"Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu or Gracie Jiu-Jitsu is a martial art and combat sport and a form of self-defense that focuses on grappling and ground fighting. It was derived from the Japanese martial art of Kodokan Judo in the early 20th century, which was itself then a recently-developed system (founded in 1882), based on multiple schools (or Ryu) of Japanese jujutsu.
It promotes the principle that a smaller, weaker person can successfully defend themselves against a bigger, stronger assailant using leverage and proper technique; most notably, by applying joint-locks and chokeholds to defeat them. BJJ can be trained for sport grappling tournaments (gi and no-gi) and mixed martial arts (MMA) competition or self-defense. Sparring (commonly referred to as 'rolling') and live drilling play a major role in training, and a premium is placed on performance, especially in competition."
(Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brazilian_jiu_jitsu)
Useful terms for the new practitioner:
Rolling: Term used for sparring, grappling.
Guard: One of the basic positions for BJJ. It has many variations, but the most common are: closed-guard, open-guard, half-guard. You have guard when your feet are between you and your oppontent.
Tap: To submit to your opponent, most commonly by tapping your opponent two or three times in quick succession. Other common ways are via a quick verbal "tap tap tap" and by stomping your foot on the mat.
Sweep: To take your opponent from a dominate position to a less dominate position.
Shrimp: One of the basic and foundational moves of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. It consists of scooting on the mat with your elbows in. You should learn this your first day of class.
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