Brazilian jiu jitsu is known around the world. It is a martial art that focuses on self-defense and is a combat sport that teaches you about grappling, ground fighting, and submission holds. Eiden Farsakh, a sophomore who recently moved to the Shallotte area, has recently taken an interest in jiu jitsu and has been doing it for a little over a month now. He trains at a place in Little River, SC called Legion Martial Arts and is trying out the sport for the first time.

“The most important thing about jiu jitsu in my opinion is that it’s not violent, and it’s the most effective fighting style,” said Farsakh.

Farsakh told us that along with it being the most effective fighting style, meaning that it focuses on taking down your opponent down to the ground and obtaining control, but is not as violent as you may think because it does not focus on striking which is punches and kicks. 

Jiu jitsu teaches you how to take down your opponent by exploiting one’s balance, using leverage to throw or take down someone, joint locks, pressure, and submission holds. Farsakh mentioned that he likes how it focuses on preparing you for more real-life situations rather than just your usual gym fights. He claimed that learning the basics takes a different amount of time for everyone depending on how fast you are able to learn them. 

“What I particularly like about jiu jitsu is that they make it easy to learn how to neutralize a situation without using a lot of energy or force,’’ said Farsakh.

Since jiu jitsu is based more on teaching you real-life fighting techniques, they make sure to teach you efficient ways on how to fight also. Farsakh believes that this is one of the best ways to be taught because you’ll able to apply this knowledge to many situations. Also, jiu jitsu is something that takes time, effort, and patience so it’s better to not rush yourself or you could very easily hurt yourself. 

“Some advice I would give to someone who is not as experienced would be to try not to excel faster than your body can handle, stick to the fundamentals, and just start off the basics,’’ said Farsakh.