Why can't BJJ be used in street fighting?

Most Sensei's I talk too say BJJ is useless against weapon attacks and in street fighting. Actually 7 out of the 8 I talked too say bad things about BJJ. Of course the only Sensei who said anything good about it was a BJJ INSTRUCTOR!





What is YOUR opinion on BJJ in street fighting?

Why can't BJJ be used in street fighting?
ARRRGHHHHHHHHH!!!!!





Regurgitated NONSENSE!!!!! Dear LORD!





Yes most traditional Sensei's are going to say BJJ is bad because you "don't want to be on the ground" etc. etc.





Tell you what, I will do this for ya. I will give the arguments that many of the above posters give and my response. I apologize in advance for the long windedness of it.





1. "You don't want to be on the ground against multiple opponents".





News flash: You don't want to be in ANY fight against multiple opponents. Yes they will kick you while you are down, they will also hit you while you are standing! Also, unless you are VERY lucky, chances are against multiple people you are going to be on the ground, because they will put you there. Also, multiple attackers don't just come at you all at once. (Like many people think) No, they are cowards, they will come at you from behind while you are busy with a buddy or two. Standing, on the ground, IT DOESN'T MATTER! Multiple attacker scenarios are bad. But you know a good way to deal with them, is to apply a choke, or joint lock on the buddy, and tell them to back off or you will snap the arm, or kill their friend. If they don't, YOU SNAP THE ARM (you are now minus one attacker). There is no great defense to multiple attacker scenarios, at the very least you need grappling experience so that you can get yourself off of the ground and RUN AWAY! Standing, on the ground, in a house, with a mouse, it doesn't matter, multiple attacker scenarios are about escaping, not about leaving a heap of crumpled bodies behind you, that is not REALITY. Against multiple opponents, you are in danger period, no matter where you are at. Your best bet is to get away, not try to pick targets, not try to take out the strongest one, but just to blast through someone and run, period.








2. "In the REAL world there is concrete, glass, AID's infested needles, Lava"





Yes, there is concrete, but given a grappler's experience in grappling, they will make sure that YOU are the one who hits the ground, and it is YOUR BACK that is on the concrete getting scraped, while the grappler is on top of you imposing his will. His experience in this position gives him the advantage to CONTROL all action on the ground, including how it gets to the ground. Why on earth would I hit someone with my fist, when I can hit them with a PLANET. Also for all those so worried about AIDs, and bodily fluid transferred diseases, why would you even think about punching someone and having them bleed on you? But my point is, whatever fantasy land where glass is strewn about, and lava and needles are everywhere, my experience in the realm of grappling means I get to choose how a fight gets to the ground (very hard, with my weight on top). As well as if for some reason I trip on a needle, banana peel, oil slick, lava rock, I have the experience in reversing my position, and putting YOUR back on the ground.





3. "Fights are over in 1 minute, and grappling takes a long time"





Well first off, last time I checked it takes about 8 to 10 seconds to render a person unconscious via blood choke. But I digress, most fights don't last that long because THEY GET BROKEN UP. Additionally, average Joe does not have the stamina to last more than a minute. Not because a guy quickly beats another guy (though that does happen). Now, I never had a stopwatch or anything, so I am roughly estimating, but it takes probably half a second or so to close the distance, maybe 3 to 5 seconds to secure position and take down, landing in dominance, 15 to 20 seconds of beating on a guy so he turns over, 5 seconds to apply a choke. 10 seconds for joe blow to go black. I guess that meets the one minute mark. By the way, this is the only place I have EVER seen "Fights last only a minute" Check out youtube type in "streetfight" and see how many 1 minute fights there are, Oh, and see how many of them go to the ground. (pretty much all of them)





4. "Grappling is bad against weapons"





ANYTHING IS BAD AGAINST WEAPONS! Against a gun, distance is your enemy, against a knife distance is also your enemy. The truth is if someone has a weapon on you it is best to just do as they say. If it comes out in a fight, well then it will be up close and personal in the case of a knife, and from a few feet away with a gun. Either way, chances aren't good.





Btw, Krav Maga does teach disarms, but under certain assumptions. The assumption in Krav against a knife is that you have already been stabbed once, and are reacting to prevent further stabbing. Against a gun, it is that you already have the distance close, or a gun yourself. They will readily admit to a gun at distance is a loss. Only the element of surprise and luck will assist you there. The way you defend a knife is with controlling the knife hand, removing it through grappling and locking. Not by kicking it, not by striking the wrist, but by grabbing the arm, turning the elbow into a fulcrum, and prying it out from him. You have to be in grappling range, and be familiar with grappling, including how to control the person, and prevent him from forcing his weight into you.





