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Jiu-Jitsu & The Movies

By Nolan Barias


If you love the world of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and spend your free time practicing techniques and training, you might also want to spend some of your downtime enjoying movies that feature Jiu-Jitsu prominently. Not only is it great entertainment, it can inspire you in regards to your own training.

"Warrior" is a fantastic mixed martial arts movie which features a great deal of Jiu-Jitsu. This is the story of two brothers who have been estranged for many years and end up going head to head in mixed martial arts tournament where the prize is $5 million. Both men have heartfelt reasons for needing the cash; one is trying to struggling to support his wife and daughters while the other wishes to use the money to help the family of a fellow marine who died in combat. During the tournament, BJJ is featured throughout the fight scenes, especially utilized by the eldest brother.

Known more for his intellectual films than action movies, David Mamet is the man behind the movie, "Ronin." So if you liked that movie, you probably will enjoy his Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu-themed movie, "Redbelt." This film is the story of a BJJ teacher who believes that competition is weakening for fighters and views Jiu-Jitsu as a way to defend oneself and become stronger mentally. Unfortunately, a tumultuous series of problems force him into the ring to compete in order to hold onto his school, which is struggling. In addition to the main stars Chiwetel Ejiofor and Max Martini, several MMA greats are included in the film, including Randy Couture. Supposedly, Ejiofor trained up to 12 hours per day for months prior to filming in order to make the Jiu-Jitsu scenes as realistic as possible.

If you love action movies, "Lethal Weapon," is probably fairly high on your list of the best action movies ever made. Mel Gibson, who plays tormented Los Angeles cop Martin Riggs, famously uses a triangle choke at the end of the movie to defeat evil Gary Busey. For many Americans, this was literally their first look at Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Gibson learned the skill from Rorion Gracie, who served as the fight choreographer for the film. Later he opened the first Gracie Barra academy and, of course, started up a little organization known as the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

Some movies are just not very good, but they perhaps have some parts that are worth watching. A good example of this would be "Brazilian Brawl." While no one would argue that the Machado brothers are amazing at Jiu-Jitsu, their acting does leave something to be desired. Nevertheless, all five of them are featured in this film, so if nothing else, you will enjoy some fantastic fight scenes. Carlos Machado also choreographed fight scenes and occasionally was featured in episodes of "Walker, Texas Ranger." So, consider watching a few episodes of that 1980s Chuck Norris classic.

Alright, this last entry is not technically a showcase of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu skills, but it features some pretty cool martial arts scenes. "The Matrix," is considered one of the top movies for visually affecting fight scenes. The main character, Neo, does learn Jiu-Jitsu, and presumably, in just a few hours. He never actually shows us these skills, but he does a pretty good job with Kung Fu, so if you have already watched "Warrior," "Redbelt," and the other aforementioned films, "The Matrix," is certainly watching.




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