ps1

I don't really see how this situation would be remedied using more advanced techniques. You could work toward a kimura for the sweep, but if someone lands on top of you then, they're in no better shape. It's the same with using butterfly sweeps or anything else. I see what you mean. Let me make my point more clear. Statistically, when an officer sees his partner on the bottom. He throws himself onto the pile and then tries to peel the bad guy off. This tends to cause injury to the person on the very bottom (the other officer). It would be a total non-issue if he comes up and sees you on the top, still in control. I like it to prevent people from establishing a base and stacking me. Getting to your feet from inside the guard to apply hip pressure is a heck of a lot harder when your legs are tied up. You want the person to stand. Just unlock you legs and do a basic ankle grab sweep...you're now on top. I completely agree. Unfortunately, on your back is a place where people end up a lot more than they'd like to. Every sweep, escape, and transition has risk involved. If I have a partner in the immediate vicinity, I'd much prefer a nice, safe stalemate over a fight. I get what you're saying. Obviously a fight is never the preferred method. And I also get that LEOs don't get to train often unless it's on their own. So my perspective of how easy it is go get out is different. But, if trained properly, they only need three basic sweeps. and knowledge of how to control side mount and full mount. That's it. 5 things and done. Keeps them off the bottom and more safe. For the record, I wouldn't attempt any joint manipulations on a suspect. If they're on drugs you can rip their arm off and they may not even notice. Sweep/ get up and control...that's all they need.

Respectfully, this worked because he clearly had no or very little BJJ training. Wrestlers always think they're gonna win on the ground. Then they learn they don't know how to advance positions past the guard because, from their perspective, you're pinned. Not only that, it's not good to lay on your back just holding a guy down when judges are watching. Gives the impression he's better than you and you're likely to lose the round if you do it too long or too much. This is because it's not a smart technique, respectfully. The guard has three purposes in fighting (for which it was designed). Submit, Sweep, or Get on Your Feet. Lying on your back, using a grapevine is not a good idea. It limits the mobility of your hips and keeps you pinned to the ground as well. I do not ever want to be stuck on the bottom. Remember that the opponent has gravity on his side. If you don't have back up very quickly, you could end up pounded or worse. Create a frame, get on your feet and regroup. If you know how to do it properly, you won't really be in much danger of getting hit. Stand in base is one of the first things learned in bjj. If they try to strike you during that, there are answers that lead to the opponent's back and sweeps to mount. Much more preferred positions. I don't have them, but there are numbers related to police deaths and injuries caused by fellow officers collapsing a suspect onto their partner. When your "help" rounds the bend and jumps on the suspect because it looks like he's killing you, lots of bad things can happen. Ruptured spleen, broken limbs, punctured lungs, injured knees (since you have them fully extended with your grapevine. The only smart reason to grapevine an opponent's legs from the closed guard with over hooks is to get him to pull one away. When he does, establish a hook and get your very easy sweep. Despite popular belief, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is not meant to be fought from the back. It worked a little like that in early UFC because no one knew what it was and it works in competition because there are no punches. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu should always be used with the goal of gaining positional dominance, ending the fight, and getting back on your feet.

In the end, I suppose it depends on what you're looking for in a black belt. For me, I don't award a black belt unless I feel the student can actually be effective in a life and death situation. I have yet to meet the 10 year old who is able to truly take on an adult and overcome their strength. During seminars I prove it often. They try to kick the groin and punch me, but a good shove puts them on the ground, and then it's a matter of just manhandling the kid. This says nothing to his skill. I'm sure the kid is good at his system, but should not, in my opinion, be a black belt. With an understanding of what I want my black belts to be able to accomplish, here's a list of why I will NEVER award a black belt to anyone under the age of 18. 1. Puberty. The body and mind go through dramatic changes during puberty. The biggest is the growth spurts. A 12yr old who was able to do jump spin kicks now finds it difficult to coordinate walking and running again. They must work through this and learn their coordination again. This process can take several years. 2. Body mass. Children are much smaller than adults. Even my beloved jiu-jitsu, with all it's levers, is hard pressed to find a techniques in which a child will have any mechanical advantage of a full grown adult. Their mass is much to small to allow strikes to have any real effect and their limb lengths are too short to make strong levers. 3. Maturity. No matter how mature a child may seem, they are quite egotistical. I was at a seminar where a young black belt (11 to 14 at the oldest) looked at Relson Gracie ( http://www.relsongracie.com/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&layout=item&id=1&Itemid=58 ) and began speaking with, "We're both masters...". Now the child was not trying to be rude. But to allow a 14 year old kid to believe he's a master of anything can only lead to an inflated ego. I remember several kids in school who would tout being a black belt. I'm sure they didn't do that in classes, but their kids, they want to impress their friends. If you don't believe that, you're kidding yourself. In self defense, ego can get you killed. Again, if all you want out of your JBB is to see good technique, some discipline, courtesy ect... Then, obviously, my reasons don't really apply. But, for me, it's about self protection first.

