The Truth Regarding BJJ...

[CKD]

It is suppossed to be in one of the upcoming K-1 MMA shows. Not sure about the date but the Japanese press has been reporting on it. Maeda is pretty skilled and has trained great fighters but I have my money on Rickson. Also heard a rumor about Royce fighting in a K-1 mma show.

[Mr. Miyagi]

Ah, so Maeda is the next 'worthy' opponent that Rickson is interested in fighting. That's really funny. I'm sure we could come up with a list of really worthy people that Rickson would want none of.
Rickson's 'honor' fight was against Yoji Anjo. Besides getting beat by Rickson he's also gotten his ass handed to him by Busta, Tank, among others. No real professional fighter would just show up to a dojo and challenge someone like that, pros prepare for fights and train their ass off to earn their fee and win. Rickson was home sick with a fever at the time he had to come in and pummel Anjo. I said before that Rickson could still possibly beat Frank Shamrock or Sak, but there's no way he'll risk his reputation by fighting one of those guys. No way. Anyway, Rickson is about 45 years old now, pro athletes aren't supposed to compete or be in their prime anymore at that age.
Sak got KO'd by that other little bjj guy before Nog, he was schooling him but then he suddenly got clocked and just collapsed. What's that guy's name again? dressed up like Elvis for his first fight...
I was a big Sperry fan so I used to read about him a lot, didn't think he ever really gave props to Rickson. Especially during the time where there was animosity between Carlson's and Helio's side. I know Vitor got schooled by Rickson but that was grappling only and Vitor was a purple belt.

Royler won't get a rematch with Sak. There is no way he'd win and that fight should have never happened with the weight diff. in the first place. Royler is another amazing grappler (like Saulo) who isn't the greatest MMA fighter. That last fight of his against Murahama he weathered the storm and wasn't able to capitalize when he finally got his back. Royler has never spent time training in standup like Renzo, Royce, and Ralph have; don't think he's interested.

Wallid gave bjj a very poor showing when he fought in the UFC against Takahashi and in the PRIDE against Akira Shoji. Especially against Shoji, his 'dominance' of position, ie staying on top, passing guard, getting mount, proved to be useless as he was not able to sub him. Those positions are supposed to be advantageous in a fight, but Wallid accomplished nothing by getting them. Then he got tired and Shoji started pounding on him.

[CKD]

I think Rickson would take on Sak or Shamrock, but lets face it he is 45. Maeda is also a older dude so I see why he accepeted. Rickson has beat Mario in sport bjj tournaments so he has to have given Rickson some props for doing that. I have not seen any of Roylers recent matches but Royler readily admits that he is into and better at Submission grappling than bjj. For matches against Sakuraba I would like too see Royce and Sak go again because I notice Royce has significantly improved since the last time they fought. I would also like too see Ralph and Rodrigo. Sakuraba seems to have trouble against some of the more agressive fighters and these two are some of the most aggressive in the Gracie family. The smaller bjj person you said Ko'd Sak was Antonio Schembri "Nino". Don't know much about him.I have always been a huge fan of Sperry and the BTT. They represent BJJ well and in my opinion even better than than some of the Gracies. Plus Mario Sperrys videos are the best bjj tapes on the market. Give blood, train jiu-jitsu.

[Mr. Miyagi]

Rickson has not ever had a match with Sperry, at least not since 1994. I don't think they ever went at it though. Rickson did defeat Rigan Machado twice in sport matches, once at the last moment when he was losing on points he managed to get an armlock.

I think Ralph is too small to be a threat to Sakuraba. He'd get played around with, like Ryan did. But Ralph is better than Ryan, and a nicer guy too. Rodrigo has the size but I can't see him succeeding against Sak where Renzo failed. None of these guys can take him down. And even if they pull guard, he's still a monster on the mat. Noone has subbed him (besides the work with Kimo), he's only been KO'd. And he can take just about anyone down, including Vovchanchin, Belfort, Silva, and Jackson. I was starting to think Sak was washed up but that armbar on Randleman convinced me otherwise. When you compete as much as he does you will lose a few. Silva is a bigger better fighter, Crocop is too big and strong, and Schembri got very damn lucky.

Maybe PRIDE would allow a Royce-Sak rematch but I'd rather see Royce against other people. I think Royce has been the toughest, bravest, and resourceful fighter of the Gracies. Maybe Royce vs Henderson or Ninja. Royce vs Sataake would be a good PRIDE money fight and I think Royce would sub him. Sataake, for all his rep as a great striker, has really accomplished nothing in MMA.

