Gumbi

As pineapple stated, theres just way too many techniques in BJJ for you to get so skilled so quickly (quickly = under 5 years). The addition of the gi jacket add numerous more techniques over other grappling venues such as submission grappling. There are chokes, armlocks, and sweeps that are too numerous to count, and then there are combinations of these. There are also numerous ways to pass someone's guard, submit them from cross side, mount, or back mount, not to mention all the escapes possible from these positions. Something like Judo I see people get black belts sooner than BJJ, but thats because of the nature of the competition. You dont need to follow the fight to the ground since a perfect throw ends the match. As a result, a competitive Judoka can focus all his effort into throwing skill, which often is the measuring stick for comparing Judoka. This is certainly not to say, however, that there arent Judoka who are exceptional groundfighters, or that havent taken longer to receive their black belt.

Venrix, I am I bouncer myself at a bar in center city philadelphia, and I never hesitate to slap a choke on someone if they get a little out of control- I havent had the slightest problems yet with that. tufrthanu As far as movement causing damage to the blood vessels and trachea, once again it depends heavily on how incorrectly the lock is applied. I've read similar things (85% decrease in blood flow from a choke), however keep in mind that strokes often have impeded blood flow for several minutes, which is why people often associate brain damage with strokes- during a choke, blood flow is restored rather quickly once you let go, and the trachea rests nicely in the crook of your elbow while performing a basic rear naked choke, making it almost impossible to damage the trachea- it takes 5lbs of pressure to cut enough blood flow to the brain to cause unconciousness- it takes 25lbs of pressure to crush the trachea.

I agree, however, the show is still amusing to watch. It's not infomative or educational, just funny. Yeah, I thought it was hilarious when they explained t3h d34dly hands of the XMA fighter and showed the skeletons- the one on the recieving end of a blow getting his spine shattered or something along those lines. Then in the next shot, they show how he centers his chi, aligns his chakras, and exhales and OMG theres no damage!

Yoshida, Nakamura, and Karo Parisyan are a few who have had some success- I consider Judo a style for takedowns- just as wrestling is. If you manage to get the fight to the ground, you've proved the effectiveness of that style in that particular phase of fighting. Im by no means a big Judo fan, and I actually really dont like Yoshida, but I give Judo credit where its due. As far as comparing "street vs sport" that is a dead argument- Yoshida was able to take down one of the best strikers in Wanderlei Silva who's a skilled Jiu Jitsu fighter, has proven difficult to take down, was wearing no clothing, and was expecting Yoshida to close the distance and clinch. If Yoshida gets into a fight with some scrub outside the ring, I'd doubt they'd give him any problems at all (and would hope he doesnt kill the guy when he throws him). Professional fighters are just that because they're the best at what they do- fighting. I never suggested otherwise. However, it's interesting to note - I am proficient in all of the styles that I have discussed. I make my decisions based on experience - not on MMA events. -V- I work at a bar in center city Philadelphia, so rest assured that I get into more than my fair share of altercations, ranging from mild to severe, and I also throw on the gloves from time to time and do a little sparring for fun. The reason why I advocate grappling is because I feel its much easier to control someone and take advantage of their lack of knowledge in order to basically do what you want with them. There are situations where I dont want to beat the hell out of a guy when I throw him out the doors- being skilled in grappling, not striking, is what helps me accomplish this.

Sure it will- there were many successful Judoka in MMA events that were able to close the distance and easily throw their striking opponents. It depends what you mean when you say "protect." Your opponent is going to have his preferences too- not everything goes the way you want it to in a fight. Even with effective strikers, the fight will have a tendency to go to the ground- think about it- 2 rather large bipedal animals pushing, shoving, and crashing into each other. As far as which style you'd prefer to be proficient in, well you said it yourself- its your preference- grappling would be my preference.

You have to realize that practicing to throw a punch without the stress of real combat is completely different. Your opponent's bobs, weaves, and fakes all play into account how you react. And after hearing the people on this website criticize Jason DeLucia and claim that hes not a good fighter, I cant say I take as many people seriously on here Everyone's constantly learning something new about their style, unless they stop training. I dont think theres anyone who knows everything to perfection about their particular style. Most grappling arts train their fighters how to close the distance, clinch, and takedown their opponents while protecting themselves from strikes. Striking arts do not teach people how to avoid being taken down, or even if they do, it is not emphasized and practiced nearly as much as is grappling arts. Attaining a clinch in a fight is also far more common and easier to accomplish than preventing a clinch, so that right there gives odds to the pure grappler over the pure striker. Grappling simply means clinch fighting and groundfighting- theres no rule saying you cant punch your opponent in this part of a fight. Simply being a big brawler wont win you matches in modern day MMA- even though it was a kickboxing match, Bob Sapp vs Mirko Cro Cop is a good example- heres a guy that outweighs Cro Cop by about 160 lbs and its pure muscle, but he gets knocked out within the first round. Even Tank Abbott gets his assed kicked by practically everyone in the UFC now, and hes as much of a brawler as you're going to find. Theres no documented evidence of this- I'm not saying Krav is good or bad, but I believe its best to avoid reality based self defense classes. When people start talking like "oh we train for the street! not for sport" its interesting to look at the style they train in- for instance, Krav Maga heavily emphasizes techniques used by boxing, wrestling, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, and Muay Thai- ALL of which are sportive martial arts.

