Jiu Jitsu is Not the Answer to Everything - Eli Knight
My instructor is a Royce Gracie black belt. One great aspect of being in his network of academies, is that they are still very self-defense based. That does not mean that we do not practice sport, or more technical jiu jitsu. We just do not forget the roots of what jiu jitsu is first: self-defense.
See what Eli has to say here:
I'll still be working towards getting Eli to this platform. I think there could be some interest, and he's a great resource of jiu jitsu knowledge. I hope that one day we see him here posting content.
Be sure to check out Eli Knight at:
https://www.youtube.com/user/eliknight173
Be sure to check out Funker Martial Arts at:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiIVDn5bUGZUJc_15qJPjUw
And also check out Funker Tactical at:
https://www.youtube.com/user/FunkerTactical
It's good that you bring this up since it seems the tendency most martial arts follow once they become more mainstream: the sportification of the art while sacrificing some of their effectiveness for actual confrontation and combat.
This was one of the reasons I quit Taekowndo years ago: my school grew increasingly focused on this scoring points mentality (because that was the strategy that did well under competition rules) while all the other combative/self defense aspects were neglected. All knowledge was heavily funneled in favor of being sneaky about scoring points which led to a lot of stalling and unrealistic maneuvers that would get you destroyed under any other circumstances (like that "keeping the front leg up" thing that a lot of olympic competitors do).
We see this happening in BJJ already, with the increasing addition of inversions, somersaults and other "fancy" techniques, as well as stuff that you can only possibly pull off because of the very specific rule set that prevents your opponent from causing some easy damage in response (think butt-scooting or those crazy 10th planet guards were you have your ankles next to your ears).
I watched the video, and I like Eli's very balanced perspective about the matter. I hope you succeed in luring him into Steemit! ;-)
You are 100% correct @irime. I love some of the more technical, tricky, and sporty techniques. It took me quite a few years to realize that I was only getting good at jiu jitsu against other jiu jitsu practitioners. What's the point if you suck at self-defense.
You can be the greatest at fighting another person who gives you trained energy. I felt like around the time I was getting my blue belt, that I was really hitting my stride. I would tap some blue and purple belts. Even if I didn't get the tap, I could defend, defend, defend for long periods of time. Looking back now, I realize that I got by quite a bit with athleticism, more so than technique (a total other topic I'll cover soon).
There were a few eye-opening moments in the last 2 years that changed my mindset:
The first time I trained mma, and jiu jitsu with gloves. I realized quickly how decent I was at jiu jitsu, but that I sucked at defending myself in a fight.
The first few times I partnered with upper belts who were great at self-defense techniques, and realized that I sucked at them as a 2 stripe blue belt.
The first few times I struggled teaching or performing self-defense techniques with white belts of all skill levels, body types, etc.
The first few times I was one of the upper belts in class. Instructors were finally calling me out and using me to show technique in front of everyone. Some of the more sporty stuff, guard, half-guard, or things I were great at went fine. Basic standing self-defense techniques, I actually felt embarrassed at how painful it was showing techniqe in front of others because I never put the serious time into learning them.
I like the term that you used: sportification. The sportification is jiu jitsu is fun and beautiful. I love watching and learning quite a bit. But I'm thankful I'm surrounded by instructors at an academy that push self-defense over everything first.
Some of even the most fundamental techniques from both sport and self-defense canons can go out the window in many real-world situations. Full guard and Sankaku-jime are a terrible idea the second an attacker produces an edged weapon for example. Sadly we are likely to feel that edged weapon before seeing it, and even then it's probably going to feel more like a punch until we see that we are bleeding.
Juji Gatame is probably not going to stop a drunk or somebody on an adrenaline rush even if you dislocate the elbow.
I think the most important self-defense move in all of jiu-jitsu is the tech stand after breaking free of a scramble. If you end up on the ground in a life threatening situation "You fucked up a long time ago" as Kurt Osiander would say.
You are exactly right. Being on the bottom or on the ground period is such a risk. You never know when multiple attackers will become an issue, specially in a bar setting.
I really wanted to go to Eli's last seminar, but I was out of town. He had Sonny Puzikas at our academy for a 2 day seminar on edged weapons.
