Jiu-Jitsu and self-defense: when the shit hits the fan, are you ready?

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Briga em jogo de beisebol nos EUA: uma agressão pode acontecer em qualquer lugar, como aprendeu o professor Ryan Hall. Foto: Site Banned in Hollywood/Divulgação.

Brawl at baseball game in US: acts of aggression can happen anywhere, as Professor Ryan Hall found out. Photo: Site Banned in Hollywood.

Jiu-Jitsu requires dedication; that’s why it’s so good for the mind and soul.

Jiu-Jitsu requires effort, and that’s why it’s so good for your physical form and has helped thousands of people lose 20, 30, even 40 kilos.

Jiu-Jitsu requires a master and partners; that’s why it makes you lifelong friends.

The best of all: everything Jiu-Jitsu demands of you is paid back in full, almost always with interest and adjusted for inflation. A high-yield investment, that is.

“When you’re down and have suffered a loss is when you really feel the good Jiu-Jitsu does you,” Marcio Feitosa often says, the teacher at and director of the Gracie Barra school network having practiced the art since he was a kid.

MARTIAL ARTS FOR WHEN YOU’RE DOWN IN THE DUMPS

“The art and constant learning in schools get you back on your feet after taking one of life’s hard knocks much quicker than non-Jiu-Jitsu practitioners do. I’ve seen that thousands of times,” adds Feitosa.

It is, thus, during life’s darker moments that Jiu-Jitsu shows its might. Moments we avoid, that we battle to never let happen, but that happen when we least expect it nevertheless. Like what happened to the black belt Ryan Hall during what up until then had been a pleasant dinner.

Ryan Hall, though, had the good fortune of having practiced Jiu-Jitsu for years on end. What do you say, gentle reader: when the shit hits the fan for real, are you ready to stand tall? Are you ready to defend yourself? What about your sons and daughters? If you don’t have the answer to these questions on the tip of your tongue, it’s time to give Jiu-Jitsu a chance in your life.

(Writer’s note—I beg the forgiveness of anyone offended by the four-letter word in the title, but there just wasn’t any better way of putting it, was there? Either way, I only published the obscenity after reading it in an article by the respected Brazilian anthropologist and professor Roberto DaMatta in Wednesday’s O Globo newspaper. If a master can use the word “shit” at the right time, we’re free to do it too, just in moderation. Again, sorry.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJX9QnrZtfc

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