TKD vs Jiu Jitsu

Recently, I watched the documentary "Choke: Rickson Gracie" which follows World Champion Jiu Jitsu fighter Rickson Gracie, from the well known Gracie Jiu Jitsu family. It chronicles his preparation and training for the 1995 Vale Tudor, which is a no holds barred, full contact fighting tournament overseas.

You can watch the entire video here on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3vDHH825bg

I was not familiar with Jiu Jitsu before watching the documentary, but now that I am familiar with the techniques, I am extremely impressed.

This post is not to negatively put one style down over another. There are some martial art practioners that may think one style is better then another and I don't agree with the negative comparisons of styles. Most martial arts have been around for centuries and have a long history and have dedicated and passionate practioners that all should be respected.

Mixed Martial arts is the combination of different martial art techniques and that is very important when fighting or defending yourself. You can use a powerful Taekwondo kick to the face, stomach or groin; and then use Judo to throw the opponent to the floor, and lastly use Jiu Jitsu for ground fighting and to lock the opponents arm. These are just three quick examples of three different styles out of many different Martial Arts.

The style I practice is Taekwondo and within Taekwondo there are two known styles: Sport Taekwondo or Traditional Taekwondo. I practice sport, which is the same style used for the Taekwondo Olympic event.

We learn to fight with our fists, but mostly with our feet. We train the most in kicking and developing a strong leg and powerful kick. Like most martial arts its using these techniques at the right time with power and focus to get maximum results. I am constantly stretching, as flexibility is very important to get a high kick, strengthing my leg muscles, and balance.

In a fight situation using Taekwondo I would use my endurance to tire my opponent, using a combination of quick movements and sliding back and forth, quick and powerful punches to key areas like the nose, jaw, throat, and combining that with strong kicks to the groin, side stomach, legs, and using high kicks to the head.

However, in a "real" fight there are no rules and it's unlikely for both opponents to continue standing while fighting, most likely they will end up on the ground.

For women this is very important because if a male opponent/perpetrator is on top of you knowing how to get out from underneath him can be crucial. Jiu Jitsu focuses on ground fighting and for women it's an art that focuses on smaller opponents defending themselves against larger opponents and this is why I would like to learn Jiu Jitsu.

Like many women I have a fear of being attacked and not having the ability to get out of a situation, especially if the perpetrator is much taller and larger. When I spar against a larger male in my class, his legs and arms are much longer than mine, so he can stay at a distance and still hit me, while I need to get much closer to him in order to fight.

In Jiu Jitsu a smaller opponents can have an upper hand. If you have a strong technique you can over power a much large opponent.

Rickson Gracie is a great example. If you watch the documentary you will see the larger men he goes up against and how he is able to get out of head locks and from underneath these much taller and bigger men.

For this reason I plan on learning some of the fundamentals of Jiu Jitsu. I would like to combining those techniques with Taekwondo to become a strong fighter.