Martial Arts at Airlock Jiu Jitsu: Does Jiu Jitsu Really Work?
This blog is for the skeptics, the truth-seekers, the tough guys and gals out there who wonder why we at Airlock Jiu Jitsu put on silly clothes and roll around on the ground for hours and hours each week. The truth is, we applaud you for your skepticism! Believe it or not, that healthy skepticism is probably the same thing that brought us to training jiu jitsu and keeps us training all the time. Martial arts are a perfect subject for the brave cynic – we hope you are one. Believe it or not, if you question whether specific martial arts really work or not, you’re actually well on your way to becoming a jiu jitsu practitioner yourself.
Meet an advanced jiu jitsu practitioner and you’re more than likely meeting a skeptic. Visit a jiu jitsu gym and you’ll constantly hear us questioning each other, diving deep into a technique, asking if there are ways it can be done better or faster or with more control. At a healthy gym, most of the people in the room training have a healthy dose of cynicism about them.
Unfortunately, the world of martial arts is full of con artists peddling ‘moves’ that are totally ineffective in a real fight. Luckily, we live in a time period where so many of those moves have been exposed, whether from places like McDojoLife on Instagram or because we now have massive, international mixed martial arts competitions like the UFC where the rubber of martial arts really meets the road of unarmed combat. Only a very few martial arts have survived the test of time and the test of thousands of MMA cage fights, and guess what: jiu jitsu is one of them.
It’s also one of the only martial arts where your opponent can offer 100% resistance to your application of a technique without risking long term injury for everyone. That’s the power of the ‘tap’ in jiu jitsu. When you are in a bad spot about to be choked out, have a joint hyperextended, or unable to breathe, you tap your partner and they let go, no questions asked. We’ve written about the unique aspect of jiu jitsu sparring, or rolling, a few times before, so we won’t spend too much time on it now. The important thing to note is that rolling is where you get to find out the answer to your truth-seeking question: Does this really work? And unlike many other martial arts, in jiu jitsu, you’ll put technique to the test.
When you have an opponent pinning you to the ground with exceptional technique, it feels like you’ve got a semi truck on top of you. When you’ve got an opponent who is locked in on a rear naked choke or a triangle choke around your neck, you’ll start to see your vision fading as you slip into unconsciousness. When you feel your elbow extending past where it can physically go in a super tight armbar and all the strength in the world won’t stop it, that’s when you tap. All of those situations are the constant proof of the validity of jiu jitsu and grappling. You get your proof, you tap, and then you start all over again.
There’s no secret move, there’s no magic flowing through your body that will make someone fall to the ground, there’s no ‘seeing red’ when you get in a fight, there’s just you and your skill. There’s just practice on practice on practice. Professor Rei Villa himself has had to put his life in the hands of his skills in jiu jitsu. Now he’s right here in Bastrop ready to share jiu jitsu with you. So we invite you to bring your skepticism, bring the doubt, and we’ll truly, and very kindly, help to prove to you how your life could be saved with this martial art as well.
Get in the gym anytime and get your free week trial started. Here’s the schedule.
One Response