I agree that their standards are high. But their standards are very different than any other school for moving from white to blue. Not a bad thing, just how they run their school. Basically, if you have no physical schools around you, go for it. But there is no way any video will ever compare to an actual instructor who can actually correct you on the spot and give you his experience. Nothing will ever beat the real life experience. Again, not saying it's bad, the videos are very well done in fact. But the intention of GU was to spread jiu-jitsu to those who would otherwise have no access.

Before you pay for the GU program, make sure there isn't an actual school you could attend. Also, be positive you have an actual training partner (preferably several) who is dependable. It really can't be trained alone. I believe the series is excellent as a supplement to in school training. You can learn stuff with it, but it will take time.

I think this has been coming for a long time. You've had alot of strife in recent years. Congratulations for finally embracing it.

Learning and learning styles are unique to the individual. Some people learn perfectly simply by hearing information. Some people learn well simply by seeing. Others learn by doing. It's pretty well understood that the most powerful method of learning is to see, hear, and do the task. This is the method most sports and martial arts employ to teach skill based tasks.

Thanks for the context Tallgeese. Regarding the original post: It's important to remember the underlying maxim for all Judo and BJJ is, "Minimum Effort for Maximum Effect" What you're really creating is a hierarchy of principles. At the top of that hierarchy must be "Minimum effort for Maximum effect." Directly under that you could place the 4 concepts that Tallgeese presented and explained. More over, all other positions should fall under those 4 concepts. Concepts presented in the original post would be another subset which are based on individual positions rather than a focus on the whole art. In addition, they fall under only one of they 4 concepts presented by Tallgeese. For example, better grips fall under either unbalance or control, depending on the position. A basic way you can apply the 4 concepts to BJJ, once on the ground, could be as follows: Evade: Defend the neck & strikes, Defend the appendages from attack, If on top defend the base, start your move. This can also include framing the opponent and standing to get away. Stun: Mentally, being ahead of the opponent in position and transition can be mentally stunning. Physically, striking can be a great advantage if you know how to do it while grappling. Control: This could actually be placed almost anywhere in grappling. Control should be attained as soon as possible and maintained throughout all positions and transitions. This includes the things mentioned in the original thread. Grips, underhooks, pressure ect... Unbalance: Again, this can be physical or mental. Maintaining control and smoothly transitioning from one move to another can be mentally draining on an opponent. They struggle to keep up and to mount any defense. Physically this could more directly relate to sweeps and takedowns. So, in my opinion, BJJ can easily fit into these 4 basic concepts.

Punches to the head, I believe, is what he's saying. Not actually attacking the hands.

Do you have a link to the blog. I'm afraid I need more context as I'm not even sure I agree with the original list as it is. I would see this list as similar to principles from Aiki Ju-Jitsu. Please add a link, and I'll be happy to put in my 2 cents.

ANY escape is always going to be more difficult if you let your partner get settled in. The key to escaping is to begin very early. That said, if your partner is getting to that position, they are probably skilled enough to keep you there because they are more experienced than you. Your best option when you are less skilled than the person you're with, you should focus on survival. This is done through the following steps: 1. Recognize and accept that the person is ahead of you. 2. Keep T-Rex arms and protect your neck, keep at least one foot planted at all times. AKA-ensure you're not going to lose right away. 3. Attempt to see where your opponent wants to go next (mount, armbar, choke ect..) 4. Set your opponent up to attempt the next step and cut them off/defend as they go for it. 5. Don't admire your work. Keep moving and attempt to get ahead. As for the specific for that position: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ywjbmtprnOg Both those options go to the back. But you can use the principles of leverage to get back to guard or back to your feet as well. Maybe I'll do some vids soon from this position to give you some other options.

