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Jocko Willink’s Advice For Disabled Athletes: “Jiu-Jitsu Is For Everybody”

Jocko Willink’s Advice For Disabled Athletes: “Jiu-Jitsu Is For Everybody”

If you’re a person with a certain physical disability and you’re considering starting out Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu… It’s time to stop thinking about it – and start training. For, BJJ can be trained by everyone, no matter if they’re disabled or not.
Don’t just take it from us, but take it from Jocko Willink. In a conversation with Daniel Cnossen, an American biathlete and cross-country skier – who’s also a double amputee – Willink gave him words of advice, as Cnossen was interested in starting out with BJJ himself:

Jiu-Jitsu itself is adaptive. And so, you would figure out moves that work for you… There are, like, competitive wrestlers – wrestlers that have fought in the NCAA’s that have one leg, no legs; and they just adapt their body to figure out how to win.

The sport itself is adaptive. But there would be no, like, other special rules. I mean, you would go to a Jiu-Jitsu competition and there would be people there who are blind…
I think they have one rule in wrestling, though; like, if it’s a blind wrestler, you have to maintain contact with them. But that’s the only rule. And I don’t even know if that’s in Jiu-Jitsu.

Jocko and Echo Charles then proceeded to share stories about friends who are disabled, but who roll nevertheless:

I have a friend that’s paralyzed, pretty much chest-down – and he does Jiu-Jitsu… And I mean, one of the greatest Jiu-Jitsu players of all time, Jean-Jacques Machado, he only has a few fingers on one of his hands; and in Jiu-Jitsu, grips are really important.
[In Jiu-Jitsu] there’s really no other special category than “get some”.

Sloth Jiu-Jitsu: you can be slow and unathletic and still kick butt in Jiu-Jitsu.

Welcome to SLOTH Jiu-jitsu – the ultimate programme for conserving energy, utilising body weight and taking your time! An especially effective strategy for older or less athletic competitors, but suitable and highly recommended for all jiu-jitsu practitioners. 12 chapters taught in person by 3rd Degree BJJ Black Belt Gile Huni.