AMERICAN JUJITSU CLASSES IN TUCSON

Tucson’s original jujitsu program has been taught continuously since 1962. It’s taught here.

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If you’re looking for grappling but aren’t sold on the sport Brazilian track — the gi, the tournament circuit, the belt politics — this is the other option.

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Jujitsu, jiu-jitsu, jujutsu — what’s the difference?

You’ll see it spelled a dozen ways, and the spelling usually tells you which art someone means.

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Jiu-jitsu, as most Americans use it, means Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu — sport-focused ground grappling with a gi, a tournament circuit and a belt system.

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Jujitsu or jujutsu is the older Japanese root both descend from: throws, joint locks, standing control and ground work as one system rather than a specialty.

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We teach American Jujitsu, which sits in that older tradition. Our throwing owes as much to judo and wrestling as to anything else.

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If you searched for jiu-jitsu and landed here, you’re in the right neighborhood — just be clear on what’s different. We spend more time on throws and staying on our feet, we train without the gi, and nobody here is preparing for a tournament unless they want to be.

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What our jujitsu is built on

Throws, standing control and joint locks as much as ground work. That’s the older shape of the art, before a sport ruleset narrowed it.

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In practice that means real time spent putting someone on the floor while staying on your own feet — rather than sitting down and playing a position game from your back. Both are legitimate skills. Only one of them makes sense when there’s a second person, a hard floor, or simply nowhere you’d rather be less.

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We train no-gi — deliberately

The gi has a long history and training in one builds real skill. We’re not dismissing it.

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But grips that exist only because of heavy cotton lapels don’t transfer to a t-shirt, and most of life happens in a t-shirt. No-gi keeps the pace higher and the grips honest.

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You don’t have to compete

Most of our students never do. Competition is one way to pressure test your game; hard rounds with people who aren’t cooperating is another, and it’s the one that lasts thirty years.

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There are no promotion fees here and no timeline you pay your way along. Rank is skill-based and always has been.

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The lineage

This program traces directly back through Tucson’s oldest jujitsu line, the Holck family. From Joe Holck > Vinson Holck > Paul LaPointe. If you trained Matsuno Ryu Goshinjitsu here and lost your mat when the old dojos closed, you have a home — come find us.

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Who it suits

Teens and adults who want functional grappling without a sport career. Former wrestlers transfer fast: your base, hand fighting and scrambling are already there, and the submission game comes quickly on top of it.

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If you’ve been out of training a while, this is a good way back in. It rewards technique and timing over explosiveness, and you set your own pace.

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