It's ok to learn from anyone. However, I don't know why you would want to.

So anytime you're drilling bunkai, you're practicing the application of Kata. This is still training kata. When you break it down and are just doing pieces such as footwork and individual strikes, that's kihon or drilling. Kumite is any point where two foes practice techniques (compliantly or otherwise) on one another. To me, "self defense" is trained either as movements from kata or in kumite format.

But if it's just broken down kata, why not call it Kata. Even call it kihon. Why displace it from the rest of the art and create a new label?

True. And it should be noted that some of the "Do" arts are specifically designed to focus more on personal growth versus "Jitsu" arts, which had a focus on combat techniques. However, to be more specific, most martial arts have some sort of basic side kick. This is a powerful, quick, and effective technique. However, rarely is a side kick practiced in the "self defense" section. Same for most of the strikes. In nearly every art I've trained, "self defense" usually consists of joint manipulations against some sort of grab or embrace. Why not just put these into the training and just call them sparring/kumite just like one steps? Why separate them out from everything else?

I agree.

I very much agree with this. There's enough information in just one kata to allow for a ton of training. I would probably chose Kanku dai, Bassai Dai, or Unsu. I could also base an entire curriculum around those exclusively.

I've notice a disturbing trend. In my study of TKD, Shotokan, Chuan Fa, Aiki jujitsu, and even BJJ, instructors have the habit of compartmentalizing their art. The specific type I am speaking of is saying, "we're now going to train some self defense." With the exception of BJJ, all the arts I've trained are supposed to consist of 3 major components: 1. Kata- forms 2. Kihon- drills 3. Kumite- sparring It is my belief that anything you practice should have the intent to be practical and useful. Therefore, it's all self defense. I feel that to compartmentalize certain techniques as self defense implies that anything else is not self defense; rather something else. For a person whose only concern is self defense, doing this tells them that anything not in the self defense category is unimportant to them. How do you feel about this assertion?

Interesting point. Though not truely a ko ryu, during the training of sogo budo, I just called my instructor john.

Don't get me wrong. I wouldn't go out of my way to pick a fight either. But if she were to challenge you, it's disrespectful to you, her, and your school not to do your best. The only way to lose the ego is to get your butt kicked. Her reaction to losing (or winning) would also prove whether she's a legitimate friend, worthy of your concern. Never worry about feelings of a person who has already insulted you. Especially if they're supposed to be your friend. Friends challenge each other and inspire personal growth. To do otherwise would, in my opinion, be disrespectful. On the mat, the truth will out!

In all honesty, it would not surprise me if you could beat her...especially if you actually use knockdown rules. Kyokushin is, IMO, the best form of karate left. This is due, primarily, to it's high level of aliveness.

I highly recommend it to anyone in the martial arts. It has an amazing History section that is more detailed than any other single source I've ever seen. Plus, it's incredibly inexpensive. New, it's only like, $15. I've seen it as low as $10 used. http://www.amazon.com/Mastering-Jujitsu-Martial-Arts/dp/0736044043/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1327461078&sr=8-2

If you watch the "BullyProof" series put out by Rener and Ryon Gracie, you'll see they agree with you. They actually emphasize that, especially for kids, the instruction should be fun first! It's the only real way to keep a child's attention and keep them learning.

This is a very good point; and one that is almost always true of anyone who trains in a way as "alive" as kyokushin. That is, when you must always prove your skill, every day, there isn't room for ego or false beliefs about your skill. It forces you to see the truth. Those who can't, don't last.

Ego is such a difficult thing to set aside. That's exactly what she needs to do. Rather, she should see you're a friend who was giving advice to the best of your ability. I would guess your advice was good and she didn't think of it. That's a difficult pill to swallow and is the primary reason why I left karate. There are too many egos. People would rather walk around with oversized, multicolored belts than actually prove what they know and share knowledge willingly.