Jiujitsu At Lakewood Colorado - The Philosophy of the School

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One of the most striking features of Lakewood, Colorado is the Jiujitsu gym, which welcomes an endless stream of young people and aspiring athletes. And yet Jiujitsu is much more than a school. Its instructors are mostly of the blue-collar variety, but they are careful to avoid training only in this manner.

When Jiujitsu was first started, it wasn't even called Jiujitsu. It is credited to its founder John Bianco, who was a law enforcement officer with the U.S. Air Force. During his time there, he developed the art of "sparring" by having soldiers spar each other for hours on end. The drills were meant to train the minds, not the bodies.

Many of the techniques were developed by Bianco himself, but he also took some advice from people like Judo instructor Jack Katz. The technique called "down-cutting" involves wrapping an opponent's leg in front of your own and "cut" him down on his back, just before your opponent can roll with you. Other techniques include armbar and arm bar.

As Bianco became more into Jiujitsu, he felt that it should be made into a recognized discipline and didn't like it being called "Jiujitsu." He came up with the name "BJJ" (Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu) after his use of down-cutting during his sparring sessions.

Today, more than 70 different schools teach Jiujitsu. For this reason, there are more gyms in the Denver area than there is Red Devils. Many of these clubs are members of the IBJJF (the international federation of the sport), but there are a number of smaller organizations as well.

But for someone who wants to learn the basics of Jiujitsu without any sort of competition or team, there are many classes around Lakewood that are suited for beginners. Their rules are very basic: no head games, no touch grabs, and that the competition is always by arm or leg.

So if you're only interested in learning to control your opponent and put him in submission, or blue belt, you can attend one of these classes. They are ideal for beginning students who don't have a lot of money to invest in a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu class. But these classes are not designed for competition.

Starting off the wrong way is probably going to slow you down to a crawl, and you'll probably lose a belt rank or two in the process. This is fine. If you start Jiujitsu with the correct attitude, you'll get through it just fine.

Once you've mastered the basic techniques of Jiujitsu, you can take a blue belt test. With enough hard work and practice, you'll pass the test with flying colors and become a black belt, which is the highest rank one can achieve.

After that, the next step is to learn the theory behind the art of Jiujitsu. This is done in a regular school, but the basics of technique are taught in videos. These videos, called instructional videos, are interactive.

They let students practice various techniques in an actual setting. Most of these videos have a black belt instructor, and he/she will encourage and guide the students. They might even hold specific classes in the mannerisms of specific competitors.

The goal of these instructional videos is to help you become a better student, so go ahead and watch some Jiujitsu videos. You'll be a better competitor and a better Jiujitsu practitioner.