You ever feel like a wimp for competing in grappling rather than striking?

[biscuitsbrah]

Haha there's no need to compare yourself. If youre doing bjj and judo to become a fighter then obviously youre doing the sport for the wrong reasons. Be happy you can defend yourself from most unarmed confrontations and that grappling is super fun

 

[CrazyN8]

You cant call anyone who does either for a period of time a wimp. Both require to get beat up over and over agaim to even get decent.

 

[winterbike]

The biggest difference between striking and grappling, is that it's easier to quit in grappling. If somebody gets you in a rough spot, you can give something up, let them take an arm or sink a choke and tap. With striking if you quit when your in a rough spot, you're going to get hurt or look like a pussy, like Rocky IV said "there's no easy way out".
Now do people actually quit in grappling matches when it gets tough, of course not. The fear of embarrassment is intensified, but in real life terms anybody that grapples at a good level is is going through similar amounts of pain and using similar toughness.
The "not wanting to risk head injury" thing is an excuse. CTE, pugilists dementia, etc, is caused by repeated unchecked mild concussions. Anybody that trains sensibly, in a controlled environment,with the aim being to not fight more than a dozen fights over a few years, would never come close. It's like saying that everyone that does BJJ will have a busted spine by the time they hit purple.

The risk of having a concussion goes up exponentially though. And one can put you on your ass for a long time. I've known plenty of recreational athletes who were out of the game for a few months because of a random hit to the head. And having a bad brain instead of a bad knee is orders of magnitude suckier.

 

[Submission]

I started training in striking arts, I did boxing, kickboxing and MT for 3 years. Then I went for some MMA practices and, when sparring, everytime I went to the ground I was lost. I had zero experience on grappling.
I started to train grappling because of that and since than I don't want anything else. Sometimes I miss kicking and punching a little bit, but I wouldn't exchange that for the complexity of grappling arts, I think it's much more challenging to evolve (no disregard to the striking arts, they're just different in their own ways) and it's a more complete art to learn.
From my experience grappling is much harder on the body (joints, ligaments, spine...). However, striking is easier on the body (except fucking leg kicks lol) but has the issue of brain trauma and I don't want to risk that a little bit.

 

[sb413197]

No, I need my brain.

If you don't mind getting concussions, have at it. MMA is probably lower risk than pure striking in terms of brain issues from what I've seen and if your concern is fighting that might be the better route than competing in kickboxing anyway.

 

[TheMood]

I never thought of this before. I also don't think I'm tough for training. I just do this because it is a form of exercise that I enjoy.

 

[Jinn]

If I were THAT desperate to make sure the world knows I have a penis then my recreational activities would be relegated to toughman, WWE, and clubbing women over the head every time I get horny because words are for pussies.

 

[Dogstarman]

No. I'm not insecure about that kind of shit. Anyway I value my brain.

 

[Solidus Snake]

When I think about the destroying process we put our body in whenever we face hard grappling sparring/competition, "weak" and "soft" are like the last words I could associate what I'm feeling like..

To be honest I think it's just you being insecure for no reason at all

 

[SummerStriker]

In my experience, a lot of strikers can't humble themselves enough to endure learning submission grappling. Many would rather take their chances using basic takedown defense and getting tapped out sometimes in MMA sparring, than committing to learning to grapple.

Most people who fight only fight a couple times, and most people who train don't fight at all. Even out of them, most have egos too fragile to learn to grapple.

Not wanting to get your brain damaged is a lot less wimpy than being too thin skinned to stand being tapped.

You have to remember that MOST people involved in striking, even beginners, and especially people who haven't fought, imagine that if they cut loose and went hard, the people in the gym that beat them wouldn't be able to stand up to them. You don't really get to think that way in a BJJ school, other than imagining you could out strike them.

That said, you can learn to strike and learn to do MMA sparring without being brain damaged. I've gone to open gyms for MMA sparring with nut jobs all over, for years, and I've never been knocked out or had a serious concussion. Injured, yeah, but never brain damaged (despite how it may seem).

I think that for grapplers, the principal barrier to getting good enough to spar mma with strangers is the patience to drill the kicks and footwork in the mirror. Standing there, doing 500 kicks alone, is too much for some people. Without doing it, regular BJJ purple belts get shit on by guys with moderate take down defense in mom and pop MMA gyms.

They look worse fighting, and do worse, than high school wrestlers because they can't even get the fight to the ground as well as random sixteen-year old kids who wrestle. BJJ is basically a set of drills for freestyle fighting, in my opinion.

 

[Bayonet]

I get that feeling. Sometimes i want to train striking so that I feel like I have more 'complete' fighting skills, but, since I have no plans to compete in any MMA , it's really just an ego thing on my behalf. As a guy who's already down one eye and has a history of getting blown up, I can't really bring myself to embrace the higher risk that getting kicked in the head will bring along. The juice really isn't worth the squeeze in this case.

Maybe I'll pick up Boxercise or something.

 

[Tebowned]

Now do people actually quit in grappling matches when it gets tough, of course not..

Lot of people quit in grappling. Fatigue makes cowards of men.

 

[Thycidides]

The biggest difference between striking and grappling, is that it's easier to quit in grappling. If somebody gets you in a rough spot, you can give something up, let them take an arm or sink a choke and tap. With striking if you quit when your in a rough spot, you're going to get hurt or look like a pussy, like Rocky IV said "there's no easy way out".
.

I'm not sure that's true. One can give up in boxing by putting a knee on the ground or refuse to answer the bell after a round. Its rare to see in televised pro fights but it happens in amateure, which is what I'm referring to. In MMA one can tap to strikes, a lot of UFC fighters have won the first couple bouts in their career because their opponent tapped to strikes. Also the corner can throw in the towel and save their fighter.

I know that the tv audience views that sort of thing as cowardice and being a pussy, but do other armature fighters and coaches ?

Anyway my problem is that the striking classes at my gym overlap with the grappling, so its hard to do both. Also some of my training partners hit hard, perhaps because I can throw them in the Thai clinch and they do not like that at all. It was weird because were are encouraged to clinch but im the only one that likes it. I was using the moves shown in class too.

I haven't been to a striking class in 3 months because I have been training for a BJJ tournament and because people hit hard.

 

[Ass-hat]

Currently I train judo and bjj and I enjoy to compete. However I do this as a hobby only. I would love to train in boxing and kickboxing but again, I would like to compete.

My dilema is I already get a few odd looks round the office when I occasionally turn up with friction burns or grazes round my face but turning up with black eyes or cuts would not go down well.

Gotta pay the bills before my thrills. Plus I love judo and bjj so I'm happy as is

 

[SummerStriker]

Coaches can suggest it ends by throwing in the towel, but the ref is the one with the authority. Sometimes they ignore it and let the fight go on.

 

[ArtemV]

Not really, I just like grappling, because it is in its purest form.

 

[jonander50]

I sometimes feel this way. Does anyone else? Sometimes I feel like I'm soft and weak for doing BJJ and judo rather than say Mauy Thai. Its also frustrating that I'm a big fan of MMA, yet will never fight in it due to fear of injury.

It seems kind of silly because I've been hurt and beat up more in judo randori than in Mauy Thai sparring. I also get beat up in BJJ tournaments so I'd fair even worse in an MMA bout.

I think you did did right accepting your fears, the next phase is figure how to go over it

 

[Thycidides]

Currently I train judo and bjj and I enjoy to compete. However I do this as a hobby only. I would love to train in boxing and kickboxing but again, I would like to compete.

My dilema is I already get a few odd looks round the office when I occasionally turn up with friction burns or grazes round my face but turning up with black eyes or cuts would not go down well.

Gotta pay the bills before my thrills. Plus I love judo and bjj so I'm happy as is

Haha i think the people at work probably think what I do is closer to MMA than pure grappling. They think it is cool.

 

[Forever Young]

Lol no reason to be insecure, dawg. Striking isn't "tougher" it's just... stupider.

Like, we did style vs style for years. It's settled. Wrestling, BJJ, and Sambo are the superior arts to train. No reason to feel like a pussy over it, those are perfectly tough. If you put your all into BJJ or Judo training, you're doing ten times more than most people in your society ever have or ever will.

 

[WalkerTXranger]

I sometimes feel this way. Does anyone else? Sometimes I feel like I'm soft and weak for doing BJJ and judo rather than say Mauy Thai. Its also frustrating that I'm a big fan of MMA, yet will never fight in it due to fear of injury.

It seems kind of silly because I've been hurt and beat up more in judo randori than in Mauy Thai sparring. I also get beat up in BJJ tournaments so I'd fair even worse in an MMA bout.

just my .02, but getting punched in the face or kicked in the shin- HURTS. Damn sure isn't my ideal of a fun training session. But neither is tearing a knee during a bad takedown or shoulder injuries from ground work.

Don't most older high level Judo guys have bad hips or know have metal hips?