Diet for Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu children athletes

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu can be helpful for children in various ways. It helps them build a self defense mechanism, stay fit, and built confidence. However, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu requires the practitioner to have a sense on commitment. The practitioner needs to follow an exercise and practice routine and complement it with a balanced nutritional diet. And this is all the more important, if the practitioner is a child. Children have to get their nutritional requirements to ensure proper growth and also need to make up for the calories lost in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu training.

To start with, trainers or parents can determine the right calorie intake for the child. This will help in managing the child’s weight. The child’s diet should balance all nutritional elements — vitamins, proteins, carbohydrates, minerals like calcium and iron, etc.

A Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu athlete’s diet should contain a wide base of complex carbohydrates. Their source could be wheat, cereal, rice, etc. The child could take vitamins, minerals and fiber, which can be gained from vegetables and fruits. Parents or trainers can study the nutritional value of all fruits and vegetable and include them accordingly in the child’s diet. Try to make fruits and vegetables look appetizing to the kids by trying out different recipes, garnishes and cooking methods. Make popsicles with fresh fruit juices, offer dry fruits, nuts, carrot and celery sticks with cheese dip for snacks and other such interesting options. Go online and find many more such tips and tricks to include fruits and vegetables in your kids’ diet. Also, as much as possible, avoid processed food in your child’s diet.

A young Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu athlete should receive a regular intake of dairy and meat products to get calcium, zinc, proteins and minerals. These minerals help in development of strong bones and muscles. Fats, oils and simple sugar are also important for a child athlete. However, in most cases, these elements are present in the regular diet and their consumption must be monitored as they can lead to weight gain easily.

Child Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu athletes also need to ensure adequate fluid intake. Practicing Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu can lead to fluid loss, which can make a child vulnerable to dehydration and heat illness. Parents and trainers must ensure that a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu athlete drinks water and energy drinks at regular intervals. Parents can look for an energy drink of their child’s favorite flavor. It will replenish sodium lost through sweat apart from quenching thirst. However, the drink should be low on sugar and other carbohydrates.

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Martial Arts - Introduction to Brazilian Jiu-jitsu

Most individuals' first experiences with martial arts were watching Bruce Lee and Chuck Norris on the big screen mystifying us with flashy punches and kicks and many times taking out multiple assailants at the same time. While its hard for anyone to doubt the entertainment value of these films, they did start to build a false belief in what an effective martial art can realistically achieve. Kung fu, Karate and Taekwondo clubs were filled from coast to coast and the general consensus was that these arts offered the most effective self defense.

As this was going on in America, Brazil was holding open competitions that pitted different styles against each other in order to truly find which single martial art was the most effective. Brazilian Jiu-jitsu reigned supreme for decades, winning competition after competition. The rest of the world didn't take notice of this art until the early 1990s when a descendant of the creator of BJJ (Brazilian Jiu-jitsu) won a no holds barred tournament in America known as the UFC. Many people were blown away with how easily a small man could defeat a larger, stronger man. The world started to wonder where this "new" martial art had come from! What most people didn't understand is it wasn't that new of a martial art, it actually was invented in the early 1920s by Carlos Gracie.

In the 1920s a Japanese martial artists by the name of Esai Maeda migrated to Brazil and taught Carlos Gracie a martial art known as Jiu-jitsu which translates into the gentle art. Carlos in return, taught his four younger brothers the art and they opened their first school in 1925. Helio Gracie, who is the youngest of all the Gracies only weighed 135lbs and had trouble using the techniques on bigger opponents. He then figured out a way to fine tune the techniques and use leverage instead of strength. Ultimately Helio altered so many of the techniques that it became a martial art of its own which they now labeled Brazilian Jiu-jitsu.

What makes BJJ so effective is the fact that even the smallest man or women for that matter can effectively defend themselves from a larger, more aggressive assailant. BJJ is a ground oriented martial arts meaning the objective of the art is to take an attacker to the ground and apply either a choke or a joint manipulation. The belief behind this is that most attackers will be like a fish out of water when taken to the ground. The true effectiveness of the art is the fact that you use your opponents own strength and aggression against them. Unlike other martial arts, students partake in live training or sparring at the end of each class which helps equip them for real life situations. The fact that every class is made to feel like a real life scenario is truly what makes BJJ the single most effective martial art for self defense. It may not be as pretty as some other martial arts but it certainly is more effective.

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu BJJ VS Boxing

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and Boxing are both hugely popular combat sports. However, they differ in their approaches and techniques. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is a martial art that focuses on self defense. It aims at gaining control over a larger and stronger opponent with minimum effort and by using specific techniques. Boxing is a sport that involves movements to attack and defend at the same time.

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu has evolved from Jiu-Jitsu, which is known as the oldest martial art. It uses grappling and ground fighting techniques for combat. It uses joint locks, compression locks and chokeholds to make the opponent submit. It came into existence when Mitsuyo Maeda, a Japanese judoka, immigrated to Brazil in 1910’s. He propagated a martial art that used techniques of Jiu-Jitsu and Judo.

Boxing is known to have evolved from fist fighting. Initially, it looked more like a combat without rules. It included kicking, punching, eye gouging, biting, hair-pulling, etc. Standardization of boxing rules started in 1838 with introduction of rings to fight. The rules regarding safety gear and match duration were defined in 1867.

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, being an art of self-defense, discourages all techniques aimed at injuring the opponent. The athlete has to focus on gaining control on his opponent. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu teaches an athlete to respect his opponent’s strength. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu athletes are responsible for the safety of their opponents. While applying a technique to make his opponent submit, a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu athlete must apply the pressure slowly so that he does not hurt the opponent beyond the necessary level.

Boxing has a set of rules too. A boxer uses jab punches, cross punches, hook punches, uppercut punches, guards, defense, etc. to win over his opponent. Boxers cannot use techniques like biting, scratching or gouging to injure their opponent. In addition, they are not allowed to hit below their opponent’s waist. However, unlike Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, a boxer is not bound to ensure the safety of his opponent.

The rules for uniforms in both the sports also differ. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu athletes have to wear a kimono, pants, shorts and belt during a tournament. The uniform is either blue or white in color. Boxers are required to wear only a pair of short for a tournament and there is no specific rule for the color.

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