AngryMatt

While I prefer the color of the bleached, the unbleached will not have other color gis bleed onto yours as much. Took me a four hour soak in Oxyclean to get the red of my sensei's gi out of my new bleached white one. Glad he switched to his black gi from now on.

Look, I don't want to get into a huge debate over the history of the arts or rip on bjj because I think it's a fantastic art. It's just limited, that's all. Plus, I'm at a disadvantage in this debate anyway. I have very limited background knowledge of all the various martial arts, and while I know my UFC and PRIDE, I'm unfamiliar with most of the Brazilian feds. I do know they are all bare fisted and pretty much no holds barred, but that's about it. This is a fight I would normally walk, or run, away from... because I'm outclassed. I'm no idiot. But bottom line is that perhaps you haven't met a jjj black belt who has a background in freestyle wrestling and emphasizes ground work. He just makes sure we also know the strikes. Why? To better setup the ground stuff. My sensei is a damn smart person, as is his instructor: "99% of the fights you are in are going to end up on the ground. So you better know your ground work." The strikes are used here to better set up the ground fighting... unless you know the knockout combinations which I don't and probably will never learn. Who knows? I'm no historian and while I detest copping out of a good old fashioned interweb brawl, I feel I must do so. If jjj fighters were, as you claim, unable to do simple things like armbars, footlocks, chokes and other standard submissions... I must ask what the hell COULD they do? And for that matter, why in God's name aren't they trained to do those simple things? Unless what I'm being taught is "non-traditional taijitsu" I have no idea what is going on here. You make it sound as if the parent art to bjj and the sister of ninjitsu is just worthless. Though my knowledge is, again, admittedly limited, somehow I really doubt that.

I meant in a fight that has rules regarding strike points. Put a master of jjj in a match against a master of bjj in a PRIDE fight and the jjj fighter would win. Put them in the UFC cage? With striking gloves and rules regarding strike points, aside from the groin of course, and it gets far more even. No bones about it, taijitsu is a war art... and many are hesitant to teach all aspects to folks around here. But my sensei teaches us everything, but we just happen to be a class of all beginners (less than a year in most cases) but when we get our green belts you can bet we'll be sparring full on. You just don't see it often. And it should be noted, that my sensei does train in randori. He's done demonstrations with our three or four members of our class used as the attackers. But remember that randori is just to get the multiple attackers confused and stumble over another so one person can be isolated and taken out.

It's important to be all around, which is why I take Taijitsu. But my sensei makes sure we know that in a real fight we are going to forget most of everything we know intellectually. That's why you drill specific things into muscle memory. Be all around, but have a strength. Striking or grappling. Me? I'm a grappler. But I need to know the strikes because what happens if I can't get the guy on the ground the way I have it planned out? You need to be prepared for tons of eventualities. Why? So you can avoid dangerous positions and then work your style when the opportunity presents itself. I'll be up front... someone proficient in BJJ is going to beat someone in JJJ in a competition. But put them on the street and it's a different story.

Really? Because I'm pretty sure Bruce Lee would tell you different. Where do you think JKD came from? I've been training just for a few months and I can hit plenty of pressure point shots in the neck, chest, arms and hips. It's actually pretty easy once your get hit in that spot a few dozen times. In a real fight? Always go for what finishes it fast... throat shots. And why is that do you think? Because there are rules in those competitions. There are no rules on the street. Bottom line is that judo, BJJ, all of that is built from the combat art of taijitsu. They are different aspects of the complete art. So obviously someone who is geared SOLELY ON ONE ASPECT OF THE ART is going to be better in competition than the all around guy who can't use his strikes, distractions or anything outside the rules of the competition. As far as live sparring goes, my sensei does plenty of it two or three times a week with full gear. I know for a fact that I'm not ready for it. Now does that keep us from rolling with one another with BJJ rules in effect? No. But speaking as a wrestler as well, what hones your skill is drilling technique, not "scrimmaging." Same goes for any sport or art for that matter.

