Whats the difference between BJJ and JJ

[JohnnyS]

In my experience, TJJ train a little bit of everything but never really succeed at getting really good at anything. They'd get out-thrown by a Judo player, and tapped by a BJJ-player. The main difference (and their main hindrance) seems to be the lack of competition in TJJ because their techniques are so "dangerous". They also seem to have a superiority complex i.e they believe their throws are better than Judo throws because they throw their opponent on their heads etc.

 

I was a white belt in BJJ and I'd had five private lessons and I tapped out a black belt and a brown belt in TJJ. The instructor was pissed off but didn't take up my offer to grapple funnily enough. There's no way in hell that could happen in a BJJ school to anyone who'd even been training for six months, let alone be a black belt. They'll tell you that what they do on the ground is exactly the same as BJJ, but they can't back it up.

 

There is a big difference between BJJ and TJJ. Train both and you'll see the difference in the first class.

[LOILOI44]

In my experience, TJJ train a little bit of everything but never really succeed at getting really good at anything. They'd get out-thrown by a Judo player, and tapped by a BJJ-player. The main difference (and their main hindrance) seems to be the lack of competition in TJJ because their techniques are so "dangerous". They also seem to have a superiority complex i.e they believe their throws are better than Judo throws because they throw their opponent on their heads etc.

 

I was a white belt in BJJ and I'd had five private lessons and I tapped out a black belt and a brown belt in TJJ. The instructor was * off but didn't take up my offer to grapple funnily enough. There's no way in hell that could happen in a BJJ school to anyone who'd even been training for six months, let alone be a black belt. They'll tell you that what they do on the ground is exactly the same as BJJ, but they can't back it up.

 

There is a big difference between BJJ and TJJ. Train both and you'll see the difference in the first class.

 

You really know about your TJJ schools. How many did you go to 1?

[JohnnyS]

I've been to a couple actually. I've also had friends go to another TJJ school with the same result. I maybe stereotyping, but it's my experience of what happened, and there's no way that someone with five sessions would go into a BJJ school and have the same result that I had or my friends had.

 

Look, I'm sure that there's some good TJJ schools, in fact I know there is. But they are not the same as BJJ schools, they don't teach the same things and you won't get the same results.

[LOILOI44]

I've been to a couple actually. I've also had friends go to another TJJ school with the same result. I maybe stereotyping, but it's my experience of what happened, and there's no way that someone with five sessions would go into a BJJ school and have the same result that I had or my friends had.

 

Look, I'm sure that there's some good TJJ schools, in fact I know there is. But they are not the same as BJJ schools, they don't teach the same things and you won't get the same results.

 

Well if I go by strictly what I have seen, then I must assume that BJJ players just plain can't hack TJJ. I've had BJJ players come into my school and leave after three classes after getting their butts handed to them religiously. And this was strictly a ground fighting (BJJ's forte) class. I know this is not true for all BJJ players. It would be rediculous if I thought like that. But for you to say with five private BJJ lessons you could beat any TJJ black belt is just plain wrong. How do you know how hard my school trains? You say that TJJ schools just don't teach the same things that BJJ schools teach, then I ask you this...and I have asked this numerous times; please tell me a technique in BJJ that does not exist in TJJ. Tell me what makes BJJ the ultimate art as you claim after 5 lessons you are beating black belts(I am not doubting this story either, there are some bad schools out there). What is so revolutionary about it that us old school TJJ people are missing out on? Every, and I mean every BJJ technique I have seen exists in TJJ. Please enlighten me with facts and not oppinion.

[JohnnyS]

There's a whole bunch of omaplata sweeps, as well as the gogoplata that I've never seen in any Judo or JJJ book.

 

Look, your argument could be said of boxing and karat - karate has a jab, cross,hook and uppercut, but that doesn't make them the same thing. The difference is on the emphasis, the training and the set-ups.

 

The final technique may be the same, but the set-ups and transitions are different. Anyone who has trained in both systems will say the same thing.

[goshinman]

Hey JohnnyS. I was just curious to know if you had any previous martial arts training when you went to this TJJ dojo and whooped their blackbelts? I see you have a black belt in shootfighting and TKD so did you have those when you went to spar?

 

For the most part I agree with your assessment of the difference in the execution of the same techniques in BJJ and TJJ but they are the same none the less. I have beaten a BJJ student before so does that mean My JJ style is better? I don't know, but I do know that I beat him that day because he was knocked out and had a concussion and a strained neck. I have told this to people before, I slipped a little when hip throwing him and he didn't know proper breakfalls so he landed right on his dome. I think you may be right about one thing and that is the fact that BJJ players are just plain better at the ground game for the most part. It's what they train for constantly so it makes sense that they would excell in it.

[Kirves]

In my mind, the two biggest differences are:

 

1. Training methods: BJJ starts randori from day one, TJJ focuses on kata only for starters (often years).

 

2. BJJ focuses very much on ne-waza (ground work) while TJJ focuses mostly on standup + includes the traditional bujutsu weapons.

[LOILOI44]

Maybe it's just the school I come from, it's as old school as they come. But the first week I was there, I was playing randori. I do have to know katas, but that's only a very small part of the time I spend. As far as ground work goes, I spend 2 days a week working ne-waza, and this is when I don't go to Judo. If I go to Judo it's 4 days. Maybe my school isn't typical, but it is as close to the way they train in Japan as anything I have ever seen.

 

Johnny, do you have illustrations of these techniques?

[Kirves]

There are always exceptions to the rule, as there are so many different styles, organizations, schools and instructors.

[Kyle-san]

1. Training methods: BJJ starts randori from day one, TJJ focuses on kata only for starters (often years).

 

2. BJJ focuses very much on ne-waza (ground work) while TJJ focuses mostly on standup + includes the traditional bujutsu weapons.

 

Both JJ dojos I've attended have not followed this pattern. I think the main problem with comparing TJJ to BJJ is that there are something like 1700 systems of TJJ, all of which train differently. There's no way to say one or two or five are representative of every system. Another thing I've noticed is that there are a lot of TJJ McDojos out there, ones that are completely ineffective.

 

To go with Johnny's story about making high ranking belts tap after 5 BJJ lessons, I held my own in a tournament against a BJJ player who'd been in for close to a year while I'd only had a few months of training. He beat me in the end, yes, but it wasn't such a crushing defeat.