Northwest Fighting Arts
1200 SE Morrison St. Portland, OR 97214
Training in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu at NWFA provides street applicable self-defense skills and an outstanding workout in a fun, respectful, safe environment. The conditioning you receive from grappling is second to none. Many of our members train to compete or to be able to defend themselves and many train for the sheer thrill of rolling. If you'd like to try a class, please contact us here.
Our head instructor is black belt certified under Rigan Machado. He has been training in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu for 18 years and is committed to providing in depth, quality instruction and the opportunity to promote within the art.
Grappling is a martial art that utilizes joint locks and chokes instead of striking for self defense. Also known as submission wrestling because the techniques used in grappling, though potentially devastating can be applied in a controlled fashion to submit an opponent without causing serious harm. The grappling arts rely on leverage, timing and skill; this allowing a skilled practicioner to contend and win against an opponent with a significant size advantage but lesser skill.
This fact was the inspiration and philosophy behind the advent of Judo, the art which was the source of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.
During training all jiu jitsu techniques MUST be applied in a controled fashion where your partners safety is your utmost priority.
Where did Brazilian Jiu Jitsu come from?
Depending on how deeply one digs linkages can be found back to Japan, China, India and even ancient Greece. For our purposes it is enough to say that BJJ has it’s roots in Japanese Jiu-Jitsu where it was practiced at least as far back as the 1500’s. In the 1800’s a Jiu Jitsu practiconer by the name of Jigoro Kano developed the art of Judo. Judo drew techniques from many different schools of Jiu-Jitsu and incorporated the idea of Randori (free sparring). The free sparring practice helped the Judoka develop and test their abilities in a realistic though controlled environment. This allowed Judo to generally out perform when tested against traditional schools of Jiu-Jitsu.. After triumphing in a contest held at Tokyo Police headquaters Judo was accepted as the national martial art of Japan.
Jiu Jitsu (in the form of Judo) was brought to Brazil by Esai Maeda in 1915. Maeda had been praticing Judo for almost twenty years. As a direct student of Kano, he traveled the world for many years demonstrating and teaching Judo. He settled in Brazil to help establish a Japanese colony in Sao Paolo City. A politician by the name of Gastao Gracie assited Maeda in his efforts. In exchange, Maeda taught the basics of Jiu Jitsu to Carlos Gracie who then taught his brothers including Helio Gracie.
The Gracies kept the best of Judo while stripping away many of the rules that had become attached to it. They refined their techniques and opened their first school in 1925 teaching what eventually became known as Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. The Gracies issued a standing challenge to any fighter to test them in a vale tudo, or no rules fight. They would analyze these competitions actively improving their techniques and developing new ones based on what they encountered. The Gracies evolved their art from a sport back into a street effective self defense and modern martial art.
In later years the art fractured and there are now many styles practiced under a variety of family names. All owe their inspiration to those intense early years of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and to the Gracies themselves.... "I think that everyone today that knows Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu learned it, directly or indirectly, from a member of the Gracie family. I think everyone should be grateful to them for that." - JJ Machado
If you have the desire to study Brazilian jiu jitsu techniques you will need to understand the concept of sticking as well as learning how to go with your opponents force rather than trying to overpower him into submission...
Articles:
Understanding the Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Guard Game
Jiu Jitsu Techniques, Strategy and History
Jiu Jitsu Training and Strategy
Brazilian Jiu Jitsu: How To Improve your Guard
An efficient Jiu Jitsu training regimen will help you to take elements such as technical knowledge, endurance, development of physical and mental attributes, how to use strategy and apply them to the practice...
When training Brazilian Jiu Jitsu it is important to understand the guard game. Not that you must always go for the guard and work on guard strategies, but it is an essential part of you Jiu jitsu game. Having a good guard will give you an edge when playing with bigger stronger opponents...
The guard position in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is defined by having your back on the ground and your legs between you and your opponent. There are many variations of the guard; two of the most common are the closed guard and the open guard....
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November Specials:
Get your first two weeks of training free with a new membership
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