Ya know, I have always been a HUGE fan of Marvel/DC Comics growing up!
Seeing all these new awesome movies and series have made me super happy because when I was little, we did not have a beautiful bevy of live action Marvel/DC movies to watch! The best thing about it is being able to nurture my inner child by being able to see all these awesome titles coming out nowadays.
One movie that really stood out to me was the first Black Panther movie. Being the comic book nerd that I am I know a lot about superheroes and the powers they possess.
When I was younger, I always thought it was cool that they always made "Martial Arts" a super power, and in this case one of Black Panther's super powers is quite literally "being a black belt in all Martial Arts."
Why is this so interesting to me? BRAZILIAN JIU JITSU yo!
In the first Black Panther movie, there was a fight scene between King T'Challa (Black Panther) and one of his rivals and great warrior M'Baku. M'Baku in the comics, and the movie, is a ginormous and formidable foe. He wants to take the throne of Wakanda for himself and the only way to do that is to challenge King T'Challa! Yes, King T'Challa Is the Black Panther, but he is also only the Black Panther by consuming something called the Heart Shaped Herb. The Heart Shaped Herb is what gives Black Panther his awesome super powers (super speed, strength, reflexes, etc.)
If anybody wanted to challenge him for the throne, they have to FIGHT for it without any help from the Heart Shaped Herb!
In the movie when this scene happens, he is stripped of his powers and has to fight mano y mano. Probably walking around at a solid 200lbs. King T'Challa is probably around 160lbs and has a significantly smaller build than him.
When they fight, King T'Challa is getting his butt kicked for a little bit, but quickly gains the upper hand.
The reason why?
He uses his Jiu Jitsu skills to put M'Baku in a Triangle choke from the back!
In the scene, M'Baku taps and surrenders!
This scene always reminds me of the old UFC 1 days when you have the significantly smaller Royce Gracie using his Jiu Jitsu prowess and expertise to defeat a much larger and stronger opponent Ken Shamrock. Royce didn’t have the power of the Heart Shaped Herb, but he trained and trained and trained because that was the only way he could get better at his craft!
I guess the saying really is true, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is a super power. Brazilian Jiu Jitsu has me feeling like the Black Panther sometimes.-
Coach,
Eric Gutierrez
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