Originally Posted by
Carson J Lodge
I believe the lapel guard game he plays is great for sport jiu-jitsu, but I also believe your techniques should work no matter the competition (gi, no-gi, MMA, and self defense.) That's why I like 10th planet jiu-jitsu, because everything is based on what's effective and everyone has an open mind. My old hapkido instructor told me that you can be a badass black belt in any martial art, but you get so used to the forms presented to you from that art, when the conditions aren't suitable for them even black belts cannot defend themselves even as able as they are. It can happen to anyone and we all have to remember that it all comes down to why you train, self defense or sport.
I believe Joe Rogan talked about point-style TKD compared to real knockout style TKD before. Who would you rather go against? A point style TKD black belt slapping you with his foot or eat one of Joe Rogan's kicks? It's more effective when it's more applicable and more replicatable in a real situation. That's where I think the arguement should be, not about making change in jiu-jitsu. The closed guard is a very effective change in every situation. You cannot get the hammer dropped on you as easily from closed compared to open guard in situations where there is striking. Plus you cannot be passed until you open up in every situation. It improved the art of jiu jitsu which the main purpose is self defense. It makes jiu jitsu look better in every form (gi, no-gi, MMA, self defense.) The worm guard improves only gi and certain situations of self defense. Jiu-Jitsu isn't something that works in certain situations, you should be able to apply your game anytime, any condition, any variables to defend yourself properly.
I believe some controversial moves in Jiu-Jitsu can be effective in a real situation, but you have to be mindful of the conditions at hand. I wouldn't risk playing inverted, berimbolos, or whatever new lapel guard in most situations because what if I am rolling around in glass on the ground or if I'm trying to tie him up with his sweatshirt and he just pulls out of it and I'm getting my worm on with his sweatshirt and he kicks me square in the nuggets. I even stopped doing double legs wrestler style with the knee on the ground and everything because of self defense I may injure my knee on something that could penetrate my knee. I learned that from an NCAA wrestler that's also a brown belt, so it's not like I lost technique by not dropping my knee, but if the situation calls for a double leg I am more able to protect my body from injury most of the time.
I'm not saying it's bad jiu-jitsu if you practice sport heavy, self defense light moves, I mean you are practicing real grappling skills and concepts any move you work on. You will improve your grappling skills while working these moves, but I don't believe you will be able to defend yourself better than someone with 70% your skill, but totally self defense oriented. Even if you whoop on them in training pure sport jits where the advantages are within your rule set :) Have you ever gone against a wrestler than can out-wrestle the crap out of you, but you can tap them if they slip up somehow and they barely tap you? That's what I mean by the difference between self defense and grappling skill. A lot of wrestlers I used to wrestle with could beat the crap out of me in wrestling. However, if we were playing submissions I could go to my back or somehow end up on top and finish them. Their GRAPPLING SKILLS were much greater than mine. However, my execution of jiu-jitsu based grappling beat out their superior GRAPPLING SKILLS from wrestling most of the time when we did submissions or MMA rules. I could apply jiu-jitsu in a situation closer to a real conflict than a wrestler could even if they were more skilled at the art of grappling itself. The same concepts apply in both sports and any way you play them. However the more applicable your skill set is to variation, I believe the better it is for self defense. You play lockdown half guard the same way in gi, no-gi, MMA, or Self defense. You play rubber guard the same way, you play deep hook armbars the same way, etc. We can't let jiu-jitsu turn into karate with too much emphasis on sport, that's not the whole point of jiu-jitsu. It's supposed to be the most effective martial art, not the martial art that has more evolution than others. The evolution comes with the effectiveness of the art transcending any rule set, not the invention of some new way to immobilize people with their with own pant string when they have long enough pant string on the outside of their pants or whatever is next. This is all my opinion. Hope I didn't offend anyone :P