In January, the co-ed Brazilian Jiu Jitsu club became an official club sport and has since been holding practices in the Alumni Gym several times a week. Co-presidents Carlos Benitez and Dominic Barone lead the club alongside Coaches Aaron Hines, Zach Lowery and Auri Zhou, who provide instruction. The club provides a welcoming space for all levels of grapplers, and it is always taking new members.

Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (BJJ) is a martial art with a focus on a precise ground-based fighting style that is a mixture of traditional Japanese judo technique and Brazilian grappling strategy. It is unique from other combat sports due to the focus of working toward a submission, or a “tap out,” and can be a useful skill for self-defense.

Jiu Jitsu translates to “gentle art” from Japanese, suggesting its inherent nature of using leverage and technique over muscle. It is a mental game of outsmarting one’s opponent to use their force to their advantage. This means that anyone can do it if they put in the time and effort to get better.

In his instruction, Lowery emphasizes accessibility, “anyone can do this. There is nobody who can’t learn how to use their body to manipulate other people’s bodies in a way that uses leverage to overcome size and strength to their advantage. That’s what Jiu Jitsu is.”

Size, gender, or shape is not an important factor in winning a BJJ fight, it’s mastering the techniques in an artful way. The club provides an opportunity to people of all skill levels and backgrounds to learn in a supportive space that provides training and a variety of practice to its members.

The sport also requires a mental discipline to learn and perform the techniques in the right way, whether one is learning a more traditional or modern style. It is a good form of exercise, with constant high-energy movements throughout a fight. Junior co-captain Carlos Benitez says that the sport helps him manage stress and transfers the mindset of staying calm under pressure into his daily life.

“The sport clicked with me from the beginning. It helps me a lot with relieving stress, through exercising and also learning to manage stress in difficult situations. It teaches you how to react. Especially if you have someone trying to choke you out for five minutes, you are forced to deal with it. Applying that mindset to my daily life has really helped me.”

Co-ed practices for the BJJ club are held Monday, Tuesday and Thursday from 6-7:30 p.m. and they also have a women’s-only class Fridays from 1-2 p.m.. During these practices, one of the coaches will lead a demonstration on a specific skill that members of the club want more practice in. Then, the instructor will critique them as they practice the new move with their peers. On Fridays from 2-4 p.m., they have an open mat for everyone, where they practice grappling in a relaxed but educational setting. It is open to all skill levels, and members help each other learn by providing feedback to each other.

Junior Carlos Duran, who has been a member of the club since its first non-official meeting, says that “It’s hard at first, but the more you come (to meetings), you can see the improvement, which makes it worth it.” He likes the welcoming environment of the club and the accessibility of cheap, fun exercise where he has been able to make new friends and learn new skills.

BJJ is a natural co-ed sport, but Barone said that they still try to make their space especially welcoming to women, aware of the inherent pressures of a male-dominated club.

“We wanted it to be a safe place for everyone to train. However it definitely can be scary for a girl to come into a room full of guys and just start wrestling. So, we wanted to create an environment where girls felt safe to build their skills without the pressure of fighting just men.”

As of now, there is a wavering 3-1 ratio of guys to girls in the club, but the co-presidents hope that as membership grows, more women will choose to join.

The club doesn’t participate in formal tournaments yet, but Barone recently participated in the team’s first local competition. As of now, the competitions are individually organized and funded, but they are hoping to expand to competing formally against other universities through the National Collegiate Grappling Association.

On Nov. 15, the BJJ club hosted a UFC watch party in their normal practice space, where they will be provided pizza. The match was a double-title fight — Valentina Shevchenko vs. Zhang Weili and Jack Della Maddalena vs. Islam Makhachev.

For more information on joining the Jiu Jitsu club, you can reference their instagram page @seubjj or contact the presidents.