Japanese Ju Jitsu vs Brazilian Ju Jitsu
This is NOT a “Japanese is brilliant, and Brazilian is crap” or vice-versa, I have huge respect for both and have trained in both. My personal bias is towards Japanese Ju Jitsu, but were I to start my martial arts journey now, and as a sub 30-year-old, I may make a different decision……
There are many different types of fighting or martial art;
- Boxing
- Wrestling
- Judo – throwing
- Karate – stand-up punching and kicking
- Self-defence systems
- Kung fu
There is also a high degree of “cross-over”. For example, many styles of Karate include groundwork and some throws. Wrestling usually includes throws and take-downs and most, if not all martial arts have self-defence uses, if only by virtue of the training making you fitter and stronger.
However, most martial arts have a bias, so that they are better suited to certain areas;
- Karate – is mainly stand-up work
- Wrestling is mainly on the ground
- Judo usually starts with both people standing, but usually ends with at least one on the ground
- Self-defence based systems tend to be more practical in terms of dealing with street-based scenarios
- Martial Arts that have a high degree of competition bias, like Judo, tend to be more rules orientated in order to provide a more level playing field in terms of physical size, weight, gender and years of experience.
A lot also depends on where you live, and what is available in your area – you may just LOVE the videos on YouTube of Capoeira, but it’s a far less common martial art, and if no-one is teaching it in your area, then your access to it is going to very pretty limited.
But let’s get back on topic – Ju Jitsu or Jiu Jitsu or BJJ, are NOT all the same.
JJJ (Japanese Ju Jitsu) vs BJJ (Brazilian Ju Jitsu)
The term “Ju Jitsu” or “Jiu Jitsu” or “Ju Jutsu” has changed in meaning over the last 30 years or so. The UFC, MMA, cage fighting started around 1993. Prior to that, I think it is fair to say that few knew what ground fighting was, but with Royce Gracie achieving so many successes in the cage and on the ground, the world soon found out! Then it was called “Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu” or “Gracie Jiu-Jitsu”, but over the years, probably due to others developing and launching their own versions, it is often simply called “Ju Jitsu” – or one of the other spellings listed previously. This can cause confusion as, at their core, JJJ (Japanese Ju Jitsu) and BJJ (Brazilian Ju Jitsu) are vastly different.
Let’s look at 4 areas of comparison;
1. Compliance
2. Competition
3. Practicality
4. Self-Defence
1. Compliance
Japanese Ju Jitsu is a “forced compliance” art. This means, that if we wish to throw an attacker, we will often force them into compliance first. For example, a kick to the groin, then a throw – no aggressive attacker is going to stand still whilst you put your arm around their back, move your feet and hips so that you can lift them off the floor and dump them on the ground, but if you kick ‘em in the nuts first……
However, if you would like to keep practising (or drilling) techniques with your mate, repeatedly kicking him in the nuts is not going to ingratiate you to him!
So… you have to pretend to kick him, and he must pretend he has been kicked and respond appropriately. That is the essence of a forced compliance art.
BJJ (like judo or wrestling) is NOT a forced compliance art – well, drilling or rolling (as it’s often called) starts with little or no resistance. The coach will often teach a technique, then you work with a partner to drill and repeat the process of the technique. Many BJJ classes finish off with non-compliant rolling, where partner A actively tries beat partner B, whilst partner B tries to do exactly the same to partner A, so it’s really a competition between the two people.
2. Competition
JJJ does not really have a competitive arm. If the nature of the art is to force compliance by striking a vulnerable area, how could you do that repeatedly and keep going back to training? In the early days of the UFC there were far fewer rules, and groin strikes for example where allowed, but biting, scratching, hair pulling, eye gouging were never allowed!
BJJ like Judo is far more competition biased. The advantage of this is that it gives the art a point as it were, and practitioners get to pressure test their techniques, which helps learning.
3. Practicality
BJJ is often viewed as the less practical martial art as multiple attackers are not taken into account, nor are weapons, and indeed, usually no striking is involved at all.
JJJ is a practical martial art – through its myriad of techniques and “scenario based training” many street-based type attacks are considered and drilled.
However, from a fitness and strength perspective, BJJ practitioners are usually the fitter and the stronger.
4. Self-defence
BJJ was never intended to be a self-defence art. Judo, interestingly used to have strikes, but as the move towards competition and the Olympics grew, the strikes were removed in favour of the non-compliant throw, using clever techniques to take the opponent’s balance. That said, if most street-based fights end up on the ground, and many do, then having ground fighting skills, even ground fighting experience, will put you in a far better position mentally and physically to deal with the ground element.
JJJ was initially created for Samurai warriors who had lost their weapons on the battlefield, but that was over 1000 years ago. Now, no-one walks around with a 4-foot blade casually hung off their belt! The art has developed and evolved with the times – exactly how “old-school” the art is in your area, will depend on the coach and their lineage, but generally, apart from the clothing worn, which is partly paying homage to its tradition and partly practical for training purposes, the art is largely very modern.
