When life is busy, people often look for training that clears their head. Two names come up again and again: CrossFit and martial arts. Both are demanding, both happen in groups, and in both, plenty of people say the training does their mind good too.
Here is what the study that compared BJJ and CrossFit directly shows, what the research says overall, where its limits are, and what we take from it. One thing first, because it matters: BJJ is not therapy, and this article is not medical advice.
What exactly did the study compare?
The study comes from the UK and was published in 2025 in the journal Martial Arts Studies (Channon et al., 2025). The participants were military veterans and emergency-services staff, such as police officers, firefighters and paramedics: people who had faced stressful or traumatic situations in their work. A charity funded 60 days of training in BJJ or CrossFit for them, at least twice a week. They chose the sport themselves.
In the end, 60 people who had completed every questionnaire were analysed: 21 in the BJJ group and 39 in the CrossFit group, with an average age of just under 39. At the start, after 30 days and after 60 days, they filled in standard questionnaires on five areas:
- anxiety;
- depression;
- trauma-related stress symptoms;
- sleep quality (complete data from only 40 people here);
- wellbeing.
The result: all five scores improved markedly in both groups over the 60 days. There was no significant difference between BJJ and CrossFit. The researchers, by the way, had expected the opposite: that BJJ would come out ahead.
For a BJJ academy that is not a comfortable result, but it is an honest one: in this study, BJJ was no better than CrossFit.
Why were the two level?
The researchers asked in interviews with 20 participants, 14 from BJJ and 6 from CrossFit. The answers were similar in both sports. Most named the community in their gym as the main reason for what had changed for them. Many also described how the hard training pulls them fully into the moment and how they grow through it. One thing came up mainly among the BJJ interviewees: staying calmer under pressure. That was not measured.
So the authors suspect it is what the two sports have in common that counts: demanding, technically challenging training, a sense of developing as a person, and a group in which people trust each other. They also stress how different gyms are, in BJJ as in CrossFit: in atmosphere, in tone and in how they teach.
The study cannot prove this explanation. That would have needed a third group that did not train, which the researchers deliberately left out for ethical reasons. Whether the improvements came from the training, or would have come with time anyway, remains open.
What does the research say overall?
Two large reviews show how thin the evidence is.
Many studies, little clarity. A systematic review looked at 72 studies on martial arts, combat sports and mental health in adults (Ciaccioni et al., 2024). 70 of them were cross-sectional studies, snapshots that only show whether martial artists differ from other people, not why. The verdict is correspondingly cautious:
- For self-image, such as self-esteem, the evidence was inconclusive.
- For handling emotions and for wellbeing, there was only limited evidence.
- Results were consistent only for certain mental abilities, such as perception and impulse control.
A small effect on wellbeing. A meta-analysis of 14 studies on martial arts training found a small positive effect on wellbeing (Moore et al., 2020). For symptoms of anxiety and depression the estimate was higher, but so uncertain that the true effect could also be close to zero. The individual studies varied widely, and BJJ was not analysed separately.
The bottom line: many people find martial arts good for them. What has been shown so far is at most a small effect on wellbeing, and the research does not show that martial arts help the mind more than other training. We sort out what is well supported about BJJ and health, and what isn't, in What BJJ really does.
What do people who train BJJ describe?
Numbers are one thing. What goes on in the head, practitioners describe themselves. In a British interview study, eight adults aged 24 to 48, all white belts who had trained for five to 18 months at the same academy, talked about how BJJ affects their wellbeing (Morris & Bone, 2024). Three themes kept coming up:
- Getting used to discomfort. Their self-confidence and resilience grew, as the interviewees described it, because they got used to uncomfortable situations on the mat.
- Progress that means something. Reaching goals that matter to them step by step, or building better habits.
- Community. Good relationships on the mat, which some felt carried over into the rest of their lives.
These are the experiences of eight people from one academy, and one of the two authors trained there too. There was no measurement before they started. So the study shows what practitioners describe, not that BJJ has this effect in a measurable way. And in the comparison study above, the CrossFit interviewees described something very similar.
One of our ten values is Nintai (忍耐), perseverance: success is born from consistent effort. Why discomfort is part of the beginning is covered in Uncomfortable is good. There is more on community in our essay Wellbeing Through Community.
