Is Brazilian Jui Jitsu a good type of self-defense?

I want to take some self-defense lessons. I have heard Brazilian Jui Jitsu is very practical form of self-defense (in comparison to karate) because most fights end up on the ground and that%26#039;s where Brazilian Jui Jitsu focuses. Would people agree that Brazilian Jui Jitsu would be the best form of self-defense, or would you recommend something else?|||If you get taken to the ground, that means someone already knocked your @$$ out and you lost already. I have been in many street fights, the only time someone goes to the ground is when they get knocked out. Would you want to go to the ground if there%26#039;s broken glass on the floor (i.e. in a bar fight). BJJ would be a great compliment but DO NOT neglect the striking art also...BJJ is not the be all end all of self defense. may i suggest KYOKUSHIN KARATE???? OSU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!...|||First off, just watch some Youtube street fights and see how many go to the ground. The answer is, not many. The report commonly cited for these statistics were police reports. Police have to arrest people and put them on the ground. As their goal was to go to the ground, the stats got skewed.





However, if the fight DOES end up on the ground, the best way to deal with it is BJJ. Not to work the classic BJJ strategy of methodically improving possition and working for a submission, but rather to escape and disengage from the opponent. It also give you some basic takedowns, as well as holds that can come in handy. If you choke someone to sleep, they can%26#039;t hit you, right?





BJJ is best suited as a secondary, perhaps even tertiary self-defense method, though. Just about all fights start standing. Most start nose-to-nose, right in clinch/punching range. I%26#039;d recommend, as a primary system, something that teaches you how to deal with that, such as boxing, Muay Thai, or Judo. Unless you know you%26#039;re only going to be fighting one person, it%26#039;s not a good idea to go to the ground. A background in wrestling or Judo can help you keep your balance, and Judo and Muay Thai have good clinch-fighting tactics. If you can control the clinch, you can control the fight.|||It%26#039;s not actually true that most fights %26quot;End up on the ground,%26quot; (The statistic is overblown from what was 60% for [Verbatim] %26quot;Officers that had to take someone to the ground on certain offenses%26quot;, to 90% which is what was claimed), but a good percentage of them do.





BJJ really isn%26#039;t the best because there isn%26#039;t a best. It%26#039;s WONDERFUL, however, for newaza (Ground fighting) and is good for some tachiwaza (Standing grappling). That%26#039;s only one or so of four ranges of combat though. Fights are going to vary depending on a number of factors, and the people involved matter too. You won%26#039;t ever fight like I do, and vice versa.





This isn%26#039;t the say that you shouldn%26#039;t take it at all (I recommend it for grappling: It usually has great training methods), but don%26#039;t rely on it to get you out of everything. I admit that I%26#039;ve been on a extended break since joining the air force, but if my grappling was on par with my striking from back in the day (Because I have taken both), a BJJ practitioner at the same level would be at a serious disadvantage since I%26#039;d be more well-rounded.





But that%26#039;s something I want you to to think about for yourself. The (More) well-rounded person doesn%26#039;t always win. Maybe you want to go to the ground and end the fight quick. Maybe you want to supplement it with striking. Maybe you don%26#039;t even want to go to the ground. The choice is yours.





Good luck.





EDIT: May I say one thing? The third and fourth answers ARE AWESOME!|||I%26#039;d say take up a striking art and then BJJ. If you%26#039;re in a street fight, the last thing you%26#039;d want is to end up on the ground, he might have a knife or his mates will stomp your head in. With a striking art or throwing (like Judo), you can defend yourself and try to run away. If you take that + BJJ, you can make sure if you do end up on the ground, you can at least defend yourself a bit.





I think Krav Maga would be the best for self-defenses cause there aren%26#039;t any rules (well, only one which is don%26#039;t get hurt), but it%26#039;s pretty hard to find a decent class/instructor.|||most street fighter do not go to the ground, that is a misconception.





there is no perfect system, the all have there flaws, one of bjj flaws is that it is not good for multiple attackers.





the more important then a style is finding a good teach, the style is secondary.|||well bjj can be good but i think your better off striking and having takedown defense and you shouldn%26#039;t go to the ground because if he has friends thats bad for you, you could get fish hooked, eyes gouged, your groin is in jeopardy, he could rip your ears off and more


so i think you should learn these fighting styles, this is my list 1 being best


1 krav maga


2 mma


3 pankration


4 sambo


5 muat thai


|||There are a lot of good points in the answers already, but I think there are some over sites so I%26#039;ll do my best to give my opinion. IMHO BJJ is the single most effective self defense system in day-to-day situations in one-on-one situations. Krav Maga is good but emphasizes dirty techniques and crippling moves that can cause serious injury to your opponent. Its a military system and is great for that, but if its a school yard fight or a bar brawl you don%26#039;t want to gouge the guys eye out. The statistic that __% of fights go to the ground may be skewed (idk) but the people claiming it is skewed forgot something. __% of REAL, SERIOUS street fights go to the ground. The actual quote includes some qualifier like that. Most people keep fights standing because they don%26#039;t really know what to do on the ground. But if its a real fight, not some school yard bs on youtube, where the intent is serious physical harm, not revenge for someone telling %26quot;yo mamma%26quot; jokes, fights do go to the ground a lot of the time. Mute point anyway because if it does not naturally go there, you get trained on how to make it go there. You learn everything from getting the person to the ground and then how to dominate.





My favorite part is that you get to decide exactly what to do to your opponent. You have complete control on what happens to them (assuming you win). You can place them in a lock that has them writhing in pain only to let them go a second later and they are fine. Or you can break or dislocate the major joints (knee, shoulder, elbow) to disable them. Or you can choke them to sleep and escape, or you can choke them into a coma or even to death. BJJ works on smaller guys and bigger guys and allows you to effectively control a fight. In most other styles, you give the opponent what is referred to as a %26quot;puncher%26#039;s chance%26quot; because no matter how trained, everyone has a chance to land that one mega-punch that will end a fight. In BJJ you have that fear when taking them down, but once on the ground, they are at your mercy. Most other martial arts give your opponent that chance until the end.





NOTE: BJJ has one major glaring weakness, there is no way around it. If you take BJJ you will dominate one person at a time. It is very hard to beat even 2 opponents with BJJ easily. You would basically have to keep throwing them until they got tired, lol. A striking art (muay thai) for multiple opponents, BJJ for one on ones.





Good luck, a wise man once said, %26quot;anyone with a year of training in any martial art style can beat 80% of the people out there%26quot;