Brazilian Jiu Jitsu vs MMA is a well-sought-off topic and they both can get confusing in similar terms. And honestly, this does not come as a surprise seeing as how Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is one of the components of MMA.
Still and all, it won’t hurt to try to place some boundary or line between the two, right?
That being so, I am here to tell you how they are exactly different from each other in terms of their objective, techniques, striking rules, and degree of violence.
MMA
MMA is an acronym for the umbrella term called mixed martial arts. As to say, the keyword “mix” means a diverse sports field such as boxing, taekwondo, karate, Muay Thai or Thai boxing, kickboxing, wrestling, taekwondo, sambo, and judo.
Today, the biggest promotion of MMA is shown through UFC fights. Due to this, the term UFC has become more popular and familiar to every audience regardless of race, age, and gender.
Well, see it for yourself. Do you have any neighbors, friends, or colleagues who haven’t heard about MMA yet? I bet you a hundred bucks, there is none.
Brazilian Jiu Jitsu
As mentioned before, MMA is only an umbrella term for different sports, mainly combat ones. One such is Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. Specifically, it focuses on grounding exercises, grappling, and dominance.
The orientation of this sport relies on self-defense where finding the perfect position to control your opponent is a winning factor. To be more precise, you will execute it to the point or extent of submission.
Brazilian Jiu Jitsu employs four principles throughout the fight. These are the standard BJJ, Self-Defense, MMA account, and No-Gi style.
Generally, each principle has its timing and training techniques. Sometimes they differ in sparring attire as well. For instance, in the standard BJJ, a kimono and a rash guard are considered to be suitable clothing during class.
As for the MMA account, shorts are very much acceptable whereas, for the self-defense principle, any regular athletic clothes are fine. So, you see, the different principles hold different systems and beliefs.
The Objective
To differentiate the two, let’s talk about their objectives.
For MMA, the objective is to make the opponent fall into a knockout, lights-out, and TKO. The fight will only end if the opponent is already unconscious or unable to continue the game.
On the other hand, the objective of BJJ is to choke, armlock, or do joint manipulation using your legs, hands, and body. Generally, the motive is to make the opponent surrender in the form of submission. With BJJ, the more you can overpower and dominate your opponent, the more likely you are going to win.
Mental Capacity and Technique
Now, let’s talk about the different mental stamina and technique required to win both battles.
Starting with MMA requires an enormous amount of physical stability and expertise in terms of martial arts techniques. That being so, it can be both mentally and physically challenging for the fighters.
As for BJJ, the physical strength required is lesser but is still a prerequisite. It focuses on joint manipulation and technique to subdue the opponent under your control. Hence, the mental stamina of each player should be firm.
The BJJ also requires problem-solving ability as you have to know exactly what to strategize and where to find your competitive edge.
Striking Rules
Going forward, let’s discuss the disparity between their striking rules.
First of all, MMA fighters undergo physical strength train for weeks. They also train for leg kicking, knee striking, and upper body striking using their hands or elbows. When doing so, it is important to execute them with power and energy.
Whereas in BJJ, striking and kicking are normally prohibited. Perhaps the most acceptable action here is to put down your opponent to the ground, otherwise known as a takedown.
To add, making your enemy fall into submission through choking, arms locking, and leg locking are allowed. Technically, the strategy is to grapple the opponent with throws and locks, as well as overpower the opponent without necessarily striking at all.
Degree of Violence
For the final comparison, let’s tackle their degree of violence respectively.
In MMA, the fighters have to beat each other to prove that they are worthy of a championship. To say, there will be little to moderate amount of blood in the fight scene.
As for BJJ, it is a more gentle sport compared to MMA. With that, you can expect to get bruises or small wounds here and there but the sight of blood is rare.
Final Words
There we have it, the difference between MMA and BJJ is clearly defined. Just like any other sports, they have their respective rules, techniques, and systems that aren’t applied in the other sports fields. It pretty much works like that.
I hope this ends your confusion about the aforementioned terms. To close this discourse, I’d like to emphasize that there’s no sport better than the other – it’s just a matter of preferences.
