Start with Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu unless you specifically want to compete in mixed martial arts. MMA is a combat sport that combines striking and grappling, and BJJ is one of its core ingredients: the one that takes longest to learn. Starting with BJJ gives you the hardest skill first, at a far lower injury risk, and it works as a lifelong hobby in a way that full-contact fighting rarely does.
What is the difference between BJJ and MMA?
MMA is a competition format. Fighters combine striking from boxing, kickboxing and Muay Thai with grappling from wrestling and jiu-jitsu, and most MMA gyms teach those disciplines as separate classes. BJJ is a complete martial art in its own right, focused on taking an opponent down, controlling them and finishing with a joint lock or choke. There are no punches or kicks in BJJ training.
| Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu | MMA | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | A grappling martial art | A combat sport combining striking and grappling |
| Strikes in training | None | Punches, kicks, elbows and knees |
| Strikes to the head | None | Central to the sport |
| Competition injuries per 1,000 exposures | 9.2 | 236 to 286 |
| Belt ranks | Yes, white to black and beyond | No, ranks belong to the component arts |
Is BJJ or MMA better for self-defence?
Honestly, a well-trained MMA fighter covers more situations, because they can strike, wrestle and grapple. But most people are not training to be fighters. They have two or three evenings a week, and they want to be able to handle a real situation without getting hurt or badly hurting someone else.
That is where BJJ is strongest. It is built around what happens when someone grabs you, holds you or takes you to the ground, and it gives you ways to control a person rather than only ways to hit them. That matters in Canada, where the Criminal Code's self-defence provision requires that what you do be reasonable in the circumstances.
Which is safer, BJJ or MMA?
BJJ, by a wide margin, at least in competition. A 2014 study of BJJ tournaments recorded 9.2 injuries per 1,000 exposures, against 236 to 286 per 1,000 for MMA in the studies it compared. In training, a 2025 survey of 881 BJJ practitioners found 5.5 injuries per 1,000 hours, most of them during sparring rather than drilling.
The bigger difference is the head. MMA is built around striking it, and BJJ does not strike at all. For anyone thinking about training for decades rather than a few years, that difference matters.
Should you learn BJJ first and add striking later?
That is a path many coaches recommend. Grappling takes the longest to become competent at, so it pays to begin there. Striking basics come faster once you already understand distance, balance and staying calm under pressure.
If you want both under one roof, our Langley academy runs Boxing Foundations classes on Saturdays alongside its jiu-jitsu timetable, so you can add striking without changing gyms.
Who should choose MMA?
- You want to compete in amateur or professional MMA
- You already have a grappling or striking base and want to put the two together
- You enjoy hard, full-contact sparring and accept the injuries that come with it
Who should choose BJJ?
- You are a complete beginner with no martial arts background
- You want practical self-defence without having to hit anyone
- You are over 35 and want something you can keep doing for decades
- You want a sport the whole family can train, from age 4 upwards
- You want a clear, ranked path of progress
Common questions
BJJ, for most beginners. Grappling is the hardest part of MMA to learn and takes the longest, the injury risk is far lower, and striking can be added later. Choose an MMA gym first only if you specifically want to compete in MMA.
Yes. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is one of the core disciplines of mixed martial arts, alongside wrestling, boxing and Muay Thai, and nearly every professional MMA fighter trains it.
Yes. In the competition studies compared in a 2014 paper, MMA recorded 236 to 286 injuries per 1,000 exposures against 9.2 for BJJ. MMA also involves repeated strikes to the head, which BJJ does not.
It is one of the strongest foundations you can have, because it teaches you to handle being grabbed, held and taken down, and to control someone without striking them. Adding some striking later makes it more complete.
Yes. Most people start with none. Our academies run beginner-focused classes, lend you a gi for your trial, and offer two weeks of unlimited training for $29.
Want to try it on the mat?
Two weeks of unlimited classes for $29. No experience needed.
Sources
- Scoggin JF et al., “Assessment of Injuries During Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Competition”, Orthopaedic Journal of Sports Medicine, 2014
- Stegerhoek PM et al., “Injury prevalence among Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioners globally: a cross-sectional study in 881 participants”, BMJ Open Sport & Exercise Medicine, 2025
- Criminal Code of Canada, section 34: Defence of person