BJJ as self defense?

you guys live on some mean streets.

*sips crystal light*

ahhhhhhhhhhhhh! That's good stuff...
 
LocalNmass said:
I agree, what i don't understand is who advocate's pulling guard in a self defense situation???
Click to expand...

I've always wondered the same thing, and I'm glad you brought it up. Whenever someone brings up Rorion Gracie or someone talking about bjj as self defense, you inevitably get the response of "I wouldn't pull guard in a street fight lolol!" Well that's good, because I don't know any bjj fighter who has ever suggested that. If you train bjj even in a sport setting, you know that it's always better to play from the top (or at least that's what I've been taught). The fact of the matter is that imo, bjj is the most effective martial art for unarmed 1 on 1 combat, if you understand that fighting strategy is different from sport strategy. It is useful to be able to close the distance with an opponent, take them down, and choke them out or pummel them from an effective position. You can throw in some really nasty eye gouges or what not if you need to. So yes, given the proper understanding of focus and strategy, and the appropriate situation, I would say bjj (and judo as well) are very effective for self defense. It's when you lose the proper mentality and strategy of fighting that you get into trouble.

Now of course, not every fight situation is a 1 on 1 unarmed fight. You could be dealing with 2 or more attackers, or an armed opponent, or god forbid multiple armed opponents. Of course, the most effective form of self defense in such situations is to get out of there some how, but that's not always an option and sometimes you have to engage. In those situations, any sensible person would admit that you don't want to start grappling. For these situations, there are other martial arts that can prepare you effectively. Krav Maga focuses on multiple opponents, for example, and life or death weapons situations. At my dojo, the instructors offer classes with full contact stick and knife fighting, and they are extremely skilled in these styles. When trained in a sparring atmosphere with a practical focus, these martial arts are extremely effective for dealing with armed opponents.

So it's a matter of common sense, strategy, and using appropriate tactics. But yes, bjj is effective for self defense.
 
Oldguy said:
I fear a knife more than a gun. I once watched a one hour knife fighting DVD. The next day before BJJ class, I asked this guy who was a 2nd degree aikido black belt to disarm me with a training knife and/or defend himself. I proceeded to cut and stab him so bad that after a few minutes we just stopped. It was ugly. I was a complete novice and I destroyed him.

I am skeptical about any unarmed defense against a knife.
Click to expand...

Don't be. I've done the same as you, but not against an Aikido guy, and let me just say I felt humbled. It's all about the training methods. Aikido doesn't train full contact with people attacking you for real.
 
I don't mean to sound like some huge know-it-all or anything because I am certainly not a BJJ expert. However, it seems like a lot of the comments about BJJ not being effective as a self defense are coming from people whose training or exposure to BJJ has been very sport oriented .
The whole point of Gracie Brazilian Jujitsu (it seems now days you have to make the distinction as opposed to just saying Brazilian Jujitsu) is for a small guy to be able to defend himself against a much larger attacker. Even Helio Gracie will tell you that its not that he loved the guard, its just that he had no choice but to "recompose guard " (a distinct difference from jumping or pulling guard) against much bigger attackers. If you watch Royce in the first UFC's which were much closer to 'street fighting scenarios" than what they are now, you can see times at which his BJJ technique is very applicable to a street fight scenario.
For example, while someone was in his guard he would be heel kicking them in the lower back and kidneys. This would be illegal under current MMA rules but was perfectly legal then. They don't look like much, but if someone is heel kicking your kidney's repeatedly it becomes extremely painful and debilitating pretty quickly.
As someone pointed out earlier the Gracies have several publications devoted almost exclusively to applying BJJ to self defense as was originally intended.

tbone
 
bjj for mma is much much more effective in self defense situations
 
Unless you are practicing your grappling with striking, you're going to get a rude awakening in a fist fight.

That being said, BJJ is certainly better than nothing and there are a lot of things that are worthwhile and effective for self defense (This is assuming, of course, that you are not speaking about BJJ self defense classes which seem to be structured well).

I'd argue extensively about promoting running away as being the best for self defense. There are a significant amount of reasons why it is NOT a good thing to rely on, and in fact frowned on.
 
Darkslide632 said:
I'd argue extensively about promoting running away as being the best for self defense. There are a significant amount of reasons why it is NOT a good thing to rely on, and in fact frowned on.
Click to expand...

Like if the other guy is a better runner ...
 
If you don't see BJJ as primarily a self-defense art then I would question the legitimacy of your instructors.
 
SuperSuperRambo said:
Don't be. I've done the same as you, but not against an Aikido guy, and let me just say I felt humbled. It's all about the training methods. Aikido doesn't train full contact with people attacking you for real.
Click to expand...

I second this. My experience trying the same against highly skilled IKMF Krav Maga instructors is that proper training methods can definitely make you capable of stopping a knife attack. You may not fare well against someone who has proper blade training and really knows how to effectively attack with a knife, but how often do people get mugged by FMA practitioners?

To say there is no defense against a knife is like saying there is no defense against a punch.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Forum statistics

Threads
1,236,982
Messages
55,459,281
Members
174,787
Latest member
Freddie556

Share this page

Back
Top