[CKD]

Ralph is pretty ferocious and will strike on the ground. He isn't called the Pitbull for nothing. But I am not sure how well he would do. Rodrigo needs some time befroe fighting someone like that but I think Rodrigo is going to make it big. I would like to see Royce fight Sakuraba again but I agree he should fight other people. I used to think Royce could not keep up with todays competitors but after the Sakuraba and Yoshida fights, I now know he can take on the best. I would really like to see him against somebody from Chute Boxe. That will probaly change the mind of his doubters. i also personally want too see Ricardo de la riva fight. His leg work is amazing and his vale tudo video has gotten good reviews.

[pstevens]

It sounds to me more like you panicked than anything else. So you couldn't sweep him did you try to sit up? You could have easily avoided getting punched in the face if you had just extended your hips and pushed away. Unless he had the arms of a gorilla there is no way for him to reach your face. You should have just swept him from halfguard in the first place.

Boy, I knew this site was full of young, naive, know-it-all types... Ever been trounced while you’re not aware? Your body is unexpectedly thrown to the pavement to the point of disorientation... Worse yet, the guy is on top throwing bombs down at you. As you try to regain your senses and control him, you receive a couple of blows to the face and eyes, nose, etc... Yeah, I tried a sweep.. Didn’t work... I’ve played the scenario in my head a hundred times and what I did was the best thing... Put my head close to his chest and cover up.

Don’t try and patronize me about how you know about how you’re a grappler and threfore, a self-defense expert. The two are totally different.

I am not saying BJJ is perfect, and anyone serious about MMA needs to crosstrain. I am just sick of people attacking it, when everytime a BJJ expert has taken on some karate master of kung fu expert the BJJ person seems to come out on top.

And when exactly has BJJ beaten an expert karateka, kung-fu or any other discipline? Pride, UFC, MMA is sport, not real fighting. Any credible SD specialist will tell you that while there are some techniques from every discipline that will work in a real fight, most will get you into more trouble.

And stop with the, glass strewn ground thing. Would the ground have been any safer if you didn't know how to grapple? If anything your fight shows how important it is to know ground work. That excuse about landmines, broken bottles and nails is completely weak. I have lived in cities all my life and most of the pavement is not covered in shards of glass.

Oh please... Drop the know-it-all attitude. I live in a large city and there are peices of glass on every sidewalk, not to mention pebbles, rocks and a number of harmful objects. Why don’t you go outside and try wrestling on the sidewalk... I promise you it will be an eye-opener.

Paul

[jubaji]

Boy, I knew this site was full of young, naive, know-it-all types... Ever been trounced while you’re not aware? Your body is unexpectedly thrown to the pavement to the point of disorientation... Worse yet, the guy is on top throwing bombs down at you. As you try to regain your senses and control him, you receive a couple of blows to the face and eyes, nose, etc... Yeah, I tried a sweep.. Didn’t work... I’ve played the scenario in my head a hundred times and what I did was the best thing... Put my head close to his chest and cover up.

In other words, you got your ass kicked! You got beat like dog and left sprawled out in the gutter trying to gather up the tiny fragments of your pride that remained. Good job.

[TylerDurden]

Actually I have been jumped from behind in a bar. I was "escorting" out an unruly customer when his buddy jumped on me from behind. Fortuneately he was a little drunk and jumped onto my shoulders so I just carried them both outside.

Don't blame your ass kicking on BJJ, jut because you failed to use what you had learned doesn't mean it doesn't work. How exactly would kung fu have helped you down there? Or karate? You think a nice karate yell would have gotten that guy off you? As for BJJ players beating the hell out of kung fu and karate guys, check out the video Gracie's in Action, plenty of what you are looking for is right there.

And you still don't get it, you complain about glass on the ground but when you got attacked you still ended up there. Just because it's not your first choice of places to fight doesn't mean you won't be there. Alot of drunk bruisers want to slam people onto the ground, when they try it you better be able to do something.

[jubaji]

Don't blame your ass kicking on BJJ, jut because you failed to use what you had learned doesn't mean it doesn't work.

You're right. He shouldn't blame BJJ just 'cause he is a pussy.

[IPON]

Don't blame your ass kicking on BJJ, jut because you failed to use what you had learned doesn't mean it doesn't work.

Actually, I think he stated some techniques did not work (at least for him). No offense but I have a question for you why so defensive. You know nothing of this guy and his background in BJJ how do you know he is not a technical master since he was just giving an example. He never said BJJ failed him just that he recieved a little reality. BJJ is not the answer for everything please don't assume becuase you know BJJ you could easily defeat, for example, every boxer or whoever just by the virtue of studying BJJ....it is too easy to walk down that path and from other posts I assume you are smarter than that.

