Jersey Devil

Definately go with the Judo, Sambo, or Greco. I dont buy into that whole "too deadly to practice" type things. I've trained with numerous guys who claimed they were dangerous- what they think they can do and what they can actually do are completely different things.

The ranking system for adults in BJJ is white blue purple brown black Children (under 18 years of age) have a separate ranking system. Under 18 is white yellow orange green. If you have a green belt by the time you're 16-18, thats often the equivalent of an adult blue belt in terms of skill, technique, and understanding of the style. At 16 you can get your blue, but you must be 18 to get your black belt. Black belts used to happen at 18 about 15 years ago with the Gracies, but since BJJ has become so much more competitive and complex, its very rarely seen anymore.

Listen to those who are telling to you compete- the most important experience you're going to get is going to be at the white and blue belt levels. Competing is a very difficult thing to do, as a result many people try to write it off as not being important. If you're trying to advance just for BJJ's sake, tournaments do a great job of showing you the holes in you game. You get to compete against someone who doesnt know your game, and likewise you dont know his. After the tournament, you may be surprised at what you find out about yourself- maybe you realized your armbar isnt what you thought it was, or maybe your need to work on your cross side escapes. If self defense is your cup of tea, all the jitters and nerves you feel in a tournament are going to happen when you get involved in a real life altercation. The more familiar you are with it, the easier it will be. That being said, good luck in your tournament.

I'd be in league with TJS and Sohan's opinions. In a one on one fight, I often stick to chokes- nice and easy and not as damaging. If I've got a group of guys beating on me, Im going to try to attack whatever I can manage my hands on.

Depends on what kind of holds you're applying to the person. An armbar will break the arm of anyone- regardless of how flexible they are. A choke will render anyone unconcious, regardless of how thick their neck is. Some people have flexible wrists, but theres a way to even catch those people. With their flexibility, you can bend their wrists and the move may fail, or you can twist their wrists and the move may fail, but if you bend and twist at the same time, you're sure to hurt them, and this holds true for just about any joint. Flexibility makes it more difficult to apply a lock on someone, but it wont make it impossible. What you stated is a matter of personal preference. Jiu Jitsu is much more than simply joint locks. Joint locks become more effective and usefull when you have control over someone, so natrually control is also an important aspect of jiu jitsu as well. As a result, many jiu jitsu fighters simply use their jiu jitsu to control people and elect to strike, rather than submit their opponents. As far as constantly battering your opponent to oblivion, you have that option whether it be in kempo or jiu jitsu. The only reason why you dont see that follow up in jiu jitsu is because when you choke someone unconcious, they're completely defenseless, so you dont actually need to train beyond that point.