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Originally Posted by koto_ryu
But if he's looking for street self-defense BJJ is one of the worst ways to go. Anything thats main strength is in grappling on the ground is very bad for the street. It's good to have some knowledge of groundfighting, just so you can fight the guy off and get up cause the ground is the last place you want to be in a streetfight.
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I have practiced, trained, in the martial arts for 20 years now. I have years of experience in TKD, Hap Ki Do, Shaolin Kempo, Gojo Ryu JuJutsu, Yamabushi Kempo, American Kenpo, Muay Thai, Kali, BJJ, and JKD. I have taught classes in all of the above except Gojo Ryu Jujutsu, including a selfdefense course at Utah State University. Muay Thai, Kali, BJJ, and JKD have become the core of what I do over the last 6 years.
And I always hear this diatribe about the relative worthlessness of BJJ on the street, but in the YEARS that I've practiced BJJ I have seen 2 of my fellow students show up with bumps and bruises from an altercation they were in outside of class. In each case the students were attacked and in each case they escaped the situation without going to the ground.
BJJ has plenty to offer for selfdefense. And while much of BJJ practice is spent on the ground there is no rule in BJJ that says you have to go there. Applying BJJ techniques while standing requires you to examine the principle that supports the technique (why it works, not just how) and then reapply the principle in a new environment. And believe it or not, many BJJ schools do work from the feet . . . atleast to start. The wealth of BJJ is in the way you practice, against someone who is trying to whoop you.