When a BJJ person talks with a non BJJ person, they'll probably hear some eye rolling myths about Jiu Jitsu. Particular myths about the risks of BJJ.
That's why we've put together this list of the 9 myths about the risks of BJJ. We're going to dispel these risks and tell you the truth about Jiu Jitsu training.
Before we list the 9 myths about the risks of BJJ, we need to address some facts about Jiu Jitsu. Like all martial arts, Jiu Jitsu training isn't without risk.
Injuries are fairly common and almost unavoidable to the pace and movements in BJJ. Remember anytime that you step on a mat that you're accepting the risk of possible injury.
Let’s start off this list of the 9 myths about the risks of BJJ with one of the bigger ones. Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is not for small people and if you know the history of the martial art, you’d know this.
The creators of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu actually designed the martial art specifically for smaller people to defeat bigger people. This is why nearly all of the techniques in BJJ are done with technique, skill, and leverage rather than brute force.
Also if you look at some of the best BJJ competitors, some of the best in the world are small. So if you’re a smaller person that wants to train have no fear, because BJJ was designed for you.
Getting punched in the face is a myth that was created by people, have no idea what BJJ is. Someone that believes this probably watched a UFC event in passing and came to this conclusion.
The reality is that in the art of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, you will not get punched in the face. This is for two very big reasons.
You will never get punched in BJJ, because punching is not taught and they are also not allowed in training. The only way that you will get punched is if you are practicing MMA and not BJJ.
This is an obviously false myth and you never have to worry about getting punched while practicing BJJ.
Being choked will give you brain damage is a myth constantly stated about the martial art. There was a technique developed during the creation of Jiu Jitsu that addresses this worry and that is the tap.
When you participate in BJJ training, you’re not being choked unconscious every time you come to class. Being choked out regularly could probably do some damage, but that just doesn’t happen in Jiu Jitsu.
If someone locks in a tight choke on a teammate and there’s no way of escaping, they’ll submit before going unconscious. This is all part of the game and you will not receive brain damage if you learn to tap out.
When you watch BJJ for the first time, you may believe that you can’t practice, because you aren’t flexible. Even if you are flexibly challenged, you can still participate in Jiu Jitsu.
You also shouldn’t feel self conscious about wanting to train. Some of the best BJJ athletes in the world like Gordon Ryan confess that he is incredibly inflexible.
Even if you aren’t that flexible, you will gradually improve your flexibility by training. Every time you get on the mat and train, your flexibility will always incrementally improve.
BJJ being expensive to learn may be a hard myth for us to expose. Especially if you train at an upscale BJJ school like a Gracie Barra affiliate gym, but we’ll give it a shot.
Jiu Jitsu may be more expensive depending where you live and the cost of living there. But that doesn’t mean that BJJ in itself is expensive to learn.
Most BJJ gyms are actually quite affordable if you see what’s all included in their tuition. You’re also getting to learn an invaluable skill from highly trained instructors multiple times a week.
If you look at the price of a BJJ school from that perspective, then tuition is well worth the price.
One myth about the risks of BJJ is that you have to fight to progress in BJJ. We’re not sure how that myth started, but it is an incredibly false myth about Jiu Jitsu.
Fighting to progress in BJJ is only prevalent in Jiu Jitsu schools that compete at a high level. Not every BJJ school is like this and are actually more about learning than just competing.
There are many high level BJJ students in numerous schools that actually never compete. They’re just hobbyists that enjoy attending weekly classes and learning rather than competing every weekend.
If you want to train, but have no desire to compete, then you could absolutely train and progress without competing.
BJJ being bad for your joints is a topic that many in the Jiu Jitsu community constantly debate about. Just like any activity with aggressive physical contact, there is a risk involved in practicing an art like Jiu Jitsu.
While the movements of Jiu Jitsu have the possibility of damaging your joints, this doesn’t mean training will deteriorate your joints. In fact, if you look at most joint injuries in BJJ, the injured person usually had a pre-existing condition.
Whether it was a prior injury, muscle imbalance, bad biomechanics, or from doing a technique incorrectly. There is a possibility that BJJ could be bad for your joints, but if you train correctly it shouldn’t be bad for your joints.
A big myth that potential Jiu Jitsu students may have heard is that you have to train everyday to learn BJJ. This is a completely false myth that has no weight to it at all.
You will probably learn more if you train everyday, but that doesn’t mean you won’t learn by not training everyday. An average BJJ student makes between 3-4 classes per week depending on their work schedule and family life.
Keeping this weekly average of training time will benefit you more from learning BJJ. It may actually be more beneficial as not training everyday allows your body and mind to rest.
Actually you will learn BJJ from any amount of time you put into training. The important thing is that you get on the mat and train to get better.
Maybe the biggest myth about the risks of BJJ is that Jiu Jitsu is only for men. This myth keeps many women that want to practice Jiu Jitsu away from the martial art.
For the longest time, BJJ was perceived as for men only and this was true for the most part. Up until around 30 years, finding women that practice BJJ was few and far between.
But in the modern age of BJJ, this error is being corrected and now there are more women than ever training. There’s even different Jiu Jitsu schools and programs that are just for women.
In fact, the first ever recognized female BJJ black belt Yvon Duarte has recently received her BJJ coral belt. All of these facts more than disprove the myth that BJJ is only for men and actually for everyone.
Most of the myths about the risks of BJJ were just assumptions made by people who didn’t do research. As you read above by doing just a little bit of research, it was fairly easy to bust these myths. If you’re interested in learning BJJ, go out and do your own research and never believe myths like these.
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