October 24

The Most Important Self Defence Fight of the Modern Age- Video Included

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Unless you have been hiding under a rock, the Ultimate Fighting Championship was the largest thing to happen to self defence and martial arts in a long time. Originally it became a proving ground for which style was the best and it was Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and in particular Gracie Jiu Jitsu that came out the best when Royce Gracie defeated all of his larger and stronger opponents.

This one event launched Brazilian Jiu Jitsu or BJJ from a never heard of art to the fastest growing martial arts discipline in the world today.

OK now fast forward to 2012 and the world of martial arts has changed. MMA is now the discipline of athletes that have skills in all areas of fighting and BJJ plays a major part however it is just a part, and not a dominant one at that. Instead it shares the stage with wrestling  Thai Boxing and general MMA/ No Gi grappling. However it is fair to say that Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is still a very popular and effective fighting style.

Gracie Jiu Jitsu-

Following the rapid growth of BJJ and the UFC, Rorion Gracie took his families version of Jiu Jitsu to the self defence and law enforcement market. They trained numerous agencies including the FBI. They created great programmes including an infamous on line University and the amazing Gracie Bullyproof system.

However despite their success the other BJJ schools who developed a strong sporting aspect to their skills still took centre stage in MMA. The Gracies had to spend time teaching their system to the world as a self defence style, not a sport art. However the question still remained, which style is better. Sport BJJ or Gracie Jiu Jitsu.

Just as he was brave enough for to create the UFC. Rorion Gracie has created another event where grapplers could face each other and the winner is the one who submits his opponent. There were no points awarded, just like the street. It really was a case of get a tap out or you just wouldn’t get the win.

The event was called Metamoris Pro

The ultimate Fight

The fight that really has changed the self defence and BJJ world for me was the big fight between Ryron Gracie and Andre Galvoa. Watch the trailer below to get an idea of what was at stake.

Now the fight pitted the grandson of the creator of Gracie Jiu Jitsu, a tall but small framed BJJ coach who has not competed for 10 years. His opponent was the athletic world BJJ champion and mma star Andre Galvoa. On paper the world BJJ champion should of had his way with Gracie. He should have dominated him and tapped him out, after all his opponent hadn’t competed for 10 years!

So what happened?

Well you can watch the fight below after I finish writing, however the truth is that Gracie not only did well but he was competitive. To add further insult he was not submitted. The result was a draw!

So why is this important for self defence? Well it showcased the power of two things, firstly that Gracie Jiu Jitsu and not BJJ really can help a person survive. Because if they can stop a world class BJJ champion from submitting them with their techniques, they are going to be able to deal with the average thug. It also showed that it really isn’t as easy as you think to get a submission against a trained fighter.

Counter Argument

The counter argument has of course been made that Gracie would have been defeated in a  sport BJJ contest and the rules of Sport BJJ are designed to reflect positional dominance. So if you get the mount you would be able to shower any person with punches and beat them etc etc. Well I can see the point of this argument however it is slightly flawed because if you throw a punch you offer the opponent the chance to counter and get you off them. Throw a punch and your off balance. So the basic fact is that Galvoa who I  think is amazing, just couldn’t submit his opponent who hadn’t fought for 10 years!

I will invite you to watch the video and comment. The winner of course in all this was BJJ full stop. The art form of Brazilian based Jiu Jitsu has once again been showcased using the web and great production skills. However for me it was the stock of Gracie Jiu Jitsu that has risen. It has shown that submissions are hard to get if you know submission defence. It has shown that the Gracie way of doing things has a lot of value and their teaching methods stand up to the best fighters in the world.

You may not agree with the above however this for me was the most important match up for self defence students in the modern age, because it showed the power of good submission defence. As a result you need more than just a submission offence to be effective. It has made it clear that you need skills in all areas of self defence and sport BJJ just isn’t enough.

Watch the fight and enjoy the great action- Both athletes are amazing.

 

keep safe

Andrew www.theselfdefenceexpert.com

 

 


Tags

Andrew Holland Martial Arts, bjj.judo, judo for self defence, MMA, RBSD


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