Ah, using BJJ for self-defense… The ever-present topic among Jiu-Jitsu students, especially among freshly minted first-stripe white belts and new blue belts.
Here’s the thing. You should be able to use Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu for self-defense, but a lot of it will come down to your standup skills. To how good you are at takedowns – and how great you are at managing distance.
Distance? Yes, distance. Tim Kennedy explains why.
USING DISTANCE IN SELF-DEFENSE SITUATIONS
Kennedy emphasizes that there are three things you need to assess properly when in a self-defense situation: angle, height, and range. That is, you have to gauge these things in respect to the other person’s punch first and foremost.
What’s the angle that they’re capable of punching you from? What’s the height that the punch would come from and hit you? And what about range – can they pack enough punching power to knock you out from the distance that’s between the two of you?
Once you take these things into consideration, you can go forward with closing the distance in such a way that you won’t get striked or knocked out. It will enable you to get attached to their body and then to take them down.
Tim Kennedy explains in much more detail on the video below:
