Famous Jiu Jitsu Quotes (BJJ Quotes for Inspiration)

Here are some jiu jitsu quotes for when your BJJ training has become challenging or when you are frustrated at your lack of improvement.

BJJ quotes can serve as small way to frame your training and help you better realize that every day you’re improving whether you know it or not.

You are working toward something greater, and you are gaining more technique, knowledge, and confidence with every training session, every belt degree and every belt promotion.

So here’s to the jiu jitsu journey we are all on…

Jiu-Jitsu Quotes about Philosophy and Wisdom

“Always assume that your opponent is going to be bigger, stronger and faster than you; so that you learn to rely on technique, timing and leverage rather than brute strength.” – Helio Gracie

“Jiu jitsu transcends the mat and embraces life in a much more complete way.” – Rickson Gracie

“Ego is the biggest hindrance in reaching a high level in jiu-jitsu. Often, it is difficult to compartmentalize your ego, especially when you have to perform in front of the class. It is natural to worry about how good you look, but to be good you cannot have that mentality. Don’t try to look good! It is important that others are watching while you are failing. It only matters that you try.” – Saulo Ribeiro

“I don’t care about winning competitions or stripes on my belt anymore. I’m not even concerned about submitting my opponents in training. I care about moving with grace and about making my jiu jitsu as fluid and elegant as possible. I’m devoted to the very craft of it.” – Nic Gregoriades

“The legendary Rickson Gracie said that it wasn’t enough to beat your opponent, but that you had to make it look good too. I understand this now. The martial artist is no different from a writer or a painter. The very act of expressing himself through his art is his joy.” – Nic Gregoriades,

“I realize now that my jiu-jitsu is much simpler than when I was a purple belt. When I was a purple belt I tried the most amazing moves – I ran a marathon to get five miles away. Now everything is much clearer. You don’t waste time or strength, you just go straight to the point.” – Renzo Gracie,

“Nothing will beat you more than life will, and I think that jiu jitsu is the better way of translating how to go through those struggles loving what you’re doing.” – Roberto Cyborg Abreu

“If you want to be a lion you must train with lions” – Carlos Gracie, Sr.

“Your opponent is strong, are you crazy? Strong is the smell of your bullsh*” – José Mario Sperry

“The high minded pursuit of a Jiu Jitsu practitioner pursuing mastery cannot coexist well with the modern world. Our values vary immensely from our contemporaries. The pursuit leaves societal norms slaughtered in our wake. Those who share this journey will praise our efforts; those in the hive will think we have lost it. We must be willing to be misunderstood if we are to understand ourselves.” – Chris Matakas

“Why would you ignore fifty percent of the body?”(on leg attacks) – Dean Lister

“Time on the mat will eventually surpass talent and ability.” – Gracie Mag

“Martial arts are difficult. Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is particularly hard. People will drop out. They will quit.” – Roy Dean

“The winner can brag, the loser can keep quiet” – Roberto Atalla

“My ego is my enemy and my opponent is my teacher” – Renzo Gracie

“Jiu jitsu is the science and art of control that leads to submission.” – John Danaher

“It is important not to be better than someone else, but be better than yesterday.” – Jigoro Kano

“It would be like asking a judo player to describe how he identifies the split second, where the opponent is in the exact right position to be thrown through the air. There are too many details for the conscious brain to observe and register so pure intuition takes over.” – Christian Graugart

“Jiu jitsu teaches you how to focus. How to get more accomplished with less effort. You start to see how the art advances your potential as a human being.” – Roy Dean

“Jiu jitsu changes who you are. It gets you comfortable with change and appreciative of variation. Jiu jitsu allows you to look at people without fear or apprehension.” – Roy Dean

“I’ve been going against the stereotype of jiu jitsu since I started. When I started jiu jitsu people told me “You’ve got to look tough, you’ve got to shave your head, you want to have a big bad cauliflower ear”. That’s what people would tell me…Then when I realized you don’t need that to win a tournament, when I realized you don’t need that to submit someone and dominate an event and you still can have a great performance, but still be kind and respectful and be enjoyable, I totally started going against that.” – Marcelo Garcia

“Jiu jitsu teaches you to find comfort in very uncomfortable situations.” – Gui Valente,

Jiu jitsu doesn’t end. It goes on forever. You can always get better.” – Joe Rogan

“It’s as real as it can get. That has made me a better person. It’s made me a better man. It’s made me understand myself, my weaknesses, my strengths, the shit I need to work on. Jiu-jitsu has been one of the most valuable tools I’ve ever had in my life.” – Joe Rogan

“Why do I beat a lot of people? Because I love it so much, that’s why. Everything about jiu jitsu, I love it: the school, the mat, the ring. I always believe that. Maybe I’m not better than my opponent, but I know for sure I love my training more.” – Marcelo Garcia

“It puts things in perspective for sure. Because you’re constantly making yourself struggle and when you put yourself through tough times it always makes your outside life seem just that little bit easier.” – Garry Tonon

“Jiu jitsu is not just movement patterns and physics, it’s an art.” – Roy Dean

“The more you attack, the more your opponent will make mistakes.” – Marcelo Garcia “Everyone is the same for the first two minutes, everyone has a chance to win, but after that, you start to separate physically and mentally.” – Marcelo Garcia

“Never give up on your dreams” – Ricardo Vieira

“You can train a martial art, or a martial sport, such as jiu-jitsu, which is both, for sportive uses. But while you’re doing this you always have to think about reality. You have to train the sportive methods, but then always keep adapting them and yourself to be able to use them in real situations. You can’t lose sight of that or you lose sight of jiu-jitsu itself. That is the base idea of Brazilian jiu-jitsu – practice for sport, but be able to apply it for real.” – Rigan Machado

“Jiu jitsu and martial arts do not build character, they reveal it. We are all born with unmeasurable courage and determination, but it is as we go through the trials of rigorous training that we rediscover those gifts.” – Ricardo Almeida

“No aspect of jiu jitsu is invented, only discovered. Every possible submission, sweep or throw already exists… progression is a matter of revelation, we have to learn to see what is there.” – Francisco Mansor

“One of the quotes that I use a lot – besides you’re only as good as the guys you sweat and bleed with – is that iron sharpens iron. So that one man sharpens another. I think that it is very true. If you are not in a training environment where you are getting smacked in the head, you are getting tapped out, you are getting challenged on a daily basis, then you are not getting any better. You’re not improving. Your workout partners are a very important piece of your progression as an athlete and the character that you are building as a person as well. Those are key components and finding that right place is a piece of it.” – Randy Couture “Wrestling For Fighting”

“Be patient, have fun, learn the basics. Enjoy the journey. Don’t be in a rush to get your blue belt, to get your first stripe, to get your purple belt. It’s going to come, but you have to be patient.” – Jared Weiner

“The hardness on the mat will transfer to making life easier for you in real life.” – Fabio Santos

“Jiu Jitsu is perfect. It’s humans who make errors.” – Rickson Gracie

“Being strong and knowing jiu jitsu is a double advantage.” – Helio Gracie

“If you push kids too hard, too young, they will quit forever. Parents should never burden their kids with their unfulfilled ambitions, frustrations, anxiety, or any other form of emotional baggage. The parents’ support must be consistent. The most important thing is that the child gets the experience—win, lose, or draw—without judgment.” – Rickson Gracie, Breathe

“If you ask me what belt I am today I’ll answer you that I’m still a white belt who never gave up” – Jean Jaques Machado

“As I have said many times, I did not invent jiu jitsu, I just made it better. It is as if I had an oversized kimono and tailored it to fit me perfectly.” – Helio Gracie

“Every great memory I have, there was jiu jitsu involved.” – Renzo Gracie

“The perfect technique is one without much effort or conscious thought applied at the right time in the right direction, with the right amount of force – a spontaneous reaction to the opportunity presented by the opponent’s movement.” – Unknown

“For me the white belt is the most precious asset we have. This is the people we have to take care, we have to look over them, we have to make sure they learn right. They get better.” – Renzo Gracie,

“The thing about jiu-jitsu gis is that some of them are really expensive. Don’t get caught up in how much your gi costs; it doesn’t matter how much you pay for a gi, it won’t make your jiu-jitsu any better, the only thing that will make you look good on the mat is your technique.” – Mark Johnson,

“A black belt only covers two inches of your as – you have to cover the rest.” – Royce Gracie

“Martial arts can really bring everyone together, especially jiu jitsu. You see it in academies all across the world. So many times I’m on my mat, and I look back and I’m sitting against the wall and I just look on the mat and I look around, I see all these people together sharing their techniques, and sharing their energies, and having fun with each other.” – Rafael Lovato Jr,

“Jiu jitsu, like nature, is all about the conservation of energy. In jiu jitsu ‘efficiency’ means using only as little strength and power as is required to accomplish your objectives. It means economy of motion – eliminating wasted movements and effort.” – Nic Gregoriades

“What differentiates Brazilian jiu jitsu from most martial arts is the employment of positional strategy. In jiu jitsu, the position you are in relative to your opponent is paramount. A kick-boxer or a karateka is concerned with knocking out their opponent, but besides distance and angles, they do not give much thought to the position of their body in relation to their opponent’s. Jiu-Jitsu first seeks to establish a position, and then to finish the fight.” – Nic Gregoriades

“That’s the gratifying part of jiu jitsu, is to watch the people and see how they change for better. Very few people change for worse.” – Fabio Santos

“Always assume your opponent is going to be bigger, stronger and faster than you; so that you learn to rely on techniques, timing, and leverage rather than brute strength.” – Helio Gracie

“Always Assume that your opponent is going to be bigger, stronger, and faster than you. So, you have to learn to rely on technique, timing, and leverage rather than brute strength” – Helio Gracie

“Discipline and consistency. I owe these two factors all have attained in my life. Things have never happened overnight. Results have appeared as a consequence of decades-long toil. It is necessary to persist.” – Master Carlos Gracie Jr.

“I am a shark, the ground is my ocean, and most people don’t know how to swim.” – Jean Jacques Machado

“Jiu jitsu is a philosophy that’s expressed physically.” – Ryan Hall

“If you want to be a really good grappler, you have to learn with the gi. With a gi on, everything is so much harder – a hundred times harder. With no-gi, you take a good wrestler and in three months he understands where the danger comes from and his game will be fine. The moment you put on a gi, the opponent has handles to grip, so everything is much harder – harder to pass guard, to defend guard – so it teaches your hips to be extremely active to get out of the way.” – Renzo Gracie

“The guiding principle behind ju is the idea of a weaker (gentler) force overcoming a stronger force through the application of technique, or jitsu, rather than strength and aggression.” – Renzo Gracie & John Danaher

“Martial arts are a vehicle for developing your human potential.” – Joe Rogan

“At first repetition is what counts”, says Carlos Gracie Jr. “I teach my students to repeat the moves to exhaustion, until it enters their subconscious and they, therefore, can apply them automatically, without thinking. Later on, once the combat situations have become complex I try and stimulate them to be creative.” – Master Carlos Gracie Jr.

“The value I give, my friends and my dear reporter, the value jiu-jitsu has for me is priceless, nothing can pay for it because it gives us a sense of tranquility and peace. A tranquil man is tolerant. There is no reason for me to beat some one up if he calls me names like ugly, old, crazy or idiot; I think it’s funny. As long as he does not attack me physically, I respond fearlessly and usually a well thought answer makes an aggressor think twice. Sometimes soft talk instills more fear than any scream.” – Helio Gracie

“What I like about jiu jitsu is that unlike other forms of combat, whether that be warfare or crime, there’s no negative side to it. No one gets seriously hurt, no one’s possessions get stolen, no one’s lives get ruined or ended. It’s combat with benefits…There’s no serious loss here, the only thing that’s hurt or bruised is your ego.” – John Danaher

“The best thing about jiu jitsu is the honor it provides” – Fábio Gurgel

“Jiu jitsu helped me to understand life in a very deep way, because it’s a representation of life, but on the mat. You can express your emotions, you can express your intelligence, you can express your personality, your character. You cannot hide anything because once you’re there, you have your gi, [but] no gold watches, no security, no guns, and you have to expose yourself in a very raw way.” – Rickson Gracie

“If you guys attach to each other very hard, and hold each other very tight what happens is you don’t move, your opponent doesn’t move. Nothing happens in the training. That’s not Gracie Jiu-jitsu. The real Gracie Jiu-jitsu – you don’t hold tight, you kind of hold the opponent with open hands. You let him move and after that you counter him. It is 100% counterattacks. Helio Gracie was light – 140 lbs. – and was able to perform moves against much larger opponents because he brought those tricks to make the opponent commit himself to a move first so you always catch an opponent off guard. It is a very intelligent way to let somebody move first, in an empty move, you let him go first.

“If you’re an eternal white belt you only get better. The moment you believe you’re a master, your downfall is near. It’s like you’re closing yourself from new knowledge. In my head I’m a constant, for life white belt.” – Renzo Gracie

“Be just with the good and tameless against the perverse” – Leonardo Vieira

“The mountain-sea spirit that it is bad to repeat the same thing several times when fighting the enemy. There may be no help but to do something twice, but do not try it a third time. If you once make an attack and fail, there is little chance of success if you use the same approach again. If you attempt a technique that you have previously tried unsuccessfully and fail yet again, then you must change your attacking method. – Miyamoto Musashi “A Book of Five Rings”

“I drill techniques – my main techniques, my “A” move, my “A Game” sweep, the guard pass and sub I hit the most, over and over again. I’ve drilled them so many times, my body just reacts now. I can go out and let instinct take over. Most of our training is drilling, based on our individual games and what we do best. Before a big tournament, I stick to the stuff I’ve been doing, and just drill it to death….If you’re thinking about what to do next, your competitor is already moving to his next move. It’s best to just react and let your body take over.” – Keenan Cornelius

“Don’t feel like you deserve things. Nobody deserves anything, you have to earn everything. You’ve got to work hard for things. I can’t stand when people come in and think they deserve things.” – Jared Weiner

“I keep the white belt mentality. That I can learn from anyone, anywhere, anytime.” – George St. Pierre

“You can’t lose in Jiu-Jitsu. You either win or you learn“ – Carlos Gracie, Sr.

“Jiu jitsu and martial arts in general, it’s not a temporary thing, it’s not a seasonal thing, it’s not a one self defense class thing. This is something that just like many other things in life, if you’d like to get good at it, if you’d like to really develop the skill, you’re going to have to work at it over and over again, day after day, and you’ll develop confidence that way. You’re going to have days where you come in and you feel terrible, and you feel like you know nothing and you feel like you haven’t made any progress, and other days you’re going to feel really good about yourself, and you’ve made a lot of progress but that’s what it takes. You can’t just show up once, or once and a while, and really believe that you’re going to develop this skill with any efficacy.” – Garry Tonon

“There is no losing in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. You either win or you learn.” – Carlos Gracie

“Jiu jitsu changes who you are. It gets you comfortable with change and appreciative of variation. Jiu jitsu allows you to look at people without fear or apprehension. You can choose to approach situations indirectly, seeing how it’s often easier to blend with others in order to achieve your goals.” – Roy Dean

“It’s such an honest and open form of competition, your whole body, spirit and mind, against another person’s, where there is a clear and definitive winner, where one person wins and one person surrenders.” – John Danaher

“We’re not in the business of selling martial arts, we’re in the business of selling confidence. We’re in the business of transforming people…We’re in the business of transforming souls to make them shine. It’s not a sport, it’s not a martial art, it’s a lifestyle, it’s a way of living. It’s a way to improve your life.” – Renzo Gracie

“There’s no shortcuts, it’s going to be a long journey if this is what you’re interested in.” – Garry Tonon

“When you train in the gi, your hips are better, sweeps are better, your escape from the mount is ten times better. With a gi on, the mounted gi has a hundred attacks, and without it, he has two or three. It’s a joke.” – Renzo Gracie

“I’ve been preaching the invisible jiu jitsu for a while, and now it becomes very appropriate to start to develop this kind of jiu jitsu which doesn’t translate in fight itself but translates in more self recognition. It’s the part of jiu jitsu where you start to understand how a little shift of your angle can change the whole performance of your opponent. How a little timing or deflection, or connection, can really be positive in your engagement.” – Rickson Gracie

“Fights are won on small mundane details” – John Danaher

“Jiu-Jitsu is for the protection of the individual, the older man, the weak, the child, the lady, and the young woman from being dominated and hurt by some bum because they don’t have the physical attributes to defend themselves. Like I never had.” – Helio Gracie

“Sometimes I just want to be with my family and watch a movie and eat some popcorn. But when I step on the mat I know there is no other place I’d rather be.” – Marcelo Garcia

“The demands of jiu jitsu temper your spirit in a deeply beneficial way, but it can also drain you.” – Roy Dean

“Keep in mind that reading books and watching videos about jiu jitsu is not doing jiu jitsu. Just as you will never learn to swim if you don’t get wet, neither will you become a jiu jitsuka if you don’t get on the mats and train.” – Nic Gregoriades

“I never bother getting angry. I don’t need it. I don’t confuse angry with intense. I think being angry makes you tired. I perform at a high level without it.” – Marcelo Garcia

“Many styles of martial arts carried on that tradition and required that practitioners bow as a sign of respect. In Brazil, as in many parts of the world, when we meet someone we shake hands. That is what I have done all my life. So if we meet, please remember I don’t expect you to bow to me. A handshake will do.” – Helio Gracie

“Jiu jitsu is not a hard thing to fall in love with right. I mean as soon as you see it and know you can apply this stuff, and you know the power of it.” – Ricardo Migliarese

“…look he carries all of my weight. That’s another theory of jiu-jitsu. When I rest I should put him to work so I don’t get tired and he gets tired. He spends energy.” – Demian Maia

“I created Jiu-Jitsu, what is now referred to as Jiu-Jitsu, which is exactly the best fighting system that exists. Because with the weight and the age that I had, I was able to fight world champions that weighed 100 kilograms.” – Helio Gracie

“Anger just makes people inefficient. Their breathing gets shallow, they’re too muscularly tense; they gas faster.” – John Danaher

“There is an era before, and another one after Rolls Gracie“ – Royce Gracie

“I always try to attack. While I’m on the offensive, my opponent can think of nothing but defending.” – Marcelo Garcia

“The biggest lesson I learned from jiu jitsu was how to truly know myself” – Carlos Gracie

“You cannot fight the force, you have to use the force.” – Rickson Gracie

“In jiu jitsu you’re constantly reminded about how magical your body really is. Everyday you’re reminded of that. You suck at a move, and then you practice it over and over and then you get really good at it and then it becomes unconscious, it becomes magical. You can just do that every day. You’re reminded that your body can master anything if you just put it through enough reps.” – Eddie Bravo

“Jiu jitsu is a live demonstration of what you’re about.” – Rickson Gracie

“The essential characteristic of jiu jitsu is very simple. It’s the science and art of control that leads to submission.” – John Danaher

“Jiu jitsu brings so many people together into a family that I think that’s the most awesome thing about jiu jitsu, it’s the friendship that you make.” – Fabio Santos

“The discipline of jujutsu should serve your life. If it stops serving you, then make an adjustment in your relationship to it. Don’t just do more.” – Roy Dean

“This ability to solve problems under stress is one of the most valuable things I think any human being can have.” – John Danaher

“The rules were: you either kill or you get killed, no one died so it was declared a draw” – Fernando Pinduka

“Jiu jitsu is more like a religion, it’s more like a lifestyle, than actually a competition aspect.” – Rickson Gracie

“Strength is used in jujitsu. It can definitely help to be strong, but strength is used in an intelligent, rational manner as part of a strategy guided by efficient technique.” – Renzo Gracie & John Danaher,

You no longer there to receive the move; now you are doing your own move in an empty body, an unprepared body. Thy at is the idea.” – Pedro Sauer

“I think the most valuable thing today I have, is to display and inform people [about] how important the invisible aspect of jiu jitsu is. It’s the fight you fight with your brain, with your spirit, but not with your physicality.” – Rickson Gracie

“The primary purpose of jiu jitsu is self-defense, teaching them complete self defense system, but also wellness. And when we talk about wellness we refer to as I said physical wellness, mental wellness and spiritual wellness.” – Pedro Valente Jr

“If you want to be a lion, you must train with lions.” – Carlos Gracie

“Ego is the big reason that guys stop advancing in the sport. Because in Jiu jitsu it feels so bad when you tap. You got killed. Jiu jitsu is great because it filters out the assholes who can’t control their egos, the douche bags who can’t handle showing physical inferiority.” – Eddie Bravo

“How is jiu jitsu a lifestyle? People don’t understand that until they actually walk into the doors, put their gi in, jump on the mat and get bit from the bug.” – Roberto Cyborg Abreu

“There is an era before, and another one after Rolls Gracie“ – Royce Gracie

“Purple belt is the belt where you find yourself. You cut your teeth in this sport. Brown belt is that final refinement belt, that maturing belt. Black belt you kind of start all over again. Each new stripe, I start all over again. Try to empty my slate completely and relearn jiu jitsu as if I’m brand new at it.” – Chris Hauter

“Jiu Jitsu at the end of the day is the art of expressing yourself honestly. Every time you put on that gi you can’t lie.” – Saulo Ribeiro

“Anger brought me to jiu-jitsu, but love made me stay” – Abmar Barbosa

“It’s what martial arts are supposed to be. That a small person who knows technique can beat a big person that doesn’t know the technique. That’s what we always hoped for when we saw the Bruce Lee movies.” – Joe Rogan

“The deepest benefits of Jiu Jitsu come off the mat. It encourages a world-view based upon the idea of rational problem solving. Jiu Jitsu is all about solving problems that are rapidly changing under stress, and that gives you an ability to identify the crux of the problem in front of you, even in a stressful situation and adapt your body and tactics to overcome that problem and to continue overcoming it as the problem itself changes. It encourages you to use a very rational trial and error method, basically the same method that science uses to overcome these problems. So it gives you this sort of problem solving mindset, which I think applies throughout life itself.” – John Danaher

“Since my initial involvement with jiu-jitsu, because of my lack of strength, my objective has been to have maximum effectiveness in the simplest and most effortless way possible. I did not spend my life trying to improve a system that would make me look good at a sport competition, full of fancy spins and colorful turns. Instead, I have developed a self-defense method that is complete, easy, and effective.” – Helio Gracie

“For all the doubters all I want to say is, you should try and get to know me better. If you did you would know I never give up” – Victor “Shaolin” Ribeiro

“Jiu jitsu is the only martial art where it really works like in the Bruce Lee movie. Where the little guy really can beat the big guy.” – Joe Rogan

“There’s no talent here, this is hard work. This is an obsession. Talent does not exist, we are all equals as human beings. You could be anyone if you put in the time. You will reach the top, and that’s that. I am not talented. I am obsessed.” – Connor McGregor

“The most important part of jiu jitsu is the middle of the way. It’s the path between one position and another – the transition – that makes the difference between a mediocre fighter and an unbelievable fighter.” – Renzo Gracie

“A black belt is someone who will find a way or make one.” – Unknown

“For every match lost by overconfidence, there are one hundred that are lost due to excessive timidity.” – John Danaher

“The technique sometimes substitutes strength. It’s difficult for someone to beat me, until today.” – Helio Gracie

“My opponent is my teacher, my ego is my enemy.” – Renzo Gracie

“Why do I beat a lot of people? Because I love it so much, that’s why. Everything about Jiu-Jitsu, I love it – the school, the mat, the ring. I always believe that. Maybe I am not better than my opponent, but I know for sure I love my training more.” – Marcelo Garcia

“I’ve never been quite as humbled as I have in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.” – Lex Friedman

“It’s my belief that [the] highest level of jiu jitsu is encountered off the mat. Life is just one big jiu jitsu match.” – Nic Gregoriades

“For an individual, the greatest gift that I think they get from jiu jitsu is the idea of solving problems under stress. Every second of every match you’re ever involved in in jiu jitsu is an attempt to solve the problem that my opponent is presenting to me.” – John Danaher

“Fall down seven times, get up eight.” – Unknown

“Jiu Jitsu is for everyone, anyone can learn: men or women. It enhances anyone’s physical potential, so if you want to increase your physical potential learn jiu-jitsu, because the jiu jitsu we practice is at everyone’s reach.” – Helio Gracie

