The Mendes Bros on Self Defense [Video]

[TheFakeMacoy]

I take it this video was a delayed response to when RoninModern visited their gym. Does anyone have that thread archived or at least the story? It seems to have been deleted.

 

[PowerSource]

Here is my point of view:
BJJ techniques can work for self defense, however, is up to the instructor to teach which and how because student, in particular lower ranks, won't know how to migrate certain techniques to self defense situations and let's not forget that most of BJJ schools only focus on ground work given little emphasis to standup throws, take downs, strikes and strike defenses. Not all schools are created equals and we can't deny that most of BJJ techniques used in competition would be ineffective in a real situation. With all due respect, let's be realistic here.

 

[virtuoso]

i love it when someone says that the people need to be armed so they can stand up to their government.

you know what happens to you when you stand up to your government and start shooting at police / army? you get labeled a terrorist, and you get dead. also, by your own line of reasoning, you are a criminal and your neighbor should shoot you.

Definitely!

I'm sure the Jews, who were being slaughtered by the Nazis, wouldn't have wanted guns of any kind during World War II either. Did Hitler practice total gun control? No. The Germans Weapon Act in 1938 allowed German citizens to own guns.

You want to know something though? The Jews didn't have guns. The government also passed, in the same year (1938), the Regulation Against Jews' Possession of Weapons act, which removed the right for Jews to possess any form of weapons. In 1939, Jews were forced into concentration camps and in 1941 Hilter instituted the "Final Solution", which was a plan to wipe out the Jewish population completely.

History repeats itself. Time and time again, governments that were once friendly have become tyrannical. Did you know that a democracy elected Hitler to power? So, you can scoff at those who think it's good to be armed so that they can stand up to tyrannical governments, but as George Santayana said, "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."

Edit: Sorry for the history lesson. I'm a history nerd and WWII is my favorite era.

 

[deadlizard]

The circumstance in which Hitler got elected is way different than what we have today.

The fuck with this War Room shit? I thought this is self defense? I need to study up on self defense against internet trolls and pointless arguments.

Seriously, all that computing power in the world and we're trying to get someone to change, fundamentally, their point of view on an MMA grappling subforum?

Looks like we're all fucked.

So in conclusion, Gi is better than no-gi.

 

[Oldguy]

The point is that true self defense goes beyond grappling.

It is way broader than that. You need to know how to grapple, strike, own and know how to use weapons.

No sensible discussion of self defense can avoid these facts.

 

[Zankou]

Definitely!

I'm sure the Jews, who were being slaughtered by the Nazis, wouldn't have wanted guns of any kind during World War II either. Did Hitler practice total gun control? No. The Germans Weapon Act in 1938 allowed German citizens to own guns.

You want to know something though? The Jews didn't have guns. The government also passed, in the same year (1938), the Regulation Against Jews' Possession of Weapons act, which removed the right for Jews to possess any form of weapons. In 1939, Jews were forced into concentration camps and in 1941 Hilter instituted the "Final Solution", which was a plan to wipe out the Jewish population completely.

History repeats itself. Time and time again, governments that were once friendly have become tyrannical. Did you know that a democracy elected Hitler to power? So, you can scoff at those who think it's good to be armed so that they can stand up to tyrannical governments, but as George Santayana said, "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."

Edit: Sorry for the history lesson. I'm a history nerd and WWII is my favorite era.

If WWII is your favorite era, you would know that there were actually very few Jews living in Germany prior to WWII -- only about 200,000 total. The millions of Jewish victims of the Holocaust were, statistically, almost entirely non-German -- nearly all Eastern Euros.

The idea that the comparatively tiny number of adult German Jews could've defended themselves against the Wehrmacht 'had they only been armed' is crazy. German Jews, armed or otherwise, posed not even an iota of military threat of any sort against the German armed forces and military police. Your post verges uncomfortably close on an argument that the Holocaust could've been avoided if only for those darn gun control laws, which is bonkers.

 

[deadlizard]

The point is that true self defense goes beyond grappling.

It is way broader than that. You need to know how to grapple, strike, own and know how to use weapons.

No sensible discussion of self defense can avoid these facts.

True self defense also encompasses politics, inter-personal skills, being eloquent, anger management, ego, compassion, tolerance, religious beliefs, physical awareness, environmental awareness, etc.

No sensible discussion of self defense can avoid these facts as well.

With all you fuckers babbling about how scary shit is, I'm surprised that I'm still alive.

Fear monger will fear monger. This is the MA lifestyle.

 

[brendan raedy]

True self defense also encompasses politics, inter-personal skills, being eloquent, anger management, ego, compassion, tolerance, religious beliefs, physical awareness, environmental awareness, etc.

No sensible discussion of self defense can avoid these facts as well.

With all you fuckers babbling about how scary shit is, I'm surprised that I'm still alive.

Fear monger will fear monger. This is the MA lifestyle.

Thank you. I am so tired of seeing being an aggressive meathead being called "self defense."

Trying to omo plata someone after they hard foul you during a pick up game of hoops is not self defense...it's being an idiot.

