I got my first lesson in jujitsu a couple of months ago. I had been taking kickboxing for about a month and had lost over 5 pounds and my cardio had improved immensely. A buddy of mine invited a few guys from the gym over to his place to watch the Ultimate Fighting Championships.

If you've ever watched a UFC pay-per-view you remember how many commercials and long lags there are between matches. The conversation turned towards Brazillian Jujitsu.

For those unfamiliar with Brazilian Jujitsu, its a fighting style from Brazil that took the original Japanese jujitsu and morphed it into one of the most unique and functional fighting styles in the world. The name "Gracie" is uttered in almost revered, hushed tones by practitioners of the sport.

One of the guys at the UFC pay per view was a purple belt in BJJ, and had been studying it about 3 years. I got to talking to him about my kickboxing and how deadly some of the guys were in my class. The purple belt was surprising respectful, but cautioned me that any decent jujitsu player could devestate a kickboxer.

Of course a verbal battle ensued, not between me and the purple belt but all the others in the TV room. I asked him to show me some jujitsu after things calmed down.

The premise of BJJ is that 90% of fights eventually end up going to the ground. Even a proficient striker is somewhat vulnerable to a takedown or a messy clinch. We did a mock battle similar to sparring the gym, and I took him down.

He laid on his back, wrapped his legs around my torso, locked up one of my arms with his own, and gently began to tap me in the side of my head, demonstrating his ability to freely strike. Every time I tried to throw a left, he easily blocked it with his elbow. Within a few seconds I knew I was wasting energy. So I tried to break free of his guard. I saw one of his legs come off my torso, over my head, and I felt a tightness and then pain in my left elbow...he had me in an arm bar. I was defenseless and tapped out immediately.

He showed me a variety of arm bars, chokes and locks from the bottom guard position. Its easy to understand how a legend like Royce Gracie at 180 pounds destroyed huge men like Kimo who weighed 240. My kickboxing conditioning was no match for even a little jujitsu that day. I began taking a class every week on Brazilian jujitsu to add it to my workouts and martial arts education.

About the Author

Yoshi Kundagawa is a freelance journalist covering the martial arts world. Too much time at his computer eating donuts reduced him to couch potato status. He's on a quest to recapture his youth and fitness. You can read his blog at http://www.martialarts3000.com

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