5. "Real fights have no rules, eye gouging, nut kicking etc, grappling is only for "Sport"





Real fights do have rules, they are called LAWS. But I digress, the simple fact is not only is a grappler aware of the same techniques (another News Flash EVERYONE IS) they have the ability to control apendages that could do such moves, and employ those moves at will while controlling you. Additionally, ANYONE can go for balls, throats, and eyes, and they have the exact same experience doing it as you. Despite your percieved ruthlessness, EVERYONE has the same ability. Chances are someone who is attempting to assualt you, is going to be just as, if not MORE ruthless than you are. What is to prevent him from his opening salvo being a nut shot, followed by an eye rake, followed by hitting YOUR throat? Accuracy? Nope, you are no more or less accurate becuase you never hit these targets on a moving individual. The truth is these "deadly street techniques" have their uses, but not in the context that you think they do. They serve as great distractions, not fight enders. I have seen these moves plenty of times in real fights. Usually as a desperation move once the person is on the ground getting pounded.





5. "BJJ only works from the ground, and it is dangerous there, etc. etc. etc."





BJJ doesn't ONLY work from the ground, like any other grappling art, it has plenty of techniques that can be done standing. It is just far easier to control someone and limit damage by taking them to the ground. You can choke, armlock, neck crank people standing just as easy. The difference is (and remember this against those Aikido, Jujitsu, Chin Na, Karate types) that it is much easier for your opponent to escape these while standing, because they have a greater ability for movement, where as they are limited on the ground. Additionally you can apply larger muscle groups against smaller muscle groups on the ground. (Hence the reason Law Enforcement takes people to the ground to control them)





6. "Blah, Blah, Blah"





The truth is no ONE art is completely effective. You need to be prepared for all ranges of combat, to neglect a certain range is idiotic. To think a fight will never go to the ground is foolish at best. At some point a fight will go to the ground, whether it is because you get rocked, or rock your opponent, or wrestling, or tripping, there is a very large possibility that you are going to end up on the ground. Mainly because are mere walking is constantly fighting the effects of gravity, and we only have two points that are keeping us up.





BJJ is great, it trains against strikers, in close ranges of combat. It is great for closing the distance, controlling your opponent, and beating him how you choose.





A BJJ person can be knocked out, or caught, or beaten. So can a good stand up person, or anyone for that matter. Professional fighters get stabbed, Martial Arts masters get stabbed. No one is above getting shot, or getting beat up by multiple opponents, or getting sucker punched. The best you can do is be prepared for any range of combat. BJJ proved it's effectiveness in the early days of Vale Tudo, and the UFC.





Street fights are easily avoidable. Outright assualts are rare, but when they do happen, you have to be of the assumption that you probably will not see it coming, and will have to react to already being hurt, or at the very least hit from behind, and in close range. The truth is no one Martial Art makes you invincible, or makes you a bad @ss. Hell no two, or three, or 16 Martial Arts makes you that. You can be the best fighter around, and still get caught, still get beaten.





Standing up striking with someone is a recipe for a bad position. Nearly EVERY art has the thought in mind that you will bring your opponent down, either through strikes, trips, throws, sweeps, etc. Then finish him off on top.





Where BJJ excells against others is by negating the fluff, and straight up taking the guy down off the bat. (Much like Police Officers do) this is not just to prevent injury to your opponent, but to prevent injury and taking shots to you. You can control a person on the ground, impose your will, with minimal risk of injury from a wild shot landing.





Just my opinion, sorry for the book. But these regurgitated arguments based on some fantasy setting where you go around knocking dudes out, or taking them out with 2 or 3 hits isn't reality. Sparring with someone should teach you that, if you can't drop your sparring partner in two or three shots, even a white belt, then you can't drop the average joe. If your only redeeming effective technique involves eye gouges, nut shots, and throat strikes, then you art isn't effective. Taking something away like that shouldn't utterly destroy and negate your effectiveness. Because you should be able to handle an unskilled opponent without maiming him, or exposing yourself to disease by him bleeding on you.





Just my opinion I could write for days on this.





Here is a good article:





http://www.bullshido.net/modules.php?nam...
Reply:beautifully said, especially 'why hit him with my fist when i can hit him with a planet' Report It

Reply:1) your mostly going to be fighting on concrete or some other hard surface


2) Usually people jump into fights, your not going to pull of a triangle choke when somebody is curb stomping your face with a steeltoe boot :P
Reply:anyone with half a brain knows the last place you want to be in any situtaion is on the ground.
Reply:bjj isn't the smartest tactic to use on concrete. your head is against a hard surface that'll split your head if smash against. better off doing it on grass or the beach. however, there are other forms of ground fighting that would be more ideal on concrete such as greco roman, sambo or judo. these three fighting styles teach you to get top position in combat. bjj teaches you to mostly pull guard and go to you back. nothing against bjj but that was the main reason i decided to not take it and went for judo/sambo instead.





the best style against weapons is probably krav maga. and as far as street fighting, if you can end the fight in 3 seconds, a stiff hook to the jaw is your best bet.
Reply:Well, my instructor just started brazilian jujitsu, and its good for grappling, and it also has some kicks and things, but its mostly close in fighting so against a weapon i would probably use another style so i don't get killed or even just not fight them at all unless i had to. if some dude fights with a weapon and wants my money, heck i'm giving it to him! but its still better than not training in anything at all, and its not COMPLETELY useless, WAY better than being untrained, and weaponless its great.
Reply:All I know of BJJ is what I've seen in UFC since the early 90s. Of the grappling styles, I think Judo's quick throws would be most effective. Throw a guy onto a hard surface (stairs, concrete, bar corner) and run away. I am quite sure though, BJJ is better than not knowing any fighting. Any martial art is better than none.
Reply:it can be used in a street fight, do a double leg takedown and pass to mount, then either punch them until they're KO'd, or pull for an arm....
Reply:you can use bjj in a street fighting situation as long as it is a one-on-one situation. if you faced against more than that, the other person can just kick you while you are on the ground.
Reply:Man it's like that best art in the world! That's why it's on UFC man. That's the best art ever. And when a group of guys see you tackle their buddy, they're gonna be like "Whoa man, he's bad-@ss!" and they're gonna run.





Yes I am being sarcastic.
Reply:BJJ can be very effective. I will not get into a debate about it though. They say most fights go to the ground. The reasons for this is most fights don't include martial artists. how ever martial arts are not about fighting other martial artists on the street. If you get a dumb drunk or a person angry as hell coming at you it is very easy to take this person to the ground. If your good at BJJ you won't be on the concrete long.
Reply:Because the last place you wanna be in a fight is on the ground. Plus while you're tryin' to ground and pound the guys buddies are gonna be takin' turns putting the boots to you. Unfortunately a lot of people work under the assumption that what's good in the dojo is equally good in the street.





Martial Arts for tournaments and martial arts for self defense are two different things sports like Kickboxing and BJJ are about defeating your opponent within the rules of the game.


Fighting styles like Krav Maga are about getting out of a bad situation quickly and with minimal personal injury.
Reply:bjj has shown us all that the ground is a top needed value in any ones defense. now to say it is worthless is to give no value to eye witnessed facts, such as most street fights go to the ground... and most are 1 on 1. now true anything can happen in a street fight, but to say it will be knifes and multiple attackers is to exaggerate it to the max, as most encounters are 1 aggressor. Even most women rape encounters are 1 on 1, and on the ground.


Now here's the funny part, I am San Soo, bit smart as well. bjj rocks and has shown us all a new light. now sambo, judo, newaza, greco - these are all from the same rock solid wrestling styles that have faired well when tested.
Reply:BJJ is useless outside of a ring; that's why the police and the military learn it.


Traditional MA instructors started talking **** when BJJ embarrassed their respective styles in the early UFC.
Reply:Who says it can't be used in street fighting?


Who says kicks are good or bad in street fighting?





Against one opponent you are most likely fine.


Against several opponents you don't want to be on the ground.


Compared to a gym, dojo you don't have a training floor or mat, you are looking at either grass/concrete/tar seal, or other hard surfaces, maybe with glass or other rubbish lying around.


I wouldn't want to roll around in that. You can get around that by using street applications of BJJ rather than sports BJJ.


And weapons are just another unknown, aren't they?
Reply:one on one street fighting it is the best as long as Ur proficient in bjj and not a wannabe. but ur right against weapons and multiple opponent's its useless just like every martial art. the only thing that is gonna help u against a knife attack or a gang attack is tonnes of ******* luck