Diet Fads That Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Athletes Must Avoid

Diet fads promise a short-cut to success. They sound like a simple plan that you follow and gain the fitness level you wanted. This is the reason why most people fall for them. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu athletes are under a constant pressure to perform well and maintain their weight and fitness. This makes them more susceptible to these fads. However, these diets don’t deliver what they promise always. And in the longer run, they often do more harm than good.

Most Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu athletes are under the perception that a protein intensive diet is right for them as it helps them build muscle mass. However, the fact is that an athlete should get only 12 to 15 per cent of his calorie intake from protein. If protein is consumed in excess, it can cause calcium excretion and lead to weak bones. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu athletes also tend to avoid carbohydrates. Many do not realize that this could lead to Ketosis and cause organ failure in the longer run.

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu athletes also tend to resort to starvation diets. They skip meals to lose weight. Some athletes also try to have cycles of fasting and binge eating. Little do they realize that this formula only makes it tougher to lose weight. In the long run, the athlete’s body learns to store fat to use when he fasts. In addition, when a person starves, his body burns muscle mass first for all its energy needs.  This loss of muscle can impair a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu athlete’s performance.

Sometimes, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu athletes also try to lose weight instantly by getting rid of the water content of their body. They consume diuretics, exercise in a sauna or wear plastic suits during workouts to lose water content. Such practices could lead to severe dehydration and hamper an athlete’s performance. The athlete can experience lack of endurance and decreased blood circulation and muscle strength.

Weight-loss can be effective and permanent only when it is attained through proper diet and exercise. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu athletes must consult a nutritionist or a certified weight trainer to know their ideal weight and plan to achieve it.

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu BJJ VS Boxing

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and Boxing are both hugely popular combat sports. However, they differ in their approaches and techniques. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is a martial art that focuses on self defense. It aims at gaining control over a larger and stronger opponent with minimum effort and by using specific techniques. Boxing is a sport that involves movements to attack and defend at the same time.

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu has evolved from Jiu-Jitsu, which is known as the oldest martial art. It uses grappling and ground fighting techniques for combat. It uses joint locks, compression locks and chokeholds to make the opponent submit. It came into existence when Mitsuyo Maeda, a Japanese judoka, immigrated to Brazil in 1910’s. He propagated a martial art that used techniques of Jiu-Jitsu and Judo.

Boxing is known to have evolved from fist fighting. Initially, it looked more like a combat without rules. It included kicking, punching, eye gouging, biting, hair-pulling, etc. Standardization of boxing rules started in 1838 with introduction of rings to fight. The rules regarding safety gear and match duration were defined in 1867.

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, being an art of self-defense, discourages all techniques aimed at injuring the opponent. The athlete has to focus on gaining control on his opponent. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu teaches an athlete to respect his opponent’s strength. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu athletes are responsible for the safety of their opponents. While applying a technique to make his opponent submit, a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu athlete must apply the pressure slowly so that he does not hurt the opponent beyond the necessary level.

Boxing has a set of rules too. A boxer uses jab punches, cross punches, hook punches, uppercut punches, guards, defense, etc. to win over his opponent. Boxers cannot use techniques like biting, scratching or gouging to injure their opponent. In addition, they are not allowed to hit below their opponent’s waist. However, unlike Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, a boxer is not bound to ensure the safety of his opponent.

The rules for uniforms in both the sports also differ. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu athletes have to wear a kimono, pants, shorts and belt during a tournament. The uniform is either blue or white in color. Boxers are required to wear only a pair of short for a tournament and there is no specific rule for the color. Birdys Sports Blog

Benefits of Jiu-Jitsu for women

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is a martial art that induces a sense of endurance in women with its self-defense techniques. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu helps women avoid dangerous situations and empowers them with simple escape techniques. It is designed to help a woman save herself from her attacker, whether she is on her feet or on the ground.