“From white belt through black belt, one of the things I always try to explain to people is that there’s going to be a lot of ups and downs, and it’s how you react to those downs that get you through the days, so a lot of challenges put in front of you, it’s how you react to those challenges and whether you let them mold you or you mold them.” – Chris Harding

“The best approach for teaching jiu jitsu is to make the student learn from within. He has to feel the difference, he’s not just obeying what you’re saying, but he has to [say] ‘oh man, I can feel now’”. – Rickson Gracie

“Begin every engagement by denying your opponent the tools they need to impose your game upon you. Only then do you work to impose your game upon them.” – John Danaher

“The most interesting aspect of jiu-jitsu is… of course the techniques are great…but the sensibility of the opponent, sense of touch, the weight, the momentum, the transition from one movement to another. That’s the amazing thing about it. You must allow yourself to go as on autopilot. You don’t know exactly where you’re going until the movement happened because you can not anticipate what is going to happen. You must allow yourself to be in a zero point; a neutral point. Be relaxed and connected with the variations. Flow with the go.” – Rickson Gracie

“There is a difference between something that is catastrophic and something that is uncomfortable. If something is catastrophic (breaking your limbs, choke on too tight) you tap. If something is uncomfortable you have to find a way out.” – John Danaher

“It’s more than sport for me, because I never get in a fight intending to tap. If I get caught I will die, I will break – I’m not going to tap.” – Rickson Gracie

“I wasn’t a good student, and even now I never say that I am better than anybody, but I know I love Jiu-Jitsu more than anybody. I love the energy and that it gets deeper the more you study.” – Marcelo Garcia

“Reduced to its core, jujitsu is the employment of intelligence and skill to over-come brute strength and aggression.” – Renzo Gracie & John Danaher

“Dad reasoned that whether we were better than someone else should not be the focus because our position in relation to others was out of our control. We could not control another’s performance nor could we control how we would be ranked. All we could do was our best…Instead he wanted us to try very hard to give the best possible effort to become the best we could be and let the results take care of themselves.” – Coach John Wooden

“When you make friends in jiu jitsu it’s forever.” – Fabio Santos

“Watching your students win is one of the most rewarding moments you can have as a jiu jitsu instructor.” – Roy Dean

“A balanced game will allow you to attack from both sides, making your skills more complete, more effective, and essentially doubling your techniques. Always drill both sides. Balance is good.” – Mark Johnson

“In the fight, only one person can be comfortable. Your job is to transfer the comfortable from your opponent to you.” -Rickson Gracie

“When you’re on the mat rolling around with somebody and drilling with somebody, training with somebody, getting to know somebody, and just in physical contact with these people every single day there’s only one thing to do and that’s to bond. You know you make this friendship, you make this brotherhood, and you’re making each other better every day. You’re helping each other, you’re picking each other up.” – Jared Weiner

“To be champion all you have to do is train. But first, one must be a good person. Be a friend at the academy, learn to help. To be good at Jiu-Jitsu it’s all about believing and training, there isn’t that much else you can do.” – Rodolfo Vieira

“I believe in diving deep into a small pool of information. For instance when you learn a new move in jiu-jitsu. Learn something on one side of the body, learn it very deeply, then learn it on the other side when you’ve developed that deep feel.” – Josh Waitzkin

“When I see you grapple, I am not impressed if you win or lose. What I want to see is your use of the fundamentals of jiu-jitsu. It does not matter how it ends. I do not care if you tap five times as long as you try to use technique.” – Saulo Ribeiro

“A great goal of jiu-jitsu is to be technical—not to be fast, or strong, or tough, or tricky; it is to be the master of movement; it is to know a technique so well that its pieces are no longer chunks of information regurgitated from your memory. It is you; it is effortless, you don’t think about it, you just do—and when you do it–it’s flawless.” – Mark Johnson

“The evolutionary process in jiu jitsu makes you feel everytime more capable to see the underlines, to anticipate the move, to become better connected with the elements no matter if it’s physical, spiritual or mental.” – Rickson Gracie

“Jiu Jitsu can support you in terms of giving you more confidence, giving you more capacity to handle stress, handle emotions…” – Rickson Gracie

“People would see a lot of times fighting as a ugly thing, as a thing that denigrates the human being. In reality, you see fighting on everything… Everything’s fighting. Doesn’t matter what it is. You wake up in the morning, to get out of bed is a fight, believe it. So, fighting is actually the best thing a man can have in his soul.” – Renzo Gracie

“We are adaptive creatures. Jiu jitsu keeps that spirit of adaptation alive and allows us to recognize the opportunities to act, while forging within us the courage to try.” – Roy Dean

“Doesn’t matter how much money you have, what possessions you have or who you are, as soon as you step on those mats you’re going to get choked.” – Roberto Cyborg Abreu

“Whatever you do in your life you’re going to be comparing with jiu jitsu.” – Roberto Cyborg Abreu,

“A black belt is a white belt who never quit” – Unknown

“What is described as elite performance is mostly just the fundamentals taken to the limits of their vast potential.” – John Danaher

“Jiu jitsu I believe is the most efficient way of fighting in any situation, in a street fight, in a ring, inside an elevator, anywhere.” – Renzo Gracie

“Traditionally, a kimono or “gi” is worn to simulate the clothing one would be wearing on the street, such as a jacket, coat, or shirt. The kimono is stronger and you can use it to practice a larger variety of finishing techniques, so that if the need ever arises, you will be able to use your assailant’s clothing to your advantage.” – Helio Gracie

“In this sport, there is no room for hiding. You have to prove yourself and confront your ego on the mat, every single day. You cannot put on some belt, and never have to prove that you deserve it. In other sports, you can maybe stay away from competitions, but if you train Jiu Jitsu, you will still have to spar every class you attend. There is no way around it, and constantly confronting your ego like that, forcing you to be honest about yourself, is a very healthy thing.” – Christian Graugart

Funny Jiu Jitsu quotes

“My experience with Jiu Jitsu was very humbling. When I first started out I had a long history with martial arts in striking. A guy who was my size and close to my age mauled me, and he wasn’t even a black belt.” – Joe Rogan

“Training jiu-jitsu with a gi is like riding a crotch rocket through a residential neighborhood. It’s fun, no doubt about it. But training jiu-jitsu without the gi is like taking that same crotch rocket out onto the freeway. It’s faster. There is less stalling. You’ve got to slow down every once in a while for traffic, but mostly you’re in fifth gear hauling ass. This is the style of jiu-jitsu that I enjoy.” – Eddie Bravo

“Jiu-jitsu is not the art of hitting, it’s the art of not getting hit” – Royce Gracie

“No one is going to get a black belt in this sport without some physical suffering, some aches and pains to tell their grandchildren about.” – John Danaher

“If it wasn’t for me, today the Gracie family would be selling banana’s on the pavement” – Carlson Gracie

“The more I train the luckier I get” – Renzo Gracie

“Everybody has ego. I have it too. But you have to be the black belt and the ego has to be the blue belt – you have to be controlling it.” – Eddie Bravo

What is special about Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu?

What is special about Brazilian jiu jitsu? Well I think it can be summed up in the below points:

• It is ever evolving only taking with it the most effective techniques and leaving the ineffective ones behind
• It emphasizes frequent live sparring against fully resisting opponents so you know it works
• It helps you increase discipline and overcome frustration and fear and gain confidence
• It increases problem solving abilities
• It can be performed effectively by anyone no matter their age, sex, or athletic abilities
• It creates strong social bonds and connection with training partners and teammates

What is the motto of Gracie Jiu Jitsu?

The motto of gracie jiu jitsu is “keep it playful”. Jiu jitsu should be fun, challenging, and focused on technique. You should be having fun by learning in every class and every sparring session – win, lose, or draw.

Zack Nicholas

Zack is an avid jiu jitsu practitioner and martial arts nerd. He currently holds a brown belt in BJJ. When not on the mats or in the gym, he can be found going for walks with his wife, attempting (and often failing) to train his dog, and frequently obsessing over a specific hobby only to forget about it a week later.