Karl Arant wrote:
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d" clearly indicates you're new to martial arts and haven't experienced very much. Even the (not so) mighty Gracies will be the first to tell you that their techniques are for sport first, self-defense second
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Actually you will find the exact opposite. Most of the old school Gracies lament the direction that many BJJ schools have taken the art. Helio Gracie was adamant about the fact that SD was first and foremost the concern of BJJ. My friends the Valente brothers in Miami are very, very clear about this and it is very evident when you train in their gym.
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There's also a reason why eye gauging is ban in ALL fight sports, save Vale Tudo (I think)? Because it works incredibly well, that's why.
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No it was banned because it is incredibly stupid and dangerous to poke someone's eyes out. Has nothing to do with effective or ineffective. Of course it is effective, but that is not why it was banned.
Eye gouging is not really a special skill pretty much anyone can do it. However, putting yourself in an effective position to gouge someones eyes...that does require a modicum of skill, hence why the emphasis is on the obtainment of position and not on the eye gouge aspect.
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not all BJJ players are of equal skill level either. After all, just because someone plays the violin, doesn't mean they're actually any good at it.
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Which is why lineage is important in BJJ and why there is a belt system. Also, the mat don't lie. so, how good you are becomes apparent very quickly.
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Just go to your local college, or high school for that matter, and ask to take a roll on the mat with the Captain of the Wrestling team. Feel free to use all the BJJ you want.....if you can They're not even "martial artists", just a bunch of dumb jocks and yet they can throw must of us around like a rag dolls.
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Has not been my experience generically. In fact it is the exact opposite, and not because wrestlers are not any good at what they do, it is because they have a very specific rule set and train to exploit and capitalize on those rules. A BJJer has a much broader set of rules and parameters, thus you will find that if you put a wrestler on the mat with a BJJer with comparable skills, the wrestler does not do as well under less restrictive rule set. However, the same is true if you restrict a BJJer to wrestling rules with no experience in that sport. What you learn from this is that rules, or lack of rules matter and need to be considered when you train.
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Self-Defense is simple really, just be willing to do WHATEVER it takes to survive.
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Its not all that simple all the time. simplicity depends on many things. just because you are WILLING does not mean you are ABLE. I've been studying this stuff for about 25 years now and I have not found it necessarily to be "simple". The SD environment can be quite complex.
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This generally entails hitting a soft thing with a hard thing. A nose with a fist, a skull with a bat, body with a bullet. You get the idea.
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This assumes that you have a high degree of control of the situation, when in fact, in most SD situations you may typically have a high degree of failure, thus lack of control that you have to work to make up for. Thus, why things are not so simple.
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Here are some clips of fellas having a tough time in the mount from the bottom position. Can you say ground and pound?
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I no of no one I have studied with the advocates taking someone to the ground as a SD strategy. However, again, failure in SD may dictate that this is where you end up and you need to have skills to mitigate that situation.
The ground and pound fight strategy works very well for MMA because of the constraints of the rules. It may or may not be a good strategy for SD. I had someone ask me the other day how fights end...alot of them end because someone else shows up. Could be your buddy, his buddy, or a neutral party. Ground and Pound in SD when others might be involved may not play out the way it does in the ring. Again, good skills to have and understand, but also need to consider that GnP has its limitations as a SD strategy. I can go on for a long time about how GnP is essentially a "battle of attrition" ...but I think the point is fairly well illustrated.
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Planes are better than tanks, cavalry is better than infantry, standing is better than kneeling, mount is better than guard.
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As an Infantry Officer, I would beg to differ on this. The reality is that one is not better than the other, they all have strengths and weaknesses and the Leader that can properly employ these tools Strategically, Operationally, and Tactically...that is understands the ART, will be successful.
The same is true of SD and fighting skills. You need to have a varied background and understand the environment and how to employ what and when.
I do agree that all MA have their strengths and weaknesses and BJJ is no exception. We have to work very hard to understand the environment and how our own paradigms, experiences, cultures, training, skills interact in that environment. This is no easy task IMO and is a lifelong pursuit.