The global spread of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu gave our martial art thousands of practitioners, which is surely great for everyone. Unfortunately, what did not grow in the same way was the importance linked to the basics of BJJ.
In the 40s, Grand Master Carlos Gracie created many challenges to present the jiu-jitsu developed by him and his brothers to the public. During these events, Grand Master Carlos would emphasize the importance of the self-defense and how it could make a difference in people’s lives.
While the gentle art has developed much more on the ground, the Gracie family prioritized the teaching against strikes, knives, guns and other dangerous situations that ordinary people could experience in their everyday lives.
The years have passed and a lot has changed about the teaching and propagation of this fight style created by Carlos Gracie, many teams of different strains have emerged around the world. Similarly, competitions have also increased. That was a way to maintain the continuous growth of the fight, but in the sports realm. Medals and trophies have then become the priority. The basics and the self-defense portion were put in a second and third plan, if not excluded, in the practitioners’ lives.
That’s why you can still be surprised by seeing someone who claims to have “20 years of jiujitsu” not knowing how to defend against a striking opponent. There are a number of people who get the black belt and do not even know the minimum about self-defense.
At Premier BJJ we know how much the basics can make a difference. We have a curriculum specially designed for beginners, we will cove the fundamentals of Self defence situations and sport jiu jitsu.
Remember that all current techniques somehow originated from the basics, from the concept of defending yourself against aggressors. Knowing and understanding the basics is like having real knowledge of the gentle art’s history.