The True Power of Jiu-Jitsu

Earlier this month, I spent a week teaching defensive tactics at work. It was part of our yearly requirement to maintain proficiency. We've offered a few "ground fighting" classes in the past, and for the past few years I've been conducting a four hour introductory ground fighting classes to all the newbies, but this was the first time it has been a mandatory training requirement. I could probably write volumes just about the bureaucratic mumbo jumbo of trying to get Jiu-Jitsu into our regular program of instruction, but I'll stick to the gentle art that is Jiu-Jitsu.

There's nothing quite like having prisoners for students, those who are only present because they were ordered to attend. Nearly every session started with one or two giving me their laundry list of ailments. Most everyone had a preconceived notion that my class was going to produce of pile of injured bodies, so consequently, the attitudes were already set in place before they even showed up. Then there were the concerns about the close body contact, and on and on and on. Needless to say, I had a few hurdles to get over.

So, one by one, after each session, I was pleased to hear the confessions about how the class wasn't anything like what they thought it was going to be. For the most part, I was able to open their minds and change attitudes about ground fighting.

After one session, one of the guys was interested in grappling, but nobody else wanted to test their mettle against him. I could tell he was eager to fight. After all, he had just been through a ground fighting class and was all pumped up and ready to go, so I decided to roll with him.

He was half my age and bigger than me, but I don't think he fully understood the power of Jiu-Jitsu until after he got choked out in about 2 1/2 minutes. I asked him if he wanted to go again, and he gave me that all too familiar glazed over look that told me he was completely exhausted. However, he reluctantly accepted. We started with him on top, pinning me in side-control. As soon as I mounted him, all of the fight went out of him.

Rather than leaving the class demoralized and depleted, all he could talk about was Jiu-Jitsu and how could he learn it.

I know it's not fair to ball up unsuspecting challengers, but sometimes it's the best way to demonstrate the true power of Jiu-Jitsu. If I'm in the mood, I'll share another story about a recent encounter I had on my Sturgis trip.