Many police department have restricted use of chokeholds because police officers have applied them in a severely incorrect way (many of them tried to choke people with their flashlights or batons). Almost every instance where perpetrators were choked to death by police, there was heavy bruising and black and blue marks on the victims neck, which does not occur when performing a caratid choke. As I said, when speaking of chokes, I believe hes talking about blood chokes and not chokes against the windpipe. Crushing the trachea will certainly kill someone, theres no argument about that. As far as blood chokes causing brain damage and vegetative state, that depends as to how long they're applied. A properly applied choke will render someone unconcious within 5-10 seconds of being set. Nervous tissue can survive for as long as 10 minutes without oxygen- so for arguments sake, lets say you've only got 5 minutes before nervous tissue dies (brain damage begins). 5 minutes is an AWFULLY long time to hold a choke on someone- it will never be something thats done on accident. As far as breaking limbs, well that depends on the level of threat you faced. The beauty of choke holds is that they're capable of harmlessly rendering someone unconcious, while at the same time able to kill someone outright if the choke is prolonged. It also doesnt matter what drugs someone has taken, how big they are, or how tough they think they can be- chokes work on everyone.

Choking someone out is a very effective way to neutralize an attacker without inflicting injury- Facts would have it that practically everyone regains conciousness when choked out, so long as the choke isnt held for too long ( a couple of minutes). The very rare instances where someone doesnt regain conciousness, alcohol or drugs are almost always factored in. It should be noted though when we're referring to choking someone out, we're talking about cutting the blood supply to the brain, and not crushing the trachea.

Yeah, I agree with TJS- high school wrestling, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Judo, and Sambo are good grappling styles to train in. Where do you live? Perhaps we could help you find a school in the area.

I havent seen the video, but Pancrase in itself is a style- old Greek form of fighting I believe, which incorporates takedowns and submissions.

Its been said before, so I'll say it again. To base all the merit on the individual is to ignore the distinct differences in styles. Boxing does not have techniques for takedown defense- you give me an olympic judoka and I'll put money down says he'll take down whichever boxer you put him with, assuming you dont put a featherweight with a heavyweight.

Are you speaking of San Soo or San Shou as in the competition format similar to muay thai which gives points for throws?

How can you people have a discussion about self defense styles and SERIOUSLY talk about meridians, death touch dim maks, and proper chi alignment? Let me put this into perspective for you. Theres another demension, who's existence can not be proven, that I draw all of my energy from. Upon drawing this energy, I can punch at a speed that violates the natrual laws of physics. The vacuum of this punch is so powerful that it draws the earth in its entirerty into a singularity and becomes a minature black hole. Upon creation of this black hole, the entire solar system would be enveloped and cease to exist as it does now. I achieved this skill through numerous years of meditation. Of course, this technique is far too dangerous to exhibit, therefore I will deny any requests for demonstrations.

you're speaking of no gi here tjs- A purple belt is still someone who's had extensive training in ground work.

Not neccessarily true- I've seen many upsets where the better striker was caught with a good punch from a grappler and beaten at his own game, even though the striker is phenominally better. I guess you could call that a lucky punch. In grappling though, no one ever gets a "lucky" submission As far as strikers being more feared, you're making a generalization that grapplers dont strike. They do, they simply do so in a position where you can strike back (on the ground). The most devestating ko's I've seen have happened on the ground.

I think the most important thing is to breathe- so many people forget to do this when they're nervous and in a fight. As far as getting all psyched up, pretty much it happens to everyone when they fight or compete- everyone gets the jitters. Hopefully, you'll learn to have confidence in your abilities, and with that you can relax a lot more.

Nah thats an urban legend that I believe came from right after the WW2 era- In okinawa, black belt Karate instructors were required to be registered for whatever reason (though I believe it had nothing to do with the law, but rather so these people would be certified instructors in karate under the state). It was something like that, but we caught a bad hangover here in the US from it. As far as "self defense" is concerned, 1:you have to be in immediate danger (i.e. a guy confronts you right there and puts his hands up in a fighting position). 2:You are also required to retreat and run away, unless that puts you in greater danger (i.e. hes too close that if I turn my back to run, he could strike/attack me). 3: you may only respond with the same level of intensity of your attacker (i.e. if he pushes me, I cant punch him back- if he punches me, I cant stab/shoot him). 4: Once again, you're obligated to retreat should there be a break in the fight (i.e. you knock him to the ground with a punch and hes dazed and heavily disoriented for a few seconds and you did not follow him down to the ground (such as a tackle or takedown would have you) I can not come over and start curb stomping him into the ground).

