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My specific perspective on SD BJJ is from the standpoint of people training grappling 4 hours a week or less, paired with MMA striking training. In this context, it is really important to have a focused curriculum because if you try to learn full BJJ you will never have time to drill and get good at fundamentals. In a world of 999 BJJ techniques in 13.2 minutes, especially MMA amateurs, hobbyists and people trying to learn to handle themselves on the street need to be able to get some functional skill without having their time stretched too thin.
I have a good cross section of rolling partners right now, from fighters, better BJJ Blue Belts who are large and stronger to me, educated beginners, noobs, and the occasional purple belt, plus a revolving door of strong bros who come in through the door.
In my head, I've been becoming more and more aware about how not all BJJ techniques are created equally. More than just "my game" or "my attributes" I've found that there are moves that are just better against more effective opponents.
For example, the elbow / knee escape from full mount is a class A move. Larger and better blue belts can't stop me from performing the technique. When I get mounted, I can regain half guard, basically at will (which explains why I've been posting so much in the half guard thread).
Then there are class B moves, moves that seem to work on equals well but are difficult to impossible against superior grapplers, like the situp sweep. Against superior grapplers, sometimes I can use the situp sweep to set up another move, but it is rare that I will actually flip them to full mount.
Then finally, there are class C moves, like this:
The move he is teaching here, in my opinion, works for him because of his exceptional strength. From anecdotal experience, this move doesn't work on strong people with good top balance or BJJ blue / purple belts who can maintain their position without releasing the crossface. It works, basically as prescribed against most white belts.
What makes this move money for self defense is that anytime I've rolled with someone who just walked in through the door, regardless of sparring experience or strength, they will just roll right over. If I let them have mount, take half guard, and use this, I will almost always end up out or on top, because people not trained in grappling but clever enough to wrap your head somehow will not be able to stay up.
Now, compared that to the jaws of life:
I really like the jaws of life. I think it is an odd sort of move because if the top guy is very experienced, as soon as you start it, they change what they are doing. They don't gold fish and let you perform the whole thing. Against new people just in the door, if they have some fighting talent, will either fight it to the death, letting you use it, or will immediately pop up and try to strike or something. It is mostly early blue, late whites, who are trying to perform special half guard passes or submissions that will really let you do the whole thing.
My point being, against the untrained person, the jaws of life, in my experience, lead to a fight. You end up having to sit up with them to defend strikes or fight through desperate, spastic cross face pressure. On the other hand, the superman against the untrained just rolls them right over. Despite not being great against the trained person, this technique is sweet for self defense.
There is a lot of hostility on the internet towards bad TMA grappling. My experience with bad TMA grappling is that it works just fine against the untrained for self defense. That hostility is still there when BJJ men show a technique that you think might work at a low level but falls apart against well educated opponents.
If your only art is BJJ, it doesn't really matter. You can learn it all and master anything.
What about the MMA guy? It seems to me that they need to stick to fundamentals, but what are those fundamentals? Is it the stuff you need to combat opponents of the highest skill level but is often a struggle, or is it stuff like the superman that isn't that great against well trained people but is excellent against weak grapplers? Do you just take your time and try to learn it all anyway, and just not fight until later?
This is the art in martial arts, because it is hard to know the clearest, most efficient path, so preferences and feelings can take hold. My instinct is to only train the best, most universal moves that function against well trained opponents, and spend time that could be used on weaker techniques, doing something else completely, like hitting pads or sparring.
What do you think?
I have a good cross section of rolling partners right now, from fighters, better BJJ Blue Belts who are large and stronger to me, educated beginners, noobs, and the occasional purple belt, plus a revolving door of strong bros who come in through the door.
In my head, I've been becoming more and more aware about how not all BJJ techniques are created equally. More than just "my game" or "my attributes" I've found that there are moves that are just better against more effective opponents.
For example, the elbow / knee escape from full mount is a class A move. Larger and better blue belts can't stop me from performing the technique. When I get mounted, I can regain half guard, basically at will (which explains why I've been posting so much in the half guard thread).
Then there are class B moves, moves that seem to work on equals well but are difficult to impossible against superior grapplers, like the situp sweep. Against superior grapplers, sometimes I can use the situp sweep to set up another move, but it is rare that I will actually flip them to full mount.
Then finally, there are class C moves, like this:
The move he is teaching here, in my opinion, works for him because of his exceptional strength. From anecdotal experience, this move doesn't work on strong people with good top balance or BJJ blue / purple belts who can maintain their position without releasing the crossface. It works, basically as prescribed against most white belts.
What makes this move money for self defense is that anytime I've rolled with someone who just walked in through the door, regardless of sparring experience or strength, they will just roll right over. If I let them have mount, take half guard, and use this, I will almost always end up out or on top, because people not trained in grappling but clever enough to wrap your head somehow will not be able to stay up.
Now, compared that to the jaws of life:
I really like the jaws of life. I think it is an odd sort of move because if the top guy is very experienced, as soon as you start it, they change what they are doing. They don't gold fish and let you perform the whole thing. Against new people just in the door, if they have some fighting talent, will either fight it to the death, letting you use it, or will immediately pop up and try to strike or something. It is mostly early blue, late whites, who are trying to perform special half guard passes or submissions that will really let you do the whole thing.
My point being, against the untrained person, the jaws of life, in my experience, lead to a fight. You end up having to sit up with them to defend strikes or fight through desperate, spastic cross face pressure. On the other hand, the superman against the untrained just rolls them right over. Despite not being great against the trained person, this technique is sweet for self defense.
There is a lot of hostility on the internet towards bad TMA grappling. My experience with bad TMA grappling is that it works just fine against the untrained for self defense. That hostility is still there when BJJ men show a technique that you think might work at a low level but falls apart against well educated opponents.
If your only art is BJJ, it doesn't really matter. You can learn it all and master anything.
What about the MMA guy? It seems to me that they need to stick to fundamentals, but what are those fundamentals? Is it the stuff you need to combat opponents of the highest skill level but is often a struggle, or is it stuff like the superman that isn't that great against well trained people but is excellent against weak grapplers? Do you just take your time and try to learn it all anyway, and just not fight until later?
This is the art in martial arts, because it is hard to know the clearest, most efficient path, so preferences and feelings can take hold. My instinct is to only train the best, most universal moves that function against well trained opponents, and spend time that could be used on weaker techniques, doing something else completely, like hitting pads or sparring.
What do you think?