Grappling Competition Questions

[Zapatista]

I haven't been to this site in a long time, but I am requesting help from you all and I'm looking to participate more often (when I have constructive things to say). I haven't done any grappling arts (I've done Kum Do for a few months and I did Hapkido for 2 weeks before my foot started hurting bad, it's plantar faciitis which is a form of tendonitis).

But I'm looking to get into grappling competitions and I've been looking for schools in my area that offer grappling arts and there were only a few that offered Jujutsu, one of them was Carlson Gracie's Brazilian Jiu-jitsu academy but that has been closed (or at least the location that was close to me) because Carlson died in February. That same place offers Danzan Ryu Jujutsu. There is another place that offers Brazilian Jiu-jitsu but requires 6 month minimum contract. I'm in college so I don't have 6 months where I can go to that school so that's out of the question. I'm mainly going to do jujutsu for 3 months during the summer and then when I'm out of college do it 12 months a year (I should be out in 2008, unless I go to graduate school).

My question basically is this: will Danzan Ryu Jujutsu make me ready for competition? If not, will it provide the basics for switching to BJJ when given the chance or will it teach me things that are unusuable in competition and make it harder to get into competitions and do well?

I'm sorry if this question has been asked to death, but I looked through many, many pages in this section and I didn't see anything like this.

[danbong]

What kind of competition? BJJ, MMA? Of course, three months of beginner level training isn't enough to do much in the way of helping of hurting you for competition.

[bushido_man96]

If anything, at least the JJJ experience will get your feet wet. You will probably have to adapt some, but in the end, it will help you more than it will hurt you, as long as you are receiving good instruction.

[Zapatista]

What kind of competition? BJJ, MMA? Of course, three months of beginner level training isn't enough to do much in the way of helping of hurting you for competition.

Sorry, I should've specified the type. I mainly want to do submission competitions (whether it be BJJ or a competition open to all styles). I might try to get into MMA, but not for a long while.

[ps1]

For submission competitions, Danzan Ryu will not help you much at all. Besides, as mentioned above. 3 months of training is not really enought to help you in cometitions anyway, unless your are a phenomenal athlete.

[Zapatista]

I plan to compete later (after college). There's a group of guys at my school that are trying to get people together to practice brazilian Jiu-jitsu, but I want to learn at least some jujutsu before I roll with these guys because I don't want to learn the basics wrong in case the guys aren't as sure as they think they are when doing moves.

[danbong]

The vast majority of mainstream BJJ schools do not suffer from rank inflation so if they are above white belt they should know the basics well enough not to mess you up. I don't know about the rest of BJJ schools, but the Gracies have a very step by step approach for beginners - having no prior experience is not a big handicap. Instead of taking classes for 3 months, work on conditioning (Sohan has many good posts on conditioning for martial arts) and saving money to get some videos and books that will be useful once you start working out with the guys at college.

[ps1]

I plan to compete later (after college). There's a group of guys at my school that are trying to get people together to practice brazilian Jiu-jitsu, but I want to learn at least some jujutsu before I roll with these guys because I don't want to learn the basics wrong in case the guys aren't as sure as they think they are when doing moves.

I think it is pretty accurate to say that there are very few things that JJJ systems and BJJ systems have in common. Their teaching methods are extremely different.

JJJ systems tend to focus on Throws, strikes and small joint manipulations. There is a ground component taught, but usually not much at beginner levels and certianly not to the extent that BJJ has perfected.

On the contrary. BJJ tends to focus on Ground, takedowns (usually from the clinch/T position), and large joint submissions (chokes, armbars, and various shoulder locks).

They are both great systems. But if your interest is in submission competitions, as I said before, go with the guys teaching BJJ. As long as they have earned at least blue, they should be able to teach you decent enough. I would be hesitant, however, if they haven't had much formal training.

For the record, I have studied Daito Ryu Jujitsu for 6 yrs and BJJ for 3. I'm certainly not a master of either, but have a strong enough grasp to tell you those differences.

[Zapatista]

Here's another question: Would it be better for me to train in Judo before I do BJJ? The school I attend has a Judo gym class, the local park district that I'm at during the summer has Judo and there is a dojo that offers Judo (they also offered Carlson Gracie's Jiu-Jitsu club before he died in Febraury). The only problem with the dojo is that they require a month or two doing Jujutsu before they allow somebody to do Judo (they teach Danzan-Ryu Jujutsu) so it would be awhile before I would be able to do Judo.

Also, from other people's experiences, do park districts usually offer higher quality or lower quality than a traditional dojo.

[ps1]

Judo would certainly be more useful and is often studied hand in hand with BJJ. Honestly, if the same person that teaches the Danzan Ryu Jujitsu also teaches the Judo, it may have more ground work than usual.

Quality is determined by the teacher and the dedication of the student. Not the area. I was in a slum area in NJ once and went into a school that I found to be quite phenomenal.