1. Introduction:

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu evolved from a style of Japanese martial art. It focuses on close combat fighting which consists of mainly throwing and locking joints techniques. While some martial arts use mostly the strength of the body to directly knock out the opponent, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu takes advantage of joints that have restricted movement like elbows or knees to force submission on the opponent. Thus, Brazilan Jiu-Jitsu allows the smaller and weaker to defend themselves effectively despite having the disadvantage in size and strength.

Torque, used through techniques involving joints, is the tendency of a force to cause the rotational movement. The joint is the fulcrum, and the arm or leg is the lever for the force to act on. When the force causes the lever to go in the direction that the joint is locked, the body sends out the pain to signal that the joint is reaching its limit, which makes that person surrender.

2. Techniques:

Kneebar: The fulcrum is at the knee. A perpendicular force pulling towards the fighter is applied, rotating in the direction where the knee is immobilized.

Armbar: The fulcrum is at the elbow of the opponent. A perpendicular force pulling downwards is applied, going in the direction that the mobility of the elbow is limited.

3. Questions:

*The progression:

• Get your opponent to the ground
• Get past your opponent’s legs
• Control their hips and shoulders (or their legs)
• Add a submission

The Jiu-Jitsu follows this progression because the fighter needs to gain control of the fight before they could successfully apply the techniques. By bringing the opponent to the ground, the fighter takes away a lot of kinetic energy from the opponent, making it more difficult for he/she to fight back. When the opponent is lying on his/her back, their legs are frequently used as the means to attack the fighter with the attemp to get away from the current position; therefore, getting past the legs reduces the chance for the opponent to turn over the situation, making the fighter in control. Then the fighter needs to take control of the hips and shoulders, or the legs depending on which technique is putting into use. After having the control of that body part, the fighter can now force a submission on the opponent.

*Jiu-Jitsu wants control because the main goal is to create a torque using a body part on of the opponent to cause pain. Without having the control, the fighter couldn’t create the right fulcrum point or couldn’t put the force in the right direction where the joint is locked, which doesn’t have any impact on the opponent.