At some point or another, we all decided to start Jiu Jitsu because we wanted to learn how to kick some ass. Many of us always have this picture in our minds of taking down and subduing an attacker, or defending a school bus full of children from a crazed pack of meth addicts. As motivating as it is to imagine ourselves rising to the occasion and using PORRADA and acai to solve life’s challenges, we’re kidding ourselves if we think that we’re going to be action hero bad asses off the mat. Truth is, in day to day life, if we ever have to use our Jiu Jitsu, we’ll only end up using 10% of it at most. (prove me wrong)
Most of the things we learn in class are limited in a real fight. Here is a list of what I think should be used IF and I mean IF you end up on the ground. You should not end up on the ground unless you have to or the situation permits. You do not want to goto the ground unless its truly a 1 on 1 altercation. You do not want your head stomped on by the friend of the guy you have in Back Control.
What Jiu Jitsu should I use if I really have to?
THROWS, BODY LOCKS, TAKE DOWNS, KNEE ON BELLY, BACK TAKES, MOUNT and on rare occasions the GUARD. In the opinions of my professors you should not goto the ground unless you have to or are forced to and you should always try and avoid a fight.
Another question, does sport jiu jitsu work in the streets, or how much of it? Also would a sport BJJ person do well against an MMA guy who trained or invested half the time as the flying armbar specialist? Punches and kicks definitely change everything!
Most of you reading this article are probably doing so in the comfort of your own home through an electronic device that costs more than what some people in the world make in a month. Assuming you have the privilege of paying for Jiu Jitsu, you’re most likely at a semi comfortable spot financially. What I’m getting at is, if you’re reading this article right now, your life is probably better off than most other peoples’ today and throughout history. Chances are, the people you are most likely going to get into a fight with are people you know (or a random situation that requires us to step up).
Listen, we all have relatives and friends that we love and hate. Sometimes the parts about them we hate can get ramped up to a 10 after they knock back a few beers during the MMA fight on TV. Let’s say a knucklehead uncle of yours has a little too much to drink at the next family barbecue. He gets a little rowdy and starts saying some stupid shit and tries to pick fights with everyone. Now, it would be nice to ‘put him in his place’ using Jiu Jitsu, but chances are if you take him down and rip his knee apart or break his arm in 2, your family might not be too keen on inviting you to any more family gatherings.
Most likely, you’d probably just do a gentle ankle pick and let him cool off on the ground. It might feel like you wasted your time learning that sick Berimbolo to Crab Ride, but I hope that a healthy relationship with your family is more important than flexing those Jiu Jitsu muscles. Now even if you get into an altercation with someone that you DON’T know, you’re probably still not going to bring down the full might of your PORRADA.
Say you’re at the basketball court, playing a pickup game, and someone gets mouthy towards you about a foul or something. Chances are before punches are thrown, you could always deescalate. A simple ‘Yea man, that’s my bad, sorry’ would take the fight out of the situation and you could go on with your game. If it somehow gets worse and the guy starts shoving, it would probably be best just perform a takedown and hold him in bottom side control/mount. As tempting as it would be to destroy someone acting a fool, it probably won’t look good in court trying to explain why you destroyed this guy’s joints and choked him unconscious. Although it would be something to tell your BJJ family about how you easily wrecked a bigger more aggressive person courtside.
Look, Jiu Jitsu is fun, useful, keeps us in shape, and brings a sense of discipline to a lot of us. There’s more we can get out of Jiu Jitsu than simply kicking ass and taking arms. We don’t need to get into fights outside of the gym to prove how tough we are, and that’s for the better.
Truly Yours, Anonymous White Belt
