Yoga: A Natural Compliment to Jiu-Jitsu
If you’ve been around jiu-jitsu long enough, you know that many people supplement their training with other activities such as strength and conditioning, crossfit, yoga, surfing, ginastica natural, and dance to name a few.
At first thought, some people would not think that yoga is synonymous with BJJ, especially considering it to be solely a spiritual practice. On the contrary, the two seem to compliment each other extremely well... if you do your research and find the right style for YOU! Some benefits of yoga for BJJ include improved flexibility, improved balance, controlled breathing, increased recovery, body awareness, and an overall balanced lifestyle.
Calvin Corzine, Kron Gracie brown belt, related, "Practicing yoga regularly has improved almost every aspect of my jiujitsu, but to be honest its biggest value to me has been recovery and doing yoga allows me the ability to keep training hard as my body ages."
The following are different types of yoga that could be most useful to supplement your BJJ training:
Ashtanga: This is a set sequence of poses that are done day in and day out, linking breath with movement. Each pose is only held for 5 breaths, so it is a relatively fast pace and a very intense practice. It creates great flexibility and strength, but can be pretty taxing on the joints and is a very disciplined practice.
Hot Yoga: This yoga is performed in rooms heated to 95-100 degrees. Hot yoga positions are more varied. The heat helps with flexibility and detoxification and is popular amongst beginner yogis. Be weary when attending chains of these studios as the standard of teacher tends to be very low and when your body is warm, yes, you will sweat more... but it is also easy to over stretch and feel like your body is ready for a pose or stretch that it really isn't. It can be amazing for recovery when sore, just be careful!
Iyengar: This yoga features various props (bolsers, blankets, straps, and blocks). Iyengar is a meticulous style of yoga focused on the correct alignment in each pose. The pace is slow and poses are often held for a minute or longer. If you are coming back from a serious injury, although this class isn't "sexy" or appealing to most, it will be the best for you. To be a certified "Iyengar" teacher means you have studied your ass off and are constantly going though recertification. Iyengar was originally done in a more medicinal manner in using specific poses to cure issues in the body (it's legit).
Restorative: With as few as five poses in one class, this class is ideal for injured or stress rehab.
Yin: Yin yoga is a class where different floor poses and stretches such as hip openers are held for between 3-5 minutes per pose. The goal is to open up the connective tissue. It can hurt like hell, but it is really great for your overall flexibility and opening up tight and troublesome areas of the body.
Vinyasa: Vinyasa literally means linking breath with movement. Your teacher will take you through a series of poses and the class also involves a series or two of sun salutes. This style is great for athletes that want to build strength, stability and work some balance while working on their breathing. It can be very demanding, but also very rewarding. If you are recovering from injury, this is not the class for you, but if you are training regularly, this is a great supplement to your training regimen. Do your homework on your teachers, because many teachers will start racking vinyasa flow with little to no experience and training, so just like any style, pick your teachers wisely.
Power Yoga: Just as it sounds, power yoga takes you from one pose to the next and utilizes every muscle in the body, increasing your metabolism and calorie burn. It is a more athletic style of yoga and is often called “vinyasa flow,” due to its fluidity in movement.
So the next time you’re rolled up like a pretzel in training and wonder how you can get more flexible, you may want to consider giving yoga a try. It could be the game changer that you've been looking for.