A brilliant message from Minnesota Top Team BJJ Instructor, Jon Grilz:
Brazilian Jiu Jitsu: Theory vs. Reality
Anyone can open the Yellow Pages and find dozens of martial arts schools for dozens of different martial arts people still use Yellow Pages, right? Regardless, with the growth and exposure of mixed martial arts more people now than ever have been signing up for martial arts of all forms to get in shape, learn new techniques and feel safer.
There is only one problem with that: is your martial art a theory or a reality?
A stance doesnt do anyone any good if they dont know what to do next. A block or parry is worthless unless an attacker moves in a specific way. Calling any martial art a reality based form is misleading. The real test of any skill is to put it into practice. Not just against a novice that doesnt know anything, but against a fit and equal (or superior) opponent.
I can teach anyone how to do an armbar, or a triangle choke or literally dozens of other submissions from dozens of angles. I can teach sweeps and guard passes, takedowns and reversals. We can drill each move over and over and over again
And it will look really cool, but can you actually make it work against someone that knows what you are doing?
Blackbelts defeat each other in competition with triangles and armbars. How can this be? Dont they know the defense? Dont they know the submission? Of course they do, the real test is the actual movement, the combinations, the art of BJJ in submitting a person that knows exactly what you are going to do, but cant do anything to stop it.
This is reality.
One of the great things about Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is that we can practice at 100% speed with the goal of getting the other person to submit. Without strikes of any kinds, a majority of the risk involved with injury is taken away, thus leaving us the ability to train at the highest levels and really find out if we understand the techniques and can put them into use.
Sure, you can do a martial art that teaches eye gouges and death punches (or whatever they advertise), but it is theory. It is a hope that you can actually pull off the move when you need to. You practice against people that let you do the movements without resisting. Have you seen an actual full contact karate competition? Best of t