Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (BJJ) was the martial art that I had been searching for. It has everything. It is endlessly challenging, involves constant learning and has a great social environment. One of the major draw cards of BJJ is the regular pressure testing. At the end of each lesson, we ‘roll’. This involves attempting to control and submit our training partners who are attempting to avoid submission and whilst controlling you at the same time. Think something akin to full body ‘mercy’.

The best part about BJJ is simply that it works. I have shared my thoughts on self-defense before, covering: martial art training, deescalation, avoidance, conflict and post conflict survival, but the summary is this – if you can avoid a fight, do so. Most of the fights you hear about are avoidable, and should never have occurred. Stay away from dangerous areas and if you get accosted or threatened, just swallow your ego, apologise and quickly leave the area.

Really, unless you are grabbed, running is the best option. If somebody shapes up for a fight and doesn’t have their hands on you, run. If you have been grabbed, that’s where BJJ comes in. Throws, sweeps, pins and escapes are great at getting in control and enough of an advantage to escape. We train daily to deal with an a strong person, intent on holding us down. We are used to the physical contact, and best of all we know it works – because we have implemented these techniques repeatedly against resisting opponents.

So why is BJJ the best for mental health?

In my opnion, BJJ has the best social environment. The guys and girls that stick with it are usually quite humble and more than willing to share their knowledge. Whilst this is true for other martial arts, in my opinion BJJ practitioners are the most helpful.