of the training. You can also let your partner know how your goals for rolling/drilling and how far in intensity you are looking to go. You can also stop at any point during the practice/roll by tapping or calling a timeout.
The other thing that I consider in Jiu Jitsu to be “hard” is just the sheer amount of learning to be done with the martial art. Jiu Jitsu is continuously evolving and the number of different ways to approach a scenario, a move, a pin, or an escape is limitless. It takes time and continuous drilling and practice to skillfully execute a move on a resisting opponent. However, as the adage goes, if it isn’t hard to do, it probably isn’t worth doing.
Is it expensive to train Jiu Jitsu?
I would not say that Jiu Jitsu is overly expensive to train. When looking to train at a Jiu Jitsu gym the most costly item is probably the monthly dues paid to the school. Cost can vary and I’ve seen costs from $60 a month on the low end up to $250 on the high end. The cost will vary depending on the level of instruction, amount of classes offered, the facility, and the amount of competition in the area.
Outside of monthly dues, other costs can be minimal and most optional. If you plan on training in the GI a gi purchase can set you back $80-$300 depending on how fancy you want to get. Gym shorts and a tee shirt can be all that’s needed for no-gi practice. Other optional items might be athletic underwear, a mouth guard, a gym bag, a water bottle, a cup, specialized grappling shorts, and a rashguard.
Compared to a fitness membership and other practiced sports activities I would say that Jiu Jitsu is on par or slightly lower in cost.
Is Jiu Jitsu effective for self-defense?
Jiu Jitsu is extremely helpful for self-defense. Jiu Jitsu was founded on the premise of developing the skills to protect yourself, even in the instance of a smaller person against a larger person. There are many examples of the Gracie family allowing people to come off the street to challenge them to a fight with the results almost always being the Jiu Jitsu practitioner subduing the foe with minimal striking effort. Many schools teach effective self-defense through the use of Jiu Jitsu involving standing attacks, take-down prevention, and what to do if you find yourself on the ground in a fight.
I believe that the most important factor concerning practicing Jiu Jitsu and self-defense is fear and chaos inoculation. When you constantly practice Jiu Jitsu and roll with partners you are being put in situations where you could be choked unconscious or have a joint broken. These situations are not a normal part of day-to-day life and experiencing them over and over gets you used to these life and death situations. Over time a practiced Jiu Jitsu student will start to become comfortable in bad situations allowing them time to think and take a calculated action with a higher probability of survival or escape. Not only are you practicing defense, but you also get to practice offense allowing you to build skill around incapacitating another when needed. As Jiu Jitsu skills increase in a person most of what I’ve seen is less of a chance of physical altercation with another person. An experienced physically fit Jiu Jitsu practitioner has the confidence and ego modulation to avoid many bad situations before they happen
Another factor that helps with self-defense is the improvement in physical fitness attributes that will surely help in a self-defense situation. Jiu Jitsu is great exercise and I’ve seen many practitioners go from soft newbies to hardened grapplers including myself. You will get better fitness and better awareness of manipulation of your own body and others as well all factors that come to play in a self-defense situation.