BJJ and Self Defence

This is inspired by the current poll at the Fightworks Podcast: "What Percentage of Sport Jiu-Jitsu Techniques Are Street or Self Defense Applicable?"

BJJ is a great fighting art. That's all the early UFCs proved.

What did challenge matches and the early UFCs prove? All over the BJJ / Grappling media you will see claims that the early UFCs and the Gracie Challenge matches proved that Brazilian / Gracie Jiu Jitsu is the most effective martial art for self-defence. But what does that exactly mean and to what extent does that even matter?

Patrick McCarthy is a karate instructor who opened my eyes years ago to the simplicity of combat thru his books, articles and interviews. He explained early on that Karate and several other martial arts, were initially devised for specific purposes and had drills that addressed specific, commonly reoccurring acts of violence.

There was indeed a time when attacks on our person consisted on hair-grabs, strikes, chokes and takedowns (not to mention dirty tactics such as biting and eye gouging). Some say that was last century, some say that was the 1950’s and 1960’s. I prefer to call it the 6th grade.

Seriously, how often do adults attack each other with punches, chokes, kicks or throws in a one-to-one environment? Without any (visible or concealed) weapons? Don’t just give me a (at best, educated) guess. Ask a police-statistician. Consult some government statistics online. Very very few!

The way I see it (and I may be wrong here) the only cases of person-on-person violence that doesn’t involve weapons are:

1. Rape attacks
2. Child bullying
3. Domestic violence

For those, Brazilian (Gracie) Jiu Jitsu (physically, mentally, spiritually) is beyond good. It’s great. It’s fantastic. It’s amazing.

The picture that the above-mentioned statistics paints is very different from what you see in the UFC (irrespective of old or new) or your average Jiu Jitsu session. Real violence involves weapons, gangs and mob mentality, premeditation, surprise element and in some cases even range and distance. It would be unfair (or even crazy) to pretend that BJJ / Grappling equips us for that.

I read somewhere a quote by Helio Gracie along the lines:

“If a big guy fights a small guy to a draw, the small guy wins!”

If you survive, you win.


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Smoking sucks. BJJ / Grappling rules. Chances are you agree with me.

The three above statements are my summary of the poll that I suggested to Caleb at the Fightworks Podcast  a couple of weeks ago. They were kind enough to run it and here is a table of the results

Firstly, a huge thank you to Caleb and Dan for taking this poll idea and making it happen. I know they are very keen on understanding the BJJ / Grappling community better and these polls always help.

Secondly, it’s very important to understand how to handle statistics or we would be trying to “use a ruler to measure the circumference of an orange”. We can’t really prove anything with statistics, but we can state with strong probability that something is likely or unlikely which in a lot of cases is more than enough.

Looking at the above numbers, we can state with strong probability that:

1. The hypothesis “People are likely to start smoking after they start at BJJ / Grappling” is most likely untrue

2. The hypothesis “People are likely to stop smoking after they start at BJJ / Grappling” is most likely true

3. The hypothesis “Smokers are likely to smoke less after they start at BJJ / Grappling” is most likely true

This is huge, I’m sure you agree. Not only for those who DO smoke, but for a very vulnerable demographic – young people. If the third statement isn’t a reason for people to sign their teenage boys and girls up to Brazilian Jiu Jitsu classes, I don’t know what is.

 
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Some Statistics on BJJ Players

A short while ago, the Fightworks Podcast took a BJJ / Grappling related poll idea that I suggested and ran it to their audience, famously dubbed the Mighty 600,000. The idea was very simple, but also managed to generate some pretty interesting statistics on who participates in BJJ / Grappling.

The poll attracted 515 voters, which is, by all statistical measures, a huge sample. A quick glance at basic Analytical Statistics tells you that a sample like that is more than enough for over 95% confidence level even with a +/- 5% margin. that's excellent confidence levels!


The results told us that:

• Around 60% of BJJ /Grappling players are married (leaving 40%), which is much higher than I thought it would be. It actually supports my theory that there are a whole lot of Part Time Grapplers out there with families, jobs, kids...the lot.
• Out of the married BJJ / Grappling aficionados, just under 80% take their wedding ring/band off before stepping onto the mat. I'm one of the minority and one of my mat-buddies just recently got married (Many Happy Congratulations Dr Lam!!) so I'm curious to what he will choose to do. I hope I never find myself in a position where I regret my decision to leave it on.

Hell hath no fury like a women, who's husband lost his wedding band at the activity he chooses to devote himself to on a weekly basis rather than spend his time with her!

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I'm On The Fightworks Podcast

I was so "chuffed"* when I read that Caleb, the host of the Fightworks Podcast, had chosen my idea for their weekly BJJ-related poll. It's about something I care about and it'll be great to hear what the Mighty 600,000 have to say about it.

What are you waiting for? Go to the Fightworks Podcast and, ehm, cast your vote.

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*Check Caleb's and Slideyfoot's  comments below the poll for some trans-Atlantic fun.