Martial Arts

No. You do not need to be strong, flexible, or in particularly good shape to start jiu jitsu. By practicing jiu jitsu, you will most certainly improve your strength, flexibility, and conditioning (plus balance, coordination, and more), but you do not need to have those traits to begin with.  Of course, it’s always smart to ensure your doctor agrees your health can handle any strenuous activity, including Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.

Yes.  BJJ is generally a very safe sport, and safety is a central principle at Alpharetta Martial Arts.  Our curriculum, practice methods, and instruction prioritize a safety-first environment.

The belt order for adults is: White, Blue, Purple, Brown, & Black.  After someone has been a black belt for 30 years, there are special recognition belts of Red/Black, Red/White, & Red that can be attained.

The belt order for kids, until 16 years of age, is: White, Grey, Yellow, Orange, and Green.

This chart depicts the IBJJF belt ranking system that is generally followed by Diego Saraiva BJJ.

Getting started is the most difficult step.  But it’s as easy as filling out this form, and coming in for a completely FREE trial.  Do it today.  It will change your life!

Jiu jitsu has proven itself in actual 1-on-1 combat situations:  (1) challenge matches, (2) the Ultimate Fighting Championship (Mixed Martial Arts), and (3) the military/law enforcement:

1. One of the primary methods of advancing the sport during its early development was to issue or accept challenge matches to test the art against other martial artists, fighters, and/or tough guys.  Jiu Jitsu practitioners consistently won those confrontations, and losses or weaknesses that were exposed resulted in adjustments to the sport (less useful moves/positions were changed or eliminated and more effective techniques added).  Here is one example of such challenge match.
2. Inspired by the challenge matches and subsequent videos, the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) was created in 1993 by Rorion Gracie, Art Davie, and John Milius to showcase the effectiveness of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.  Royce Gracie (Rorion’s younger brother) entered the first four UFCs.  Despite being the lightest competitor in all 4 events, he won 3 of them (UFC 1, UFC 2, & UFC 4).  He withdrew from the finals of UFC 3 due to dehydration.  He didn’t lose a match and won 11 consecutive victories by submission, a record that still stands today.  Perhaps the only more meaningful attribution to jiu jitsu is that every Mixed Martial Artist and nearly all serious martial artists now incorporate Brazilian jiu jitsu as a core part of their training program.
3. The US Army’s Modern Army Combatives Program (MACP) is based largely on brazilian jiu jitsu, and its founder, Matt Larsen, is a black belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.

These are evidence of jiu jitsu’s effectiveness, and they are also an explanation for its effectiveness. Most martial arts are based on philosophy or form but Brazilian jiu jitsu has always stressed reality as the ultimate arbiter of effectiveness. By testing the art against others, the sport evolved into one that works in real life situations. This is furthered by the fact that one can practice BJJ in class at nearly 100% – basically in exactly the same way you might do it in real life. Most martial arts are based on powerful, fancy punches or kicks, but you can’t really practice those kinds of strikes at 100%, lest you render your partner unconscious or hospitalized. As a consequence, most martial arts practice in the air (forms), or they hit pads/bags/boards, or it is done at partial speed/power. Neither the air, boards, nor bags hit back. It is almost impossible to know whether or not the kicks would work in a real life encounter, and history has shown us that they often don’t — especially if the attacker/opponent is bigger or stronger. Since BJJ can be practiced at full speed, you constantly get feedback on what works and what doesn’t which allows you to adjust your technique to improve effectiveness.