You may have heard of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu before, but do you really know what it is? For Soma Jiu-Jitsu in Rexburg and Idaho Falls, it’s about teaching families how to defend themselves.
Soma Jiu-Jitsu was founded in Idaho Falls in 1994 and now has a location in Rexburg. Soma teaches a type of Brazilian jiu-jitsu called Gracie. It’s considered an effective form of self-defense. But it’s not aggressive in form.
“I teach kids and families how to defend themselves, but mostly teach them to be better people,” said James Emfield, the owner of the Rexburg location. And jiu-jitsu means gentle art. And so, even in those scenarios where my students have to learn to defend themselves, we teach them how to take people down to the ground, sit on them, and wait for a teacher to come. And so, it's very, very gentle, not very violent.”
According to Emfield, this kind of martial art is very Christian. They also teach the original style from Japan. They also teach the bushido code, and they have students from 4 years old to senior citizens. Emfield says this creates a positive mindset in his students that extends into the community.
“I have multiple students who will come in who are about to go on missions and they're going to some pretty scary places and just teaching them for a couple months, although that's not a lot, being able to teach them the skills that they need to be aware of their surroundings and be able to take care of themselves is just awesome.”
Soma Jiu-Jitsu is accepting new students. It is located at 257 North 2nd East and is open 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. on weekdays and 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on the weekends. To find out more, go to the Soma Jiu-Jitsu website.