Let’s talk about clothes!
Modern martial arts tend to wear shorts and t-shirts, which does make sense, as these are quite cheap to buy and easy to acquire. They also allow some form of belonging or uniform and when you get hot through training, they enable you to remain fairly cool.
However, if clothing grabs are part of your art, you will require a more solid and robust material, to stop you having to buy a new t-shirt for each and every training session. Also, whilst training, you want to have freedom of movement, so loose fitting clothing is better. Then there is rank – most martial arts have a ranking system (see below), which includes a belt and (yes, I am probably biased here) belts just seem to look better and make more sense around a traditional gi.
Both types of Martial Art have huge validity and usefulness, both train strength and fitness and muscle memory to help develop the student.
JJJ – My coach used to describe our art as “the lazy man’s Martial Art”!
BJJ – Practitioners of BJJ tend to be more athletic due to the nature of the training
Which one is best is very much a personal choice. I often say that new potential students should free-trial a couple of different clubs as there are many things, both tangible and less so that will influence your decision, here’s just a few;
- Geography – how far away the class is and what transport links are like
- Cost – Just like cars, the prices vary greatly, and you don’t always get what you pay for
- The coach(es) – do you gel with the coach? Is their look, style, phraseology right for you?
- Venue – is this fit for purpose, welcoming and safe?
Some pros and cons
Japanese Ju Jitsu
Pros | Cons |
Very self-defenced based, as we train lots of different scenarios and whilst training is controlled, there are not really any rules, so anything is possible | For safety and life practicality, practitioners must pretend or play act and (to some extent) “go with” the technique. |
Multiple attackers are trained too | This can sometimes be “too controlled” – attacks come from pre-defined directions and type – e.g. right face punch |
Weapon attacks are included | Dependant on your art, syllabus and coaches’ expertise, these attacks can be impractical and therefore potentially useless! |
You have time to work things out and egos tend to be kept under control | Can lull you into a false sense of security as your partner is pretending. |
Brazilian Ju Jitsu
Pros | Cons |
They say that most street fights end up on the ground – if that’s true, you want to be super-efficient down there, get ‘im bested and get up. | Less practical, less self-defence biased – on the street why would you go to the ground on purpose? There’s dog poo and puddles down there and secondary attackers…. |
You get VERY good as dealing with the one-on-one, in tight grips, few martial arts (if any) will improve your skills more | The context or scenario is less “free-form” – it’s always one-on-one, always on the ground |
Great for fitness and strength training | Can lull you into a false sense of security as your partner is following the rules – so no striking, no biting etc |
Quite practical – you train regularly without striking your opponent, so you get good at shutting them down – if you were attacked in the street and “allowed” to punch, that would level up your options! | Egos can get away with some people |
Martial Arts can be split into three areas;
- Martial – the fighting, non-compliant side
- Art – The technical compliant side or how to use your body to produce the results you are after
- Competition – similar to the martial side, but governed by more rules, non-compliant, so teaches how to make stuff work on an opponent who is actively trying to stop you.
Ranking – this is just an example, BJJ tends to have just 5 belts, plus tags, JJJ generally has between 9 and 12.
BJJ | JJJ |
1. White | 1. White |
2. Blue | 2. Red |
3. Purple | 3. Yellow |
4. Brown | 4. Orange |
5. Black | 5. Green |
| 6. Blue |
| 7. Purple |
| 8. Brown |
| 9. Black |
BJJ is often subdivided with “tags” – literally pieces of electrical insulation tape wrapped around your belt to signify smaller progression steps.
BJJ gradings are merit based – biased by your coach of course, but also based on how you are moving and how you are able to defend and attack
JJJ are sometimes subdivided by tags, but this is definitely not the norm. Gradings tend to be more formal affairs, with all of those ready, grading on the same day at a special Grading Event. The format and results of gradings in BJJ and JJJ will be different and similar dependant on the school. At ours students can have one of 4 results;
- Fail <40%
- Pass 40-59%
- Credit 60-79%
- Honours 80-100%
In my experience, JJJ gradings and so ability varies greatly! I would expect less disparity in the BJJ world, much like the judo world.
Summary
BJJ and JJJ are very different, in terms of how we train, what we train and the way we train.
JJJ tends to appeal to the less fit, less rough and tumble student. Perhaps someone with a bias more towards street-based self-defence. It offers the who plethora of the fighting arts; punching, kicking, throws, joint locks and some groundwork, but all pretty well controlled and safe.
BJJ often appeals more to the young fit 20s and 30s student who wishes to test themselves in the arena, often without actually entering the competition arena. The groundwork is drilled and drilled and drilled some more, you become fitter, stronger and test your mettle week in, week out.
All martial arts offer a camaraderie not often seen these days, you get to become physical with someone who is not your life partner and have some fun and learning in the process. Rob Phelps 5th Dan Black Belt in Japanese Ju Jitsu 7th January 2025
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