Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is a martial art that is played around the world. Torque is one of the main concepts used in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu because it makes a greater impact on the competitor while fighting. In Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, you often see someone of a smaller size fight someone who is bigger than them and still win. This is because of their use of torque. Torque is used in Jiu Jitsu when a competitor uses a leverage point on the body to put them in a lock, like the elbow or the knee.
Torque: Torque is a measure of how much the force acting on an object causes that object to rotate. Torque is directly proportional to the perpendicular distance of the force used.
Fulcrum: A Fulcrum, also known as the pivot point, is a location on a system that can change its direction.
Force: Force is a push or pull on an object.
Lever: the perpendicular distance from the axis of rotation to the line along which the force acts.
Center of Gravity: The point at which a systems mass is concentrated.
Why does Jiu Jitsu follow this progression?
The primary goal of a jiu jitsu fight is to get your opponent on the ground because that gives you more control in the fight. Attacking body parts that have joint locks are important because they are used as lever points.
Why does Brazilian Jiu Jitsu want control?
Once a competitor has control over the opponents body, the opponent is more likely to give up in the fight because they cannot regain their force.
The picture below shows the example of the kimura:
Although you cannot see the fulcrum point in the picture, it would be the opponents elbow. This is because the elbow can only bend until a certain point and once you reach that point the opponent starts to feel a lot of pain which leads them to give up.
The next picture shows an example of the kneebar:
Again, in the picture you cannot see the fulcrum point but it is the opponents knee. Since the knee only bends until a certain point, once you exceed that point it causes the opponent excruciating pain.
How does a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu practitioner’s understanding of physics (Torque) make him or her more effective?
You can take advantage of the higher center of gravity of a larger opponent to get them down to the ground quicker, which would assist in you winning the match. If you utilize torque in a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu match properly, factors like size and strength do not effect your ability to win.