Category: Gracie University

Jiu Jitsu and Striking

Striking in the bottom is often at best a distraction in MMA/Self defense. Without hips and control you are really more giving your arm up for a submission or hold where your situation gets worse. Or is it?

When we work our self defense in my Gracie Garage we bust out head gear and 16oz gloves. Even in my more Sportive school I often work with MMA fighters and the topic comes up. Striking has ALWAYS been apart of the Jiu Jitsu I have learned. But many people it’s not. For many people it’s just a taboo subject. Honestly the best way to get Americana/keylocks is to pop someone in the side of the head from the mount.

Recently a new variation of 10th Planet Jiu Jitsu has emerged called Combat Jiu Jitsu where strikes are encouraged while grappling. It has the benefit of ensuring that students never learn techniques that are low percentage in a street fight (I am looking at you Spider Guard). When you are ALWAYS concerned about striking; the way you fight is different in grappling.

Go watch any high school wrestling match, judo or Jiu Jitsu match. Do you think they would do those moves if they were about to get popped in the face by someone just at good at grappling who also throws a mean jab. Not a chance.

I give a lot of respect to the Gracie University Program for pointing this out. They don’t pretend they can make you a world class jiu jitsu competitor at all. But they do emphasize what you need against a striking opponent. And although Eddies’ new Combat Jiu Jitsu seems a little redundant as Jiu Jitsu already has strikes and strike defenses by pushing for more of this we can filter out to what is really working in MMA and street. Perhaps this variation will create a new fire for Jiu Jitsu for self defense in stead of the sport.  Focus people’s on people self defense training rather than spend months mastering Spider guard and managing space in a way that would your teeth knocked out.

Really excited as I continue this Geoff’s Kenpo program to see the ground work he selects to mix into Kenpo.

Here is some recommended reading folks –

Distance Control (sport vs self defense jiu jitsu)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e864iZ4sB8Q

Combat Jiu Jitsu
http://espn.go.com/blog/mma/post/_/id/11569/bravos-combat-jiu-jitsu-finding-its-niche

Gracie Combatives
http://www.gracieacademy.com/gracie_combatives.asp

Brazilian Jiu Jitsu in the mix

All,

Geoff mentions he has mixed ground fighting which he’s borrowed from BJJ. Probably the reason I respected his program at the start of it. He understands the value of knowing what to do when you are not standing. That said I thought I would just ramble on about Jiu Jitsu for a minute.

My Experience

I have about 2 semesters of Judo and 6 months of BJJ under my belt. Far from an expert. But I do well for myself.

I currently study under two programs for Bjj. One is a traditional Jiu Jitsu. Mainly sportive techniques but some real stuff too. Secondly I am active in a Gracie Garage in my home town. We have 4 other members and often train at the local college with their Jiu Jitsu club as well. It’s 100% self defense, no sportive components.

The sportive jiu jitsu is amazing, teaches you to be calm under pressure. Fast reflexes.

The Gracie Garage is more detailed, more focused on real word survival. We actually throw punches, kicks, takedowns etc. The what if’s we play out are based on Gracie Combatives and Women Empowered programs as well as drill items we learn from respective schools (we have kung fu, boxing, judo,  wrestling and Jiu jitsu represented at our group)

If you are not familiar with these programs, here are some links
Gracie Combatives – http://www.gracieacademy.com/gracie_combatives.asp

Women Empowered  – http://www.gracieacademy.com/women_empowered.asp

Just happened to be reading this blog which describes the gracie program. http://www.blackbeltdl.com/program-gracie-university/ He asks if anyone has earned a black belt from their program. At this time gracieuniversity.com has no intention of offering black belts via distance learning. As a matter of fact they only offer to blue belt stripe 1 at the time of this writing, with strip 2 a few months away. That said I can’t recommend their program enough.