Is BJJ therapy?
No. BJJ is training. It does not replace a diagnosis, psychotherapy or medication. On the mat our coaches are coaches, not therapists, and we do not offer therapeutic programmes.
If you are not doing well, or if you are in treatment and want to start training, talk to your doctor or your psychotherapist first.
What we do at Imperial Ground
We believe Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu can improve people's lives, socially too: through the people you train with week after week. Even so, we don't promise you better mental health, and no study shows that BJJ helps it more than other training. What we can shape is the setting in which training becomes a habit:
- Fixed classes, familiar faces. Foundation Gi and Foundation No-Gi run at fixed times every week, every evening from Monday to Friday (timetable). If you come regularly, you train with the same people and get to know them.
- A structured curriculum. After every class you know what you learned and why. So you feel yourself getting better, class by class.
- A place where everyone feels safe and welcome. Demanding does not mean reckless here: control before intensity. In Foundation classes you roll under a coach's eye, and whoever taps is released immediately, without exception.
- Respect doesn't end at the edge of the mat. Our code of conduct and our published infraction system apply to everyone.
Whether BJJ is the training you stick with, nobody can tell you in advance, not even a study. You only find out on the mat.
To be honest: what the studies don't show
- There is only one head-to-head study. Its BJJ group was small, 21 people, 20 of them men. It could hardly have detected small differences between the sports.
- There was no group that did not train. Whether the improvements came from the training or would have come anyway remains open.
- Participants chose their own sport, and of the 119 who signed up, only 60 provided complete data.
- It was a particular group: veterans and emergency-services staff with stressful experiences, whose training was funded by a charity. The result does not automatically apply to everyone else.
- Almost all martial arts studies are snapshots. They show associations, not effects.
- Interviews describe experiences; they do not measure effects.
Frequently asked questions
Is BJJ better for mental health than CrossFit?
The research does not show that so far. In the first study to compare the two directly, among veterans and emergency-services staff in the UK, scores improved in both groups with no significant difference. There was no group that did not train.
Does BJJ help with stress?
Many practitioners describe it that way, but it is not proven. In the comparison study, questionnaire scores improved similarly with BJJ and CrossFit, but without a group that did not train, nobody can say whether the training was the reason. So we make you no promise.
Can BJJ replace therapy?
No. BJJ is training. It does not replace a diagnosis, psychotherapy or medication.
What do people who train BJJ describe?
In a small interview study, eight white belts described three things: getting used to discomfort, progress towards goals that matter to them, and good relationships on the mat. In the comparison study, CrossFit interviewees described something similar.
How much exercise does the WHO recommend?
For adults, 150 to 300 minutes of moderate or 75 to 150 minutes of vigorous aerobic activity a week, plus muscle-strengthening for all major muscle groups on at least two days (Bull et al., 2020). The recommendation does not say which sport to choose.
Sources
- Channon A, Morgan J, Huber J, Higbed L. Comparing Mental Health Outcomes of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and CrossFit Training among Trauma-Exposed Professionals: Findings of a Mixed-Methods Study. Martial Arts Studies 2025;(18):94–109. https://doi.org/10.18573/mas.299
- Ciaccioni S, Castro O, Bahrami F, et al. Martial arts, combat sports, and mental health in adults: A systematic review. Psychology of Sport and Exercise 2024;70:102556. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychsport.2023.102556
- Moore B, Dudley D, Woodcock S. The effect of martial arts training on mental health outcomes: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of Bodywork and Movement Therapies 2020;24(4):402–412. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbmt.2020.06.017
- Morris B, Bone A. Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and wellbeing: an inductive thematic analysis exploring how BJJ can increase subjective wellbeing. Mental Health and Social Inclusion 2024;28(6):1149–1162. https://doi.org/10.1108/MHSI-11-2023-0116
- Bull FC, Al-Ansari SS, Biddle S, et al. World Health Organization 2020 guidelines on physical activity and sedentary behaviour. British Journal of Sports Medicine 2020;54(24):1451–1462. https://doi.org/10.1136/bjsports-2020-102955
About the author. João Macedo is a 1st-degree black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, has been on the mats for more than 14 years, and is co-founder and head coach of Imperial Ground Martial Arts in Düsseldorf-Derendorf.
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