1993 Settled it all. A unique fighting competition happened that pitted each martial art up against eachother in a "No Holds Barred" fight that was designed to determine which fighting style was the best.

There were NO rules. There were two ways for it to end: your opponent gave up, or was unconscious.

                                                           So what happened?

A small Brazilian Jiu Jitsu fighter (170 pounds) named Royce Gracie easily defeated Tae kwon Do, Karate, Kickboxing, Kung Fu fighters. He choked out many fighters who were much larger than he was in a very short amount of time.

What you read may change your opinion of martial arts forever!

The thing that was unusual about Royce Gracie winning was that he didn't do high flying fancy kicks and quick, spectacular punches to win. He took his opponent down to the ground and used submission holds to force his opponent to quit.

The people who thought that the fancy karate kicks and punches were superior were shocked. They claimed that it was a set up. If only the "right" karate fighters were in the competition to properly represent their arts then the outcome would be different. So they found the best Karate, kung fu and tae kwon do fighters available. They had another competition, and then another and another. What happened? The same result: Brazilian Jiu jitsu completely dominated EVERY other form of martial art out there.

Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and Grappling started catching on. Jiu Jitsu instructors who were training in garages with few students, now were opening schools and getting hundreds of students. Karate and Tae Kwon Do instructors had to reinvent themselves or go out of business. Overnight we learned how their arts had grappling techniques in it all along. They began telling prospective students that they were grappling schools. Many traditional martial artist did "see the light" and began training with legitimate BJJ instructors. But many had no experience what-so-ever but claimed they had grappling just like Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. Even today many schools now claim to have Jiu Jitsu, or grappling incorporated into their systems, even though they have no training in jiu jitsu at all. They claim they can teach you how to grapple effectively and use arm bars, chokes and joint locks in their system. But the truth is their grappling system is like simple arithmetic compared to Brazilian Jiu Jitsu being advanced Trigonometry when it come to grappling. Simply put: If you want to learn how to grapple YOU MUST GO TO A BRAZILIAN JIU JITSU SCHOOL.

The problem is that traditional martial arts cling to age old concepts of fighting and traditions. They have changed very little in the past 100 years. In contrast Brazilian Jiu Jitsu was founded nearly 80 years ago and has undergone a constant evolution. Techniques were constantly tested in real combat situations. Techniques that didn't work were discarded. Techniques that worked were kept and further adapted to make them even better.

So you are searching for a Martial Arts School for yourself or your child and you find a Karate or Tae Kwon Do school that teaches grappling too. Well, to the untrained eye it would seem they know how to do some joint locks and chokes. But do they really know what they are doing?

Some things to look for:

1. Is the instructor ranked in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu? Specifically what belt and WHO gave it to them.
     These things are easy to verify. If they have no FORMAL training in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu: time to walk.
      Be specific! Is it BRAZILIAN Jiu jitsu? Who and when did you get your belt from? If an instructor
      vague or evasive on this, that is your first hint that the instruction is not legitimate.

2. Google your instructor's name to see if they have actually competed in grappling competitions.
      You ideally want an instructor who competes and has done well in competiton. Ask about grappling competitIons like NAGA or Grappler's Quest. These are competitons that any experienced grappler should have competed in. Did they win? Be specific! Ask which division they entered...what weight class, experience level age bracket?

3. How have the students done in competition? Do they have grappling champions there? Ask...again be specific about what, where, when and who. A legit instructor will give you answers up front and immediately about his credentials.

4. Go to an established school. Is the school brand new. Did they just open up? Find a school that has been around for at least 3 years. That way the instructor has a track record and there should be succesful students training there.

5. Learn from at LEAST a purple belt in Brazilian Jiu jitsu. If there is a Brown Belt nearby that's an even better choice. It takes about 1-2 years of hard training to get your first belt in BJJ which is Blue. 3-5 Years to get the 2nd belt which is a purple belt. 5-8 years to get a Brown Belt and 8-10 years to get a black belt. Many Tae Kwon Do and Karate schools give out Black belts after only one year of training. You have to be 16 years old to earn a Blue Belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. 18 for Purple and 19 for Black belt which is extremely rare. We find it amusing to see 10 year olds running around with black belts in Tae Kwon Do.

6. Price. Good quality training is not cheap. So if you are shopping for a martial art based on price then you probably haven't read any of this and need to start back at the beginning. That being said, many Karate and Tae kwon Do schools offer a a low monthly membership fee. What you don't realize is that they also charge for belt testing which happens very often. So you need to see what you are really paying for after its all said and done.

7. Live Sparring and class length. A good school will give the students plenty of time (at LEAST 30 minutes(for adults) of live sparring. An Adult class should run at least 90 minutes up to two hours.

If you follow these few rules you will probably find a good place to start your grappling training.


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A unique concept in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is that sparring occurs at 100% effort. That means you are sparring against a live, fully resisting opponent. Therefore, you know if your techniques are working in practice, they will work in a real life situation where you may be confronted on the streets.

In contrast, many traditional martial arts rely on forms or katas which are prearranged sequence of movements that have no practical application in a real fight (despite what Mr. Miagi might say).

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