To understand BJJ, you need to understand what grappling is.
In the Martial Arts world, there are two types of Martial Art. You can do striking or you can do grappling.
Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is a grappling art. Today we are going to define what grappling is in relation to striking.
Striking
When you are fighting, with striking the contact is very brief, it’s very short. For example, if you punch your opponent in the shoulder with very brief, short hits, this is called impact. Impact is force applied is a short period of time. Striking is ultimately impact.
If the contact is long, this turns it into a push. In this case, you won’t hurt your opponent as much. You want impact. You want to put all your force into your opponent’s anatomy as quickly as possible to create trauma.
Grappling
Grappling is at the opposite end of the spectrum from striking.
With grappling, you want a long contact. For example, you can grab on to your opponent’s arm, control it, and bring them down. Then you can do an armbar. This is grappling. Watch the video below for a demonstration.