[Arclight]

pstevens you actually sound like another bitter TMA troll trying to find an angle to carp on BJJ about.. Please state exactly where and under who you train BJJ with. Thank you.

[Arclight]

"I live in a large city and there are peices of glass on every sidewalk, not to mention pebbles, rocks and a number of harmful objects. Why don’t you go outside and try wrestling on the sidewalk... I promise you it will be an eye-opener."

Jesus christ you really are a pussy. The LAST thing I am thinking about when in a scrap is "oh gosh I might get scraped up by that rrrrrough (insert lisp here) ground!" Getting my ass out intact while putting a hurt on the other guy is the priority. I will gladly take getting scraped and rashed up on the ground if it means victory, any day.

I find this a telltale sign that you have never done hard contact, you havent played a gritty contact sport (such as wrestling, football, rugby, etc.), and, well, any number of different things but they all add together to form the growing vision of you being another troll who has never trained BJJ trying the same old, tired, weak arguments but in the guise of someone who "trains BJJ". Christ, you;re worried about getting scrapes? You should get out of martial arts and into interior decorating or hairdressing.

You would do better with this shtick on a kung fu forum, you would have fanboys all over you.

[TylerDurden]

Actually, I think he stated some techniques did not work (at least for him). No offense but I have a question for you why so defensive. You know nothing of this guy and his background in BJJ how do you know he is not a technical master since he was just giving an example. He never said BJJ failed him just that he recieved a little reality. BJJ is not the answer for everything please don't assume becuase you know BJJ you could easily defeat, for example, every boxer or whoever just by the virtue of studying BJJ....it is too easy to walk down that path and from other posts I assume you are smarter than that.

I never said BJJ was the key to ultimate ass kicking, because there isn't one. My point was he either froze up, or didn't know much BJJ at all. Either way it's not a fair way to judge the art as a whole. Anyone who has ever grappled (Judo, BJJ, Wrestling), done serious stand up (boxing, muay thai) or both (MMA) will tell you the first thing you try rarely works. You have to set things up, and if the first one doesn't work you try again. You don't cover your head and hope that it stops. And I am not getting defensive, just taking issue with someone else trying to explain why something doesn't 'work' when we have all SEEN it work.

[pstevens]

These types of ignorant, egotistical attacks are exactly what I expected from you guys. I'm pretty sure YOU'RE ALL undefeated and unbeatable. Unfortunately, I don't really care for any of that nonsense. I'm an adult who has trained in Martial Arts for nearly 20 years, 7 of those years were in BJJ. I help run a fitness and racquet club with my friend who is a SD specialist.

Regarding my incident, I didn't get an ass-whooping, I survived. That's what real training is and if any of you had an inkling of real fights you would have understood... However, I understand that most of you are simply keyboard warriors, so I'll rest my case... Have fun playing "Mr. Invincible".

Paul Stevens,
Racquet & Fitness

[pstevens]

I never said BJJ was the key to ultimate ass kicking, because there isn't one. My point was he either froze up, or didn't know much BJJ at all. Either way it's not a fair way to judge the art as a whole. Anyone who has ever grappled (Judo, BJJ, Wrestling), done serious stand up (boxing, muay thai) or both (MMA) will tell you the first thing you try rarely works. You have to set things up, and if the first one doesn't work you try again. You don't cover your head and hope that it stops. And I am not getting defensive, just taking issue with someone else trying to explain why something doesn't 'work' when we have all SEEN it work.

Tyler,

Now I understand why you're full of it... You don't have an inkling of real fights. The first thing you try will rarely work? Gimme a break... Actually, your initial response is the most crucial because in real situations you don't have time to work your magic. You're getting MMA mixed up with SD... There not even close, so get your head outta your ass.

As a matter of fact, if you read my post you will notice I instinctively did two things, one of which worked better than the other.

1) I reached for his head and arms – A BJJ strategy that got me clocked

2) I tucked my head into his chest – A SD strategy that we regularly train which prevented my assailant from doing further damage.

Ever notice that there are rarely sweeps or reversals other than bridge escapes in MMA... Because they don't work when someone can throw bombs at you while you're setting them up. We work these scenarios all the time.

Three years ago, I was your average naive BJJ hotshot (just like you idiots)... Today, I'm just training. Anyway, this conversation is done... No point kicking a dead horse.