He's pretty interesting in the fact that he tellls people how it is: you are too comfortable and confident in your training. I really wish I could have been there. He's a no bs martial arts, edged weapons and firearms instructor.
Obviously you do not want to be involved with a knife in a fight. You are right, you probably won't feel it even until it's too late, better yet see it. Anytime a weapon is produced, the best option is to run or escape. But, you may not have the ability or option, so you better train to know something that involves guns and knives.
I def do not want to confuse training self defense for over confidence. Some of it could be discarded, just like sport. But I really do believe that if all you focus on is sport, you're definitely not being realistic in your training. And if all you train is jiu jitsu, you're in the same boat. I think that we really should work towards becoming well rounded martial artists.
Oh for sure. I didn't mean to sound argumentative. I think being as well rounded is important. Too many people neglect edged weapons, firearms and above all else situational awareness. I really enjoy what the Shivworks and Libre guys are doing. Knowing how to cut your way out of a clinch is a good thing:
https://www.instagram.com/p/BY01NC8nXpy/?taken-by=southnarc
Oh no, you didn't sound argumentative at all! :) I think that's one reason I like what Funker Martial Arts and Funker Tactical are doing. They don't really want to sell jiu jitsu, or any specific martial art, or any lineage as a false sense of security. They definitely push the platform of being well rounded, and realistic in your abilities, specially when a weapon is introduced.
I'll have to check out Shivworks and Libre. I really just started paying more attention to edged weapons. I've always been into guns, but I never was a knife person.
Eli actually just released his video for bladed weapons on the ground. Of course this is under the assumption that you do not want to be on the ground or even engaging with someone who has a knife, but what if one is introduced while already grappling on the ground.
http://funkermartialarts.com/shop/featured/eli-knight-bladed-grappler-digital-download/
As always, thanks for your input, and I don't take offense, or think you sounds argumentative. I love these conversations, and hearing everyone's point of view. I think sometimes, like anything else, martial arts can become an echo chamber, and believing your own hype can be very dangerous when we are talking self-defense and weapons!
I'll check out that instagram link.
Also, while I'm thinking about this topic, one of my more recent thought process' was about how to present jiu jitsu to the average user/reader on Steemit.
I think that one of the main issues we run into when producing content, is that we get into the mode of producing content aimed towards people who already do jiu jitsu. There is nothing wrong with that, but also consider the broader audience (specially here on Steemit). Most are not going to be able to, nor care about going inverted, using lockdown or other other sporty guards, or maybe even have the basic jiu jitsu knowledge to even consider techniques like this.
Many people also do not have the athleticism, or flexibility to perform some of the more sporty techniques.
Many of the more sporty techniques are not very safe or applicable to perform on the street or in a fight. Most of the self-defense techniques, I'm finding, still are applicable when rolling or competing against other jits practitioners.
So lately when I've been thinking about the production of my own videos to share here on Steemit, it's dawned on me to consider the audience. What would be most useful or helpful to the person sitting behind the keyboard, potentially reading my post or watching my vid. Most likely it will be more of the self-defense techniques.
@jiujitsu I think this would merit an entire post on itself. It's definitely an aspect that needs to be considered:
I had been thinking of writing an article aimed to explain briefly what BJJ is about and why it is appealing to many of us, the benefits, etc. aimed for a more general audience (some people have not even heard about it before).
While we can expect that people who are interested in BJJ, MMA and grappling will eventually join Steemit, we can also work on growing our community "from the inside" by promoting and providing an insight into the BJJ universe/lifestyle, so to say.
@irime you're exactly right. It could be awhile before we see growth from the outside, which is one reason I became motivated to try to move it along with this account. But we can already consider posts towards the general Steemit community about why we love jiu jitsu and it's benefits. I think that may be one reason that @flipstar's posts do so well; simply documenting his journey from white belt to blue belt. That probably resonates with the average reader than most other posts we see for bjj and mma.
I'm not the best at filming videos. Just because I know the techniques, doesn't always equate to being the best at instructing. For me, I do well in class, one on one, explaining technique to a new user. But, in front of my camera, or specially after the filming when I'm editing, I'm way to hard on myself. I pick myself apart, whether it's speaking, terminology, the camera angle, anything that I do not like. Perfectionