Treebranch

I'm going to start classes with Lars Wallin from Sweden. MMA grappling...No Gi stuff. I took a introductory class and was really impressed with his attitude towards MA's and his technique is excellent. If anyone is interested and is in the LA area he's teaching at Pound for Pound Boxing in Los Angeles. Go to Viking BJJ.com you can see some stuff, but the site's not up yet. For Pound for Pound here's the link. http://www.lb4lbboxing.com/BIZyCart.ASP?ACTION=Home&CLIENT=LBFourLB&ACCOUNT=1729 If you need more info I'll do my best to get it for you.

Agreed. He's a great fighter. No disagreeing with that.

Kali Escrima would be really cool.

Missing the point. Just because someone is a great fighter doesn't mean that their MA of choice is the best. I just think pure wrestling isn't enough. BJJ has it all for the ground that is. BJJer's just need to practice more takedowns. A hybrid of the two would be ideal. I wouldn't fight any of those champion fighters and they wouldn't waste their time with me anyway. I'll roll with anyone. I have no pride when it comes to learning.

What's cool is that there's a moment when you can feel that you are holding them up and all their weight is at the wrist. It truely is an art.

There's alot of hero worship going on here. Just because Randy Couture was a wrestler and he is great, doesn't mean wrestlling is the best form of fighting. Look at St Pierre...he beat the snot out a wrestler twice and could keep doing it if they keep fighting. These fighters are at the top of their game, but they don't represent all their enthusiasts. All I have to say is that if I'm in the ring with a cage fighter, I'll do OK. He'll probably end up winning. On the street you can bet I'll play dumb and trick him into making some serious mistakes. It's not that these fighters can't defend themselves on the street, but it's hard to throw high kicks in a confined space. Shooting in can be tough too. The clinch leaves you open to be stabbed and so does going to the ground right away. I personally love UFC and good cage fighting in general, but I know the difference between Sport and Reality. If you find yourself defending yourself on the street and you really hurt someone. The cops are going to question you. Just say "I was in fear for my life", which may or may not be true. Keep training, keep an open mind and you will learn. All MA's have something to offer. Don't close your mind to TMA's. If you are a true Martial Artist you can use techniques from many styles to help give you an edge in the ring. THINK OUTSIDE OF THE CAGE.

Just curious....Are you pulling the person over their balance the entire time for the throw. I always feel it work best when they are reaching beyond their balance and basically falling into the lock. I don't know if that sounds clear.

It locks up the elbow and shoulder...it really sucks to be on the other end of that. It's a beautiful throw!

Yeah, I'm ok on my back.

What you're going to pin someone and they are going to give up? BJJ is a form of Jujutsu which was designed for warfare. Wrestling is to combat, like Kendo is to Kenjutsu.

You realize you can break someone's elbow or even rip someone's shoulder joint with a wristlock throw right? Don't think of a wristlock merely as a pain move to submit someone. It's a brutal throw.

Let me let you in on a little secret. If you can control someone's balance you will win. You never try to put a lock on ....you find it. If you know how to do one, you'll see the opportunity and take it. If you don't know what to look for they won't work. Most people I spar with don't know how to defend against a wrist lock so I don't do them in practice. I don't want to injure them. There's way too much to a wrist lock to explain writing and it takes a long time to learn how to properly do them. That's why you don't see them being used, most people don't know how to make them work. No one that I know doubts their effectiveness anymore.

Throws and takedowns are very important yes. BJJ is a very effective ground fighting system that is continuely growing. I don't see Judo and wrestling expanding like BJJ is.

Very cool.

Wrestlers should learn BJJ.

He's not dead.

It wasnt taken out of BJJ, but it simply isnt emphasized. Small joint manipulations are taught in self defense BJJ to be used to de-escalate a situation, before the fight has started and before the adrelanine kicks in. Once the fight has initiated, small joint locks are practically useless and therefore are not to be relied upon as being a fight ender. The are not many pros to small joint locks. One is that they're usefull for breaking simple locks, for example the frankenstein style front choke. The cons are that small joint manipulation is simply not that effective and not as reliable as it is said to be. MMA nowadays has to balance itself between being proving grounds and also being entertainment. Looking at it from a promoters point of view: 1: Small joint locks are highly unlikely to stop a fight. Fighters will simply fight through the pain until the fight is stopped by another means 2: In the event that fingers are broken, said fighter is probably not going to fight until said finger is healed up, which put him on the sidelines for at least 5 months (2 months to heal, 2 more months to train for his next fight) in an optimistic scenario. Remember how long Fedor was kept from fighting when he broke his thumb on the face of Gary Goodridge? Think about how much money Pride lost in the time that Fedor was kept from the ring. So what you end up with is alot of fighters constantly needing more time off after a fight to heal up a broken finger, and if the fingers are constantly broken they'll less likely to continue their career due to arthritis. Eventually you're fight cards become weaker and weaker when your star attractions need more time to recover from their bouts. Bottom line is you lose alot of revenue So, that all being said, small joint manipulation is simply not effective at being a fight ender or even having a significant role in a fight. You clearly don't understand what small joint manipulation is for. You're not going to end a fight with them, but it can be what leads to it. Most people can't end fights with punches and kicks. It's rare when the first punch thrown ends the fight. Why should wrist locks be expected to? Do you know how to throw someone with a wrist lock? If you did you wouldn't be so quick to discount their effectiveness.

I don't think you'll have a problem at all. I took a Krav Maga class and it seemed really straight forward. I feel that its not a very technical style, which is good for teaching self defense. It should be easy to learn for everyone.

That's very cool! CBJJ? What's that stand for?

What a bunch of dopes. They got kicked off the show for being dumb and the dope pulls guard on concrete? I'm glad he slammed his head, maybe it knocked some sense into him. They should have saved that for the ring. Embarrassing! It didn't show anything worth while for the street, if anything it showed what doesn't work.

Can you do neck cranks in UFC? Neck cranks are dangerous, but very effective.

Wrist locks are awesome if you do them right. They work really well in stand up even if the hands are wrapped. If you are good at throws even when the opponent resists the wrist lock you already have them in a vulnerable position. The wrist locks up the opponents elbow and shoulder which in turn bends the spine, causing your balance to be off. You can also transition to a standing americana if you'd like. I'm all about doing what other people don't train. I think this way BJJ will grow. I think it has grown alot since the first UFC's. I still feel there are effective grappling methods and throws that aren't being explored in MMA.

They're not allowed in NHB either right?

I've been rolling alot lately and I find myself seeing lots of oppurtunities to use wrist locks in and out of the guard. Do you know if any system of BJJ uses them? I've seen Bas Rutten use them very effectively on the ground. Curious.

Not to the same extent as BJJ. In JJJ you could easily earn BB in about 5 yrs with regular practice (2 to 3 days/wk). I've been practicing BJJ for 3 1/2 years now and will be earning my purple in a couple of months. It takes about 8 to 10 years for the average practitioner to earn a black belt. Not always true in either case. I've known a few guys who got their BB in 5 to 6 years in BJJ. I've been doing JJJ for 6 years and I'm nowhere near a BB. It depends on the schools.