Self Defense and Jiu-Jitsu

The subject is at least sensitive – and one in which opinions are usually extreme. Still, dear reader, I can not fail to give my insight on the subject, especially when true legends of Jiu Jitsu, such as Rickson Gracie, have regularly spoken publicly on this subject.

I will try to answer this question, I will present in thesis some points for analysis and reflection that seem essential to me:

To begin with, it is important to try to understand the essential difference between modern Jiu Jitsu and Japanese Ju Jutsu, its precursor. Where does the genius of Helio and Carlos Gracie fit? If we look closely, we realize that virtually all of the finalizations – whether by joints control or by air suppression or blood (choke) – that currently exist in modern Jiu Jitsu, already existed in the ancient Ju Jutsu. Where, is the innovation?

To justify my point I quote a phrase from Burton Richardson, a famous student of Dan Inosanto (friend and close student of Bruce Lee), also black belt Jiu Jitsu and MMA coach (UFC): “Knowledge is not power – the ability to apply knowledge about pressure is real power. ” This means that true knowledge, that is, the ability to apply the techniques we learned against an opponent who resists, comes from the rolls, from the randori at the end of the lesson. Without it, there would not be Jiu Jitsu as we know it. I do not want to sound too simplistic or reductive.

Of course there are other attributes beyond this – such as perfecting and developing original forms of guarding and original ways of finishing – but this seems to me essential to differentiate Jiu Jitsu from Ju Jutsu.

Attention I do not intend to offend anyone, much less anyone who practices Ju Jutsu or other traditional Martial Arts – which provide tremendous benefits to training – but what we are concerned with today is combat functionality. Therefore, the first aspect to consider is related to opposition in training, in contrast to modalities in which the training partner is compliant and allows us to apply the techniques without ever having tried their application against resistance.

The second point of my thesis was expressed by the greatest Samurai in history – Miyamoto Musashi: “We can only fight the way we train,” he said – and perhaps that was the secret to so many overwhelming victories over his opponents.
Even with opposition – primordial and central aspect – the rules of competition dictate what is or is not possible to apply. And this changes the way we train and what habits of struggle we develop. Rolling into the turtle position so that the opponent does not receive points from the guard pass is understandable in competition, but develops automatisms that, in a fight situation, in a fight for survival, these automatisms take action. And exposing the back and neck on a street fight should be one of the worst actions to take.

We should not forget that the Jiu Jitsu developed by Carlos and Hélio Gracie was designed for the street, and therefore was not subject to the modern rules of competition nor was it limited purely to grappling. Training against striking and striking was part of everyday life.

The third point of this thesis refers to the specificity of training: in addition to grappling and striking, it is important to unite the first two training principles in the most varied scenarios – including training against weapons. We must not forget the eminent threat of terrorism and the growing possibility of seeing ourselves in a situation where our armed opponent wants not only our money but our life. And if in the first case the most reasonable is to give the money, in the second we will even have to fight.

Two recent examples, with Jiu Jitsu practitioners, jump right into the memory. The first one happened, if I’m not mistaken, during a robbery of a bus in Rio de Janeiro. Instead of trying to control the thug’s gun, the athlete tried to apply a mata-leao, and was shot in the head. He did not train specifically for this scenario and applied, by default, what he knew.

The second most recent example occurred during the terrorist attack on the French train – it seems that the technique used was the same, but the difference of circumstances dictated a different end. A much larger assault weapon is more difficult to maneuver in a tight space, and the existence of other assisting passengers allowed for a happy ending. But even so, after disarmed the assault weapon, the terrorist still went to get two more hidden weapons, which brings us to the fourth point of this thesis – the “plus one” rule.

The “plus one” rule,  tries to warn the only certainty when we fight for life: that there are no certainties and that the scenario can change continuously. “Plus one” means that if we see a weapon, we assume that there is at least one more. If we see a thug means there must be at least one more. And with this rule in mind, we change the way we train – changing the way we approach each roll.

I do not train for competition, and  do not subject  to the  of the everyday roll. I’d rather give up a guard pass to develop a bad automatism. So I developed a guard game  where I control the opponent’s hip (to be able to kick, if that’s the case, as I keep a greater distance between myself and the opponent, and to be easier to move the opponent away and stand up, in case of being more than an opponent); and in which I control both of the opponent’s arms – thus avoiding the surprise of having to deal with a knife or firearm that had been hidden in the midst of the struggle.

For me the spider guard and its multiple variations was the option, after much reflection, because it responds to all these concepts and I can apply it  during training, not having to leave the usual format of the  of Jiu Jitsu training  to  train “self defense”.

In view of the above, I leave the answer to the question when starting this article to the opinion of each one of the readers, because there are several reasons that lead to practice Jiu Jitsu, and self defense is just another one. It’s also my reason, but for someone else it may be camaraderie and friendship with fellow mat friends, competition medals, health and fitness or lifestyle. And there is nothing wrong with each of these goals