Deluxe Martial Arts Forums - View Single Post - one more grappling as self-defense question.

defendu.com · 06-04-2002, 06:27 PM

I grapple a lot and I've been in the situation you described also. I attemped a double leg takedown on a guy right when he decided to front kick me and I took a REAL hard knee shot right to my clavicle. I got the takedown, but I thought I might have fractured my collarbone. (Turned out no fracture).

I've seen a video of Saulo Ribiero getting KO'd by an inadvertant knee to the head when he shot in to take down a kickboxer.

Rorion Gracie would say, "hey, it's a fight". Meaning, you can't expect to be in combat without getting some bumps and bruises.

Remember on the ground things slow down, so they slow down for your opponent also. If you have just a little grappling defense you can go a long way in negating the skills of a guy who has a "little" skill on the ground.

In fact, we have seen that the normal progression of your grappling skills goes something like this:

1. Defense gets better (you can't beat the guy, but he is not beating you either).
2. Superior position (you started getting more mounts, cross sides, but you don't know how to finish the guy -- you know there is SOMETHING you can do from your position).
3. Submission (you can defend yourself, maneuver into a superior position and then submit the opponent).

Keep cross training. I've found that there are more opportunities to tag people with my striking if they are worried about my grappling and vice versa.

I think it's like a football team -- the running game opens up the passing game and the passing game opens up the running game.

06-04-2002, 06:27 PM	#12 (permalink)
defendu.com Novice Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Phoenix, Ariz. Posts: 26 Groans: 0 Groaned at 0 Times in 0 Posts	It's happened to me too. I grapple a lot and I've been in the situation you described also. I attemped a double leg takedown on a guy right when he decided to front kick me and I took a REAL hard knee shot right to my clavicle. I got the takedown, but I thought I might have fractured my collarbone. (Turned out no fracture). I've seen a video of Saulo Ribiero getting KO'd by an inadvertant knee to the head when he shot in to take down a kickboxer. Rorion Gracie would say, "hey, it's a fight". Meaning, you can't expect to be in combat without getting some bumps and bruises. Remember on the ground things slow down, so they slow down for your opponent also. If you have just a little grappling defense you can go a long way in negating the skills of a guy who has a "little" skill on the ground. In fact, we have seen that the normal progression of your grappling skills goes something like this: 1. Defense gets better (you can't beat the guy, but he is not beating you either). 2. Superior position (you started getting more mounts, cross sides, but you don't know how to finish the guy -- you know there is SOMETHING you can do from your position). 3. Submission (you can defend yourself, maneuver into a superior position and then submit the opponent). Keep cross training. I've found that there are more opportunities to tag people with my striking if they are worried about my grappling and vice versa. I think it's like a football team -- the running game opens up the passing game and the passing game opens up the running game.