TJS

If you have ever been mounted (especially by a skilled grappler) it's vey difficult to strike back with anything effective..especially without exposing yourself to more danger. Sure a good striker can do damage with elbows and knees from the top but If you fighting a grappler then it's not very likely that you will be on top now is it?

Grappling/BJJ/Judo is all awesome (and I wish that there was a good judo school around where I am, I would love to try it sometime), but if you are looking for self-defense skills, you should look past just grappling. Even though it will definately help you on the street, there are situations where you would be vastly better off if you had some experience in a fighting art, such as Karate, Muay Thai, Kung-Fu, etcetera. Preferably Karate . There are proabably just as many situations where you would be vastly better off with grappling experience..like if you got tackled and 99% of your karate/muay thai whatever didint work anymore since your on your back. The obvious answer is you need both..there are times and situations where each are useful and good to know.

Depends on the school but if they are teaching you sd then they will proabably teach you how to escape basic standing bearhugs/chokes/headlocks etc..aswell as takedowns and takedown defenses.

Both are good. Personally I would start with mt.

depends on the severity of a situation. generally Speaking I woudl stick to chokes in a fight because you can end it without causting any real damage. But once again If the situation was elevated and I was fighting for my life I would have no problem breaking a limb.

A child is from it's mother..that does not mean it IS it's mother. being FROM somethign and BEING somethign are alightly different.

Being able to fight from your back gives you confidence to fight from any other position. The goal Of BJJ is to get the takedown and end up in top position if possible. The gaurd is considered "the best of the worst positions"

No it isint judo. It is similar and shares many techniques but has evolved into its own stlye with completly diffrent strategies/goals and training meathods. Not to mention that It has been influenced by stlyes such as wrestling and sambo over the years...more so than judo.

I will second that you dont have to get hurt in MT, yea it can be rough and u can get banged up but If you go to thailand they train very hard with few injuries so they can fight often.

I will be going For Royce Gracie But if I had to bet my money would be on hughes.

I belive you can train both at the same time. You will proabably start to favor one and when that occurs you can devote more time to that stlye and just keep the other sharp. Thats my advice.

Just about every finish I know could kill or seriously hurt someone yet I compete in tournaments all the time. Dont get caught up in the whole "too deadly for competiton" theme. When it comes down to it a simple RNC can end a persons life in a matter of seconds or minutes but you can train full force with it on a day to day basis. As far as effective Standup grappling my best advice would be judo, sambo, or Greco roman wrestling. Combine it with a muay thai clinch and you have some effective clinch striking.

Ottman-where did you get a green belt in bjj? As far as i know the only green belts in BJJ would be for kids.

2 things-1st Royce is going to be fine conditioning wise for 3x5 minute rounds..the guy has fought for an hour and a half against sakuraba. Also In an interview recenty Pat militech hinted that Matt is proabably working hard on his slams/takedown and he wants to prove a point by submitting royce. If hughes is smart he will keep it standing because royce really does lack KO power...hughes issint a phenom on his feet but he has some solid kickboxing skills.

Bas Rutten has some good books and videos on striking.