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Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is a rapidly growing, combat oriented style of martial art.Commonly referred to as BJJ, the art is a ground-based grappling (meaning gripping, manipulating and controlling of an assailant without the use of striking) system first developed before WWII in Brazil by the Gracie family from a modified form of Judo. Unlike western wrestling where the objective is to "pin" your opponent or gain points, the goal to BJJ is to gain positional advantage and apply a joint lock or choke and force your opponent into submission. BJJ endorses the concept that a smaller, weaker person using leverage and good technique can defend themselves on the ground against a larger, stronger opponent. It can be trained for self defense, sport tournaments (gi and no-gi) and mixed martial arts (MMA - sometimes called NHB or "No Holds Barred") competition. Sparring (commonly referred to as 'rolling') and live resisting partner drilling play a major role in training. The history of the art goes back to the 1930's where it was tested in the crucible of competition from the start. It wasn't until the early 1990's that the art gained attention in the US with the advent of televised NHB/UFC fighting that was dominated by the Brazilian BJJ fighters. Through BJJ, practitioners such as the Gracie family and the Machado brothers, took the martial arts world by storm shattering long held myths of the invincibility of certain traditional systems and training methods. An outstanding aspect of BJJ is that, unlike many other martial arts, you can practice at 100% speed and power- meaning you don't have to "pull punches" so to speak. That might sound like a scary proposition but, as effective as BJJ is, it is still a very gentle art and you can practice all day long and not suffer injuries. Once you have a properly applied technique, your partner will not be able to escape and will have to "tap out" which ends the match with no one getting hurt. In a self-defense situation, you have the option of taking the techniques further than you ever would in class.
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