As my sensei tells me, the fights you end up in are usually because the other party is ignorant, drunk, angry or all of the above. And, as he added, you cannot know if you are a truly skilled unless you've put it in practice in real life. Using your art in the context of sport means absolutely nothing, it only means something in combat. Now that being said, he hopes none of his students are ever sure that we have mastered much of the art. But he freely talks about the fights he has been in - only one being serious. He was mugged at gunpoint, and knocked one guy out, broke two other guys' arms. Is he proud? No. But he's glad he walked away unscathed, that's the object. Not to win; to survive. The other fights? Mostly bar scuffles which he ended by a simple takedown and walking away from the guy after that. After all, what does living the way of peace mean if someone is about rob you, about to kill you, about to rape your wife? I'm serious here. Unless you're in a sport or "artsy" art... you're learning combat here.

You can look up any number of articles, but last year the CDC concluded that stretching does not prevent any injuries whatsoever. However, WARMING UP does have benefits because it increases blood flow. While stretching doesn't do that, doing some light work before hitting the heavier stuff.

Learn the whole art of taijitsu, not just the judo or BJJ components of it. There are no martial arts out there that realistically prepare you for multiple attackers. There are, however, techniques in taijitsu that give you a better chance however most of them are purely defensive. The goal is to get in a position where you are in a 1 on 1 situation for at least 3 seconds. Then your striking techniques come into place. If you hit the right points on the proper meridians, you can conceivably survive. But if you take on more than one trained individual, you are going to lose. Taking on more than about three or four untrained guys is extraordinarily dangerous and you're only going to get out of this if you've been training for 10 years or more and you get a fair amount of luck. BJJ is good for one on one combat, and the art of taijitsu is a pure combat art. No sport. So I would suggest training in the parent art of judo and BJJ if you are looking for combat training. But be forewarned, when you are training in this, it is COMBAT TRAINING. I've got plenty of bruises and popped my knee out of its socket temporarily when having a footlock applied to my right leg by another fairly untrained student like myself. Thank God it popped right back in... but bottom line is that you're probably going to get hurt at one point.

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Depends on the situation as always. But out there on the street? With no rules? Probably something like taijitsu or Pencak Silat Serak. I know it's Indonesian and Tom Clancy wrote about it, but I've seen some of that stuff in practice and it's just ridiculous. Put it all on a dojo and it's a different story. But I never got into martial arts for the "art" or philosophy side of it. I began training because I was a country boy living in Chicago and figured that even though I'm a fairly big guy in my own right, I should learn technique. There are no rules in the real world, so I'd go with any art that emphasizes stress testing and is pure combat training.

Helio Gracie. Of course, I am biased because I love the Gracie school and you have to go with the original right? Royce is a fantastic competitor and did well in the original UFC and in PRIDE, but he seemed to eager to lay back in guard. And as for Helio once again... I mean the guy fought Masahiko Kimura, inventor of the Kimura lock... which happens to be my favorite submission.

I shall see how this works in the morrow and if it is successful, I owe you your choice of beverage good sir.

Depends on the situation. Does he have the rear choke going for him? Is he attempting it? If so, grab his forearms, roll forward and then tuck your chin. Make sure he can't lock on that choke. Then shift your hips to get his left leg between your legs (at this point you are both on your backs, he is beneath you) and pull up. If he locks on the hooks, that's even better. Just grab his left leg and tug up towards your chin. As long as he doesn't lock on the choke you just countered it into a knee submission. If he doesn't tap, it's an ACL tear.

I'm relatively new to the art, and obviously very new to the forums, but I'm right there with you man. My sensei first decided to teach just BJJ for awhile, then opened it up to taijitsu for those who seemed more dedicated. Lots of neutral work with strikes, defense of strikes, takedowns and then ground work. And of course, we have a drawing class which is fantastic. Love the sword work even if I don't have a katana.

It may seem a little odd, but I have a brand new Century double weave judo gi and already it's stained. Not from blood or from other clothes that weren't colorfast.... it's turned a tint of pink on the back, especially the arms. Why? Because my sensei has a dark red gi and it bled heavily onto mine. I was doing most of the demonstration work that afternoon and so there was quite a bit of rubbing. So I know not to bleach it, but regular cold washing in bleach alternative didn't work. Anyway to get rid of all of that unslightly light pink that has tinted the back of my gi?