 

[Balto]

Thank you. I am so tired of seeing being an aggressive meathead being called "self defense."

Trying to omo plata someone after they hard foul you during a pick up game of hoops is not self defense...it's being an idiot.

The omoplata is clearly just sport.

Self defense is baiana, mount, punches, RNC.

 

[brendan raedy]

The omoplata is clearly just sport.

Self defense is baiana, mount, punches, RNC.

Self defense is acting like a mature, productive member of society and not fighting unless you have exhausted all options at conflict avoidance and you have absolutely, positively no choice but to defend yourself or your loved ones.

 

[joeytriangles]

Self defense is acting like a mature, productive member of society and not fighting unless you have exhausted all options at conflict avoidance and you have absolutely, positively no choice but to defend yourself or your loved ones.

Very well put. However, Balto was being sarcastic and simply taking a knock at the gracies/anyone who says this move is 'only sport'.

 

[SBJ]

From: Henry Akins

Regarding:

Thank you Darren Branch for sharing this video, apparently the guy in this video is a purple belt in Jiu-Jitsu, which means he's been training anywhere from 3-6 years. Its a demonstration of the sad state BJJ has regressed to.

Apparently people are using this video to justify that sport BJJ is effective for self defense, which what I see is the exact opposite.

READ BELOW FOR MY BREAKDOWN

here we go...

There is a point where threats start being exchanged "ill whoop your ass" and you can see the situation is escalating and there is a very high possibility that the situation is going to get physical and the BJJ practioner is standing within striking distance WITH HIS HANDS DOWN... instead of hands up in case a punch is thrown.

He's very lucky that punch didn't connect or else that would have been the end of the video. THEN he clinches and has absolutely no idea of BASE... he falls backwards against a completely untrained opponent who's not even trying to take him down into a non-dominate position...half guard!???

So he either pulled half guard or fell into half guard instead of initiating a take down himself or at least pulling guard.

Now he does manage to take the back and escape a headlock on the way to taking the back!!!

But then has absolutely no idea how to maintain that position and loses it into an open guard... when he had both hooks in and an arm around the neck... how on earth as a purple belt or even a blue belt does he not know how to maintain and finish against a completely untrained opponent pretty much equal size??

He goes for the arm with absolutely no control and loses it, I realize guys were stepping in at this point to try to break it up but he didn't even have the leg over the head when he started to try to apply the armlock.

He almost gets pile-drived into the ground when the guy pulls up out of the armlock, then transitions to 50/50 guard which again is NOT a dominate position (how many times have you seen people getting punched in the face from this position) and goes for the heal hook.

So basically for the duration of the fight there was only about 4 or 5 seconds where he actually had a dominate position. He was in a significant amount of danger for most of the fight. He never had control of the fight, this is a guy who has been training for 3-6 years against an equal sized opponent with zero training.

It pretty much was a giant scramble with a couple submission attepts thrown in. I know it's easy to criticize from the sidelines but that's not my intention. As an Instructor that belives in BJJ being the most effective form of self defense my intention here is to help people see the mistakes that were made and hopefully have people learn from this situation that this is what YOU DO NOT WANT TO DO, instead of praising his performance and giving students the completely wrong idea.

Another point i'd like to make is his actions and effort did not keep him safe at all. Even though he did not get beat up he was not "SAFE".

Example, imagine you are in a warzone and people with machine guns are shooting at you and you run out into the open. Even if you do not get shot are you SAFE? Now imagine you are in a tank out in the open and people are shooting at you with machine guns. Do you feel safe? BJJ can be a TANK for you if used properly!

 

[Balto]

Self defense is acting like a mature, productive member of society and not fighting unless you have exhausted all options at conflict avoidance and you have absolutely, positively no choice but to defend yourself or your loved ones.

Yeah but what about when someone insults my family's honor on the beaches of Brazil?

 

[brendan raedy]

Very well put. However, Balto was being sarcastic and simply taking a knock at the gracies/anyone who says this move is 'only sport'.

Fair enough! If so, sorry Balto...I thought he might have been joking but wasn't sure.

 

[brendan raedy]

Yeah but what about when someone insults my family's honor on the beaches of Brazil?

You confront them after a grappling match and/or throw a water bottle at them. Duh.

 

[EGDM]

Edit: Whoops, wrong thread.

 

[Balto]

Fair enough! If so, sorry Balto...I thought he might have been joking but wasn't sure.

It's cool bro.

The scary part is that for a lot of people, that statement would not be a joke.

 

[brendan raedy]

From: Henry Akins

Regarding:

You know, I get marketing...and I am not going to fault a guy for not competing past blue (or maybe purple belt) if they want to focus on teaching, but I think you start to cross a line when you criticise "the sad state of bjj" based on the performance of an isolated individual in a high stress situation.

 

[SBJ]

http://instagram.com/p/yqwan0Cths

 

[selfcritical]

From: Henry Akins

Regarding:

When are the many times we've seen someone pounded out from 50/50? All the strongest muscles in your body are pointed directly at your opponents hip, and you can break his knee with minmal effort.