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu involves submission and ground fighting techniques. It focuses on gaining a dominant position over your opponent with the help of techniques such as chokeholds, joint-locks, compression lock, etc. Most martial arts need the practitioners to be physically strong to face a heavy-weight opponent. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu needs more of body mechanisms rather than strength, speed and weight of the person practicing it. They can therefore be used effectively by anyone of any age, size, strength or level of physical fitness.

A common way for men to win a fight over women is to knock her down to the ground and control the whole situation. The ground fighting techniques of the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu focuses on acting against your opponent with your back on ground plus taking the advantage of the right situations and poses of the opponent.

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu strengthens women physically and psychologically. It inculcates in them the belief to stand for themselves as well as maintain peace of mind. Apart from these benefits, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu provides women the similar benefits as men. It makes them physically more flexible, keeps them fit and above all, it’s a great fun. In the training sessions, they are made to face new challenging situations that keep up their spirit. Moreover, it is a great stress buster. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu demands a lot of concentration to be put during training sessions and hence, enables the practitioners to relieve stress.

Anger Management and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu

The root of anger lies in feelings like frustration, fear, failure, stress, rejection etc., which most people face on a daily basis. It can be through peer pressure or unhealthy competition. Eventually anger takes a toll on them — emotionally and physically. Anger is known to increase the chances of high blood pressure and heart attack. It also affects a person’s capability to think logically and take right decision. In some cases this can sever relationships. Proper anger management can help a person use his feelings to solve a problem rather than wasting time and filling oneself with negativity.

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, though an art of self defense, can help a practitioner in anger management too. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu discourages an athlete from attacking an unaware or unprepared person. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu athletes are strictly discouraged from using techniques that aim at injuring the opponent. Athletes are responsible for the safety of their opponent. While applying any of the submission techniques, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu athletes must apply the pressure slowly. They must stop the moment they feel that any further pressure can injure the athlete. This teaches a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu athlete the clarity of purpose, which is to make the opponent submit and not hurting him. It also teaches them to respect their opponent’s strength.

Practicing Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu requires an athlete to be self disciplined. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu athletes are discouraged from using foul language during a match and badmouthing. Checking these tendencies helps in cutting the negative feelings of the person. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu training includes exercises like kickboxing, which are known to help in washing away the negative thoughts of a person.

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu can be of special help to parents who have a tough time controlling their child’s temper. Children can imbibe these qualities in their life at an early stage and put them into practice.

Aiming for the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Black Belt

Six colored belts are used to signify grades in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. The belts, in ascending order of grades are: white, blue, purple, brown, black and red. An athlete has to be at least 16 years old to be awarded blue belt. Some academies divide the grading system further into four stages signified by different belt colors — white, yellow, orange and green. Though red is the highest rank in belts, only the Gracie family members, the pioneers in the field of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, are known to have advanced to this level.

Most, if not all, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu athletes aspire to be black belt holders. An athlete has to be at least 18 years old to qualify for black belt. And this is not enough; the athlete has to work hard to get there. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu athletes are promoted on the basis of their practical knowledge, which is observed during sparring and competitions.

An athlete aiming for black belt has to practice as an athlete and also as a trainer. The level of perfection required rises with the grades. This makes getting a promotion tougher as the grades rise. A black belt aspirant must have knowledge of all the techniques and should master them. He must be a good observer. He must study all techniques and question his trainer about the use of different moves and how can adapt them to his style of fighting. Showing curiosity in the sport can also help the athlete get special attention from the trainer. This can help him learn fast and get an advantage over his peers.

A black belt aspirant has to practice meticulously and also maintain a strict diet. He can even maintain a record of his training hours and diet for better monitoring. He can also maintain a diary to record his improvement in various moves. It will help him record his daily performance, strengths and weaknesses. These records can also help him train his students.

Some Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu academies also consider an athlete’s track record before promoting him to a higher grade. A black belt aspirant must follow all the rules and ethics of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and avoid doing anything that would invite negative reviews from his trainer.