Is MMA bad for BJJ?
The answer is YES and No. How can that be you ask. Well, let me first start with the good. First off, I, along with most of the United States, would probably never know about Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu if it wasn’t for UFCs 1 – 5. Yes, I know Martin Riggs pulled off some sweet Jits against Mister Joshua in Murtagh’s front yard in Lethal Weapon 1, but BJJ didn’t really gain notoriety until Royce’s skinny ass started triangle choking everybody on Pay-Per-View.
Back then, no one knew what really worked in a fight. I mean we knew about punching and kicking. And we thought that the Japanese maintenance man in our mom’s apartment building had special skills that he would only impart to that one lucky kid he found worthy enough. I used to think if you had a black belt in Karate, even if you were a 10 year old Asian kid named “short round”, you could kick any normal person’s ass. But, my fantasy was busted by the events of the Ultimate Fighting Championship #1. Then came the mystical days of BJJ. Back, when if your name was Gracie you couldn’t be beaten. Then we found out that there were about 500 guys named Gracie and some of them COULD be beaten, even my personal hero “Royce”. As time went by more and more Brazilians came to America to teach BJJ. As the UFC became more popular, smaller events began to pop up and the term Mixed Martial Arts was coined. Over the years more and more rules were thrust upon MMA. No kicks to the head of a downed opponent, no strikes to the groin, and if you’re not working on the ground the referee will stand you up (I’ll come back to that one), just to name a few.
Back, to the good of MMA. MMA showed that BJJ is very, very effective. It finally showed that a smaller person could beat a larger person in a fight. A claim that almost every other martial art had been making for centuries. So, for that I thank the sport of MMA, the UFC, and everyone else that introduced me to Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. I just wish I would have discovered it at 7 instead of 36.
Now for the bad. MMA is bad for Jiu-Jitsu because a person new to the sport of MMA could easily think that BJJ is not as effective as it really is. And I’m talking about in a real fight, a self-defense situation. What I mean is that the modern rules of MMA favor the striker far more than the grappler. For instance the last rule I mentioned above, the referee standing you up for perceived lack of activity on the ground. One effective technique of Jiu-Jitsu is conserving your energy while your opponent becomes exhausted. For example, a larger person knocks you down, you pull guard, keep his posture broken down avoiding strikes, until your opponent gives up an armbar, triangle, etc. The stand up rule was made to make the fights more exciting. Most of the crowds don’t appreciate the ground game. They’re just looking for the knock-out. That’s the reason the UFC has DVDs called “Ultimate Knock-outs” and not “Ultimate Submissions”. Actually there are DVDs of submissions (101 submissions, etc) but those are for guys looking to learn submissions, not for guys to go “oooh!” and “Oh, shit!”
Also, newbie’s may not realize how hard it is to pull off a rear naked choke, triangle, armbar, or omoplata on a half naked man covered in sweat. In a real fight, if you have to fight, unless you’re at the beach your opponent is probably going to be wearing more than board shorts. He’ll probably be wearing a VanHalen (or possibly Winger) T-shirt, Levi jeans, and a pair of high top white Nike shoes. (I’m sorry my last fight was in 1988). In this instance sweat probably won’t be a factor, a referee won’t stand you back up after a minute of inactivity and you’ll be able to grab a hold of his concert T-shirt. Oh, and you’ll be able to grab onto the fence without having a point deducted. If Joe Dirt is able to punch you, he won’t be wearing five ounce gloves, so it will probably hurt his hand as much as it will hurt your head.
Now days, all fighters train Jiu-Jitsu. Maybe they only train to defend against BJJ techniques, or defend against the take down, But they all train it in some form or fashion. The fighters also study each other. They watch tapes of their opponents, the last time they won and the last time they lost. In a self-defense situation, I’m almost positive the guy who wants to kick your ass for ordering a Zima at his tough guy bar isn’t going to allow you to watch a video of his last fight and study his weakness.
So, New Guy, don’t think because Patrick Cote beat Ricardo Alamedia, some no name guy beat Roan Carneiro, or that Matt Hughes beat Royce Gracie, that Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is not a top self defense art. If you invest some time training in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, at a quality school, and some dumbass tough guy off the street picks a fight with you, I can almost guarantee that your BJJ will work like magic on him. Just like in UFC 1.
Back, to the good of MMA. MMA showed that BJJ is very, very effective. It finally showed that a smaller person could beat a larger person in a fight. A claim that almost every other martial art had been making for centuries. So, for that I thank the sport of MMA, the UFC, and everyone else that introduced me to Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. I just wish I would have discovered it at 7 instead of 36.
Now for the bad. MMA is bad for Jiu-Jitsu because a person new to the sport of MMA could easily think that BJJ is not as effective as it really is. And I’m talking about in a real fight, a self-defense situation. What I mean is that the modern rules of MMA favor the striker far more than the grappler. For instance the last rule I mentioned above, the referee standing you up for perceived lack of activity on the ground. One effective technique of Jiu-Jitsu is conserving your energy while your opponent becomes exhausted. For example, a larger person knocks you down, you pull guard, keep his posture broken down avoiding strikes, until your opponent gives up an armbar, triangle, etc. The stand up rule was made to make the fights more exciting. Most of the crowds don’t appreciate the ground game. They’re just looking for the knock-out. That’s the reason the UFC has DVDs called “Ultimate Knock-outs” and not “Ultimate Submissions”. Actually there are DVDs of submissions (101 submissions, etc) but those are for guys looking to learn submissions, not for guys to go “oooh!” and “Oh, shit!”
Also, newbie’s may not realize how hard it is to pull off a rear naked choke, triangle, armbar, or omoplata on a half naked man covered in sweat. In a real fight, if you have to fight, unless you’re at the beach your opponent is probably going to be wearing more than board shorts. He’ll probably be wearing a VanHalen (or possibly Winger) T-shirt, Levi jeans, and a pair of high top white Nike shoes. (I’m sorry my last fight was in 1988). In this instance sweat probably won’t be a factor, a referee won’t stand you back up after a minute of inactivity and you’ll be able to grab a hold of his concert T-shirt. Oh, and you’ll be able to grab onto the fence without having a point deducted. If Joe Dirt is able to punch you, he won’t be wearing five ounce gloves, so it will probably hurt his hand as much as it will hurt your head.
Now days, all fighters train Jiu-Jitsu. Maybe they only train to defend against BJJ techniques, or defend against the take down, But they all train it in some form or fashion. The fighters also study each other. They watch tapes of their opponents, the last time they won and the last time they lost. In a self-defense situation, I’m almost positive the guy who wants to kick your ass for ordering a Zima at his tough guy bar isn’t going to allow you to watch a video of his last fight and study his weakness.
So, New Guy, don’t think because Patrick Cote beat Ricardo Alamedia, some no name guy beat Roan Carneiro, or that Matt Hughes beat Royce Gracie, that Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is not a top self defense art. If you invest some time training in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, at a quality school, and some dumbass tough guy off the street picks a fight with you, I can almost guarantee that your BJJ will work like magic on him. Just like in UFC 1.
My Jiu-Jitsu Instructor did inform me today that he thought more fights have been won by submission than any other method in the UFC. I'm not going to dispute that fact, because he's right, and he can also choke me pretty much at will.
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