Brazilian Jujitsu, more frequently referred to by the acronym BJJ, is attracting more and more practitioners around the world as both a sport and a viable self-defense martial art. Its rising popularity is thanks to a variety of factors, but the main reason is because it was, and continues to be used with terrific results in mixed martial arts (MMA) competitions and vale tudo matches.
BJJ is unique in the martial arts realm in that practitioners can attack from what would normally be considered a defensive position and vice versa. This leads many spectators to assume that a BJJ practitioner is in danger when he's actually on the attack.
The underlying principles of BJJ enable a small practitioner to successfully attack a much larger practitioner by applying leverage, and using his stronger muscles to attack his opponent's joints, neck, or weaker muscles. Early vale tudo videos (Brazilian for "anything goes") show these principles in action.
BJJ fighters can also end a fight with strikes, but these attacks are often opened as a result of traditional BJJ attacks, leaving himself vulnerable in the process; or directly through the use of BJJ attack techniques. BJJ attack techniques are designed to render an opponent unable to continue a fight, either by inflicting damage to a joint or limb, or rendering him immobile or unconscious.
The three primary categories of attack are:
1) Joint Locks: a fighter will isolate one of his opponent's limbs or joints and use leverage to move the joint beyond its intended range of motion. Examples include Americana, arm bars, Kimura, knee bars.
2) Chokes: the word "chokes" is often used interchangeably with "strangles," but the two are represent completely different types of attack, thought they both focus on the neck. A choke occurs when a practitioners attacks the windpipe of his opponent to cut off or restrict air flow.
3) Strangles: with a strangle, a practitioner attempts to cut off the blood supply to the brain by constricting the carotid arteries. Strangles are most common when fighters are wearing gis (rear naked choke being a large exception), which are the traditional training and sparring uniform. You can view BJJ gi videos to see these tactics in action.
BJJ is a fascinating martial art. It takes years or even decades to rank, but even inexperienced BJJ practitioners fare very well against expert practitioners from other arts like karate or tae kwon do. There are many vs videos available which demonstrate one art vs another. These videos will provide a glimpse into why BJJ is so effective for self defense.