News
Certainly, the roots of this sport we all love – Brazilian jiu-jitsu – are far deeper than 100 years, as many others have already written extensively about. However, it was a hundred years ago, in 1925, that the first Brazilian academy dedicated to the evolving new style of martial art was born. Since then, BJJ has experienced growth unlike any other sport or martial art in history.
In all the excitement of the current state of the sport, it’s easy to forget its history. On this, the centennial anniversary of the first BJJ academy, we decided it was a good time to give a refresher course on jiu-jitsu’s evolution.
As you may or may not already know, experiencing an injury on the mat during your Brazilian jiu-jitsu journey is not an “if”… it’s a “when.”
Accidents happen all the time. It doesn’t matter how strong or talented you are, or how much you prepare your body to withstand the rigors of BJJ training, you cannot avoid or anticipate everything. There are simply too many factors involved: the dynamic movements, your partner’s actions and reactions, other people rolling on the mat, and even how you might be feeling that day or how much sleep you got the night before. All of these contribute to the potential for injury. You might even sustain an injury off the mat that will force you to stop training for a while.
Yes, it sucks. What is worse, however, is returning to jiu-jitsu without a strategy to keep you from re-injuring yourself, thereby prolonging your time off the mat. Believe us, we've all been there.
Last weekend completed one of the most exciting events in the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu calendar: The IBJJF World Championships. We say this every year, but it’s always true… this was one of the most exciting Worlds Championship yet!
This year, there were some familiar faces on the podium, but we saw even more shakeups, as the latest generation of champions are making themselves known.
Even more exciting? Nine of our amazing Kingz Athletes hit the top of the podium… a few of them (FIVE in total) leveling up as they did so! If there’s nothing better than that feeling of being crowned World Champion, second best has got to be the pride in seeing one of your own make it.
This weekend, two of the most highly-anticipated black belt promotions happened at the IBJJF World Championships in Anaheim, California.
After about a decade of training, twins Mia and Ashlee Funegra received their black belts from their long-time coach Guilherme Mendes, shortly after Ashlee’s dominant gold medal win in the brown belt light-featherweight division, and right before Mia would step on the mat for her debut in the black belt featherweight division.
Yes, you read that correctly. Because Mia was a previous world champion, as per the IBJJF rulebook, she was allowed to sign up in the black belt division while still a brown belt. The decision was a strategic move, allowing both to compete in the light-featherweight division and have the chance to fight their way to the top of the podium without having to close out. It is unusual, yes. Was it warranted? Absolutely.
Closed guard is arguably the most fundamental position in Brazilian jiu-jitsu. For most jiu-jitsu practitioners, it was their very first entry into the world of martial arts and/or self-defense. For everyone else, it was likely their second. This is because it is the safest position to be in when you know next to nothing.
Just as its name implies, the closed guard is a “guarded” position, in which there are very few attacks your opponents can execute from inside the guard. In order to do anything, they must first break the guard and move to more advantageous positions. However, for the person on bottom, there are a multitude of attacks he or she can employ.
