Martial arts sessions - discussion and session times.

[ironhorse 10]

I have seen BJJ training a few times - they START on the ground

[Crayfish 10]

Brazilian jujitsu is almost purely a ground based system. It's a specialist style which most people who are interested in becoming an all round fighter combine with another style which focusses primarily on striking e.g. muay thai, kickboxing, karate etc.

 

But, if you're saying that bjj is a bad art because it primarily looks at groundwork and submissions you could equally well say that muay thai is flawed for only looking at stand up striking - neither cover every aspect of fighting but both cover their respective topics in detail and in combination would give you the skills that you'd need for most situations.

[ANVIL 10]

Originally posted by ironhorse

I have seen BJJ training a few times - they START on the ground

 

that's coz it's so easy to get ya there!

 

ahem, on a more serious note...

 

if you've seen the early UFC's you'll have seen Royce Gracie take his opponnents to the ground with relative ease, despite the strategies emplyed by other martial arts to prevent this. for example some martial arts theorise that to keep an attacker at bay you can use long range kicks or punches; others attempt to use the attackers forward motrion and strength, or short powerful knees and elbows, and yet others beliee that they can maintain there position by sinking their bodyweight to create a strong foundation. All of these methods work in theory, and against a compliant opponent of the same style of m.a., but in practice Royce and other members of the Gracie family have consistently shown that it's not that easy against a well-versed BJJ practitioner. As mentioned in the book No Holds Barred, one of the reasons that BJJ was so successful early on in NHB competitions was because it was easier to take away the skills of a stand-up fighter.

 

Now i'm not trying to imply BJJ is the be-all and end-all - it's not, but groundfighting does form a vital component of an all round fighting sytem. Before i trained in BJJ and did only stand-up, i was always scared i'd meet someone who did train in BJJ...

 

Having said all that, we train between 25% and 50% on stand-up techniques, so it can depend on the club and even the day.

[Caramujo 10]

Anybody interested in capoeira should check out cordao de ouro sheffield. The leading capoeira group in sheffield since 2004. Training 3 times a week and open to all. Will post a link soon.

[Caramujo 10]

http://www.sheffieldcapoeira.co.uk