Jawn Jitsu Origin Story

Jawn Jitsu was born on the mats of Philadelphia, where “Jawn” can mean a person, place, thing, or idea. “What’s that Jawn you’ve got in your hand?” Perfectly normal question. “Move that jawn over there.” Somehow, everyone knows exactly what you mean.

Naturally, it was only a matter of time before that word found its way into Jiu Jitsu instruction. Why use the proper name of a technique when you can call it “that Jawn” and let everyone figure it out? Around here, context does a lot of heavy lifting. So does the person trying to escape side control.

As Philly slang worked its way into class, “Jawn Jitsu” took shape. The “Technique of the Week” became the “Jawn of the Week.” Same technique, more Philly. You still had to drill it. Calling it a Jawn did not qualify as knowing how execute the Tap.

Then came the idea of taking Jawn Jitsu from the mats to merch. Philly inspired designs, black belts, the Rocky statue, and statements like “Shrimpin’ Ain’t Easy.” Because on the mats, shrimping means dragging yourself across the floor to practice an escape. There’s no cocktail sauce, and somehow you’re still paying to do it.

Those ideas kept coming up during class, along with the same old Jawn Jitsu jokes. Eventually, the students grew tired of hearing them. They were learning to escape bad positions, but escaping the instructor’s humor was proving considerably more difficult.

That left two options: stop making the jokes or do something with them.

Anyone familiar with the source of those jokes knew the first option was never really on the table. Tapping to your own bad jokes? In this economy?

So Jawn Jitsu Apparel was born. The jokes finally had somewhere else to go, and people could wear a little Philly attitude with their love of jiu jitsu.

The students wanted fewer jokes. They got T-shirts. Somewhere, there’s probably a lesson about being careful what you ask for.

Welcome to Jawn Jitsu. You can tap out of a choke. The jokes are going another round.