Well, the best advice I can give you comes from Carlson Gracie- "You know 1000 techniques, but you cant do any of them!" He put things into perspective for many BJJ fighters- it doesnt matter how many moves you know, but rather how efficient you are in performing them. In other words, its better to be excellent at 10 moves than to be ok at 100. That being said, I'd prefer to stick with one style (if you enjoy it) until you've got a really good grasp on it as opposed to learning a little from style A and a little from style B (that is unless you can do both at the same time). Which style you choose it up to you, but I'd rather train in Judo.

I was never fond of cutting weight either, in fact I believe there was a study done that suggested that it doesnt work as well as some believe- its said that between weigh ins and match time, your body doesnt have enough time to recuperate from such high loss of water/food. It also doesnt work out too well for high school athletes- in college, you're hopefully a full grown man, so starvation leads to weight loss. In high school, especially freshman, thats when alot of kids are hitting their growth spurts (and eating everything in sight). Wrestlers are unable to do this because they've got to make weight (I knew kids in high school who wrestled 112 and would go the entire week withs no lunch and a salad for dinner). I do think they set a new rule that applies to collegiate wrestling- it says that competitors have to have a minimum amount of body fat in order to compete. BTW monkeygirl, Im assuming you're somewhere in middle/western PA. You should know that PA has some of (if not the) best wrestling in the US, so you're going to see some hardcore coaches and wrestlers who'll go to any extreme to win.

Absolutely mai tai- thats a great way to set up a triangle- to be honost though, I think I just might rather using both hands to pull his head down (although I could use 1 to pull and the other to punch).

I would say that a novice boxer stands a better chance against a novice judoka than does an experienced boxer against an experienced judoka.

Well Jax, just because something is sport oriented doesnt mean its not self defense. For instance, there are many people who ONLY care for the self defense aspect of jiu jitsu. They want to know how to escape basic headlocks, get up if they get put on the ground, and basic things like that. What they are not interested in is learning how to sweep from the butterfly guard and such. That being said, someone who's regularly a sport jiu jitsu fighter will have no problem with the self defense aspect of fighting. Basically, self defense is just escapes against common moves often applied by inexperienced people. A sport jiu jitsu fighter sees this same thing everytime he goes against a white belt.

I believe what he was talking about is the Reality Based Self Defense systems seen nowadays such as Krav Maga, SPEAR, SAFTA and all that other stuff. I wouldnt consider Krav anything "new"- it simply incorporates simple movements from numerous different styles in hopes of teaching someone to fight quickly. I see the problem with Krav isnt the philosophy, but with the practitioners who are largely part of that "street fighting" crowd and have an incorrect view of fighting. Most of the reality based systems out there are garbage. I think many of them came about during the time of the UFC when death touches and dangerous moves were disproven. Unable to make a living anymore teaching this, they stopped being martial artists and became "street fighters." The problem with most of these systems is: 1: they teach the obvious- i.e. "kick a guy in the groin when he tries to rape you" as if every woman who's ever been raped hasnt tried that. 2: Neglect groundfighting- groundfighting takes quite a bit of dedication to excell in. Rather than learn/teach it, they dismiss it and tell you "you dont want to be on the ground in a street fight" as if to suggest you always get to choose how your fights unfold. 3: Experience/ credentials usually cant be proven. Most people who teach such systems claim to have been in a thousand street fights, fought every inmate in prison, or single handedly defeat an international team of terrorists Chuck Norris style. Such claims are often very difficult to disprove/prove so the only legitimacy is in that person's word as a fighter- take Frank Dux for example- how many people had to believe his story before they made it into a movie? Now, there are people who will give seminars and such for basic techniques that are effective (say, law enforcement). The unfortunate reality though is that I'd say the majority of the people in this field arent teaching things that are particularly good.

Megaton is a well respected BJJ practitioner, you wont go wrong training with him. That being said, most BJJ academies nowadays concentrate mostly on the sportive aspect of the fight (which is still fighting) but in terms of self defense (such as learning how to escape from common holds, closing the distance to a clinch, and protecting yourself from punches on the bottom) most teach very little, if anything at all. He trained directly under the Gracies who probably had the most self defense oriented schools in BJJ- theres no way he wont have experience in self defense techniques. (as a matter of fact, in the old days of the Gracie school, you werent even allowed to train with the normal class until you learned the self defense of BJJ). People like you (interested in self defense) are actually the minority in BJJ in that most people just want to train the typical class. If you decide to go there, simply ask him how often he teaches self defense in his classes (some schools will have seperate classes for that) and tell him thats your interest.

That sounds like a bit of overkill mai tai (you've already got the choke set) but you do bring up a good point. In the case you dont want to choke someone out, the triangle is a great position to completely neutralize someone and allow you to sweep them to the bottom and then strike the face at will- almost in a humiliating way.