Learning martial arts is a fantastic way of protecting yourself should you ever be attacked.
For some martial arts, they are only used when escape is not possible and they are made up of strikes that are performed from a standing stance.
Brazilian Jiu Jitsu mostly comprises floor movements and therefore it can be an extremely useful martial art to learn as most street attacks end up on the ground.
Learning how to properly protect yourself on the ground will put you in the best position possible should you ever be attacked.
How long it takes to learn enough to defend yourself is a question many people ask and in this piece, we look at how long it can take to learn Brazilian Jiu Jitsu for self-defense and also the best Brazilian Jiu Jitsu moves that everyone should learn to protect themselves.
How Long To Learn Brazilian Jiu Jitsu For Self Defense
How long it takes to learn Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (BJJ) for self-defense depends on a number of things.
There are more basic moves that will be taught in the first few weeks of beginning to attend BJJ sessions which can be useful.
It is important to learn the proper technique for these moves and also to develop your strength so that these moves will be able to protect you to the best of your ability.
Most people will be able to protect themselves to a certain degree within the first six months of attending BJJ sessions.
As you progress through your training sessions you will be taught more complicated movements and also more potentially lethal moves that can be used to put an attacker to sleep.
With these more dangerous moves often a Sensei will wait until they believe a student has enough self-awareness to be able to execute these moves without causing death or long-term injury to an attacker.
Naturally more advanced BJJ practitioners will best be able to protect themselves should they be attacked as they will have the mental resilience to respond under pressure, the stamina to protect themselves for as long as necessary, and the self-awareness to be in control of their power, and also the knowledge to help problem-solve their way out of different positions and situations.
Some BJJ clubs offer self-defense lessons where they invite non-members in to learn the basics that will help them to protect themselves should they be attacked.
Often these moves will be enough to defend yourself in attacks and many people will decide to become a member and start learning BJJ seriously after such sessions as they can see how interesting the martial art is.
There are also often BJJ sessions specifically designed for women to learn self-defense.
These classes can be extremely useful for anyone who does not wish to become a member and simply wants the knowledge to have the ability to protect themselves.
These sessions are often offered yearly and can be for teenage girls and grown women.
Having basic martial art skills can be a potentially life-saving skill and is something that people should strive to learn or have their children learn.
Being able to protect ourselves should be a natural reaction to being attacked but many people lack the skills to do so.
Best Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Moves For Self Defense
As you progress through Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (BJJ) you will learn more technical moves that can be used in self-defense but there are several basic movements that are taught within the first year of learning BJJ that are very useful and a great way of protecting yourself should you be attacked.
Each of the below moves will help you to escape from being mounted by an attacker.
1. Escape From Bottom Turtle
When you are thrown to the ground and left in a turtle-like position there are a number of things that can be done.
Firstly you could attempt to roll back onto your attacker, leaving you pinned on top of them and putting you in control.
Alternatively, you can pull the attacker with you as you roll in a different direction, again enabling you to take the power position in an attack.
2. Hip Bump Sweep
This move can be used when an attacker is between your legs, the attacker can move back out of the way from strikes and so the hip bump can be useful. Here you use your attacker’s body to get back power.
Wrap your legs around their hips and use this to pull yourself up before using your hip to push the attacker over putting you in a position of power on top of the attacker.
3. Triangle Choke From Guard
This choke can be lethally dangerous if used incorrectly and so it should only be used when absolutely necessary and by people who understand the power of their legs.
Here your aim is to get your legs wrapped around the attacker’s neck and to apply pressure as necessary.
Hold the attacker’s head down against your body and wrap one leg around the neck and place the other leg across the foot to push down and apply a tighter chokehold.
Using your legs will enable you to use your arms to push away any other potential strikes as well as to attract help and assistance.
It is important that you have an awareness of your attacker and that once they are knocked out you release them and run to safety.
Final Thoughts
It can be useful to also learn how to strike an attacker when standing up but Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is one of the best ways to protect yourself in a real attack, which will often resort to the ground.
Within your first few weeks of attending classes, you will have learned basic ways of getting out of grapples which can be applied to getting away from an attacker.
The more complicated escapes will take longer to learn and often you will not learn them until you reach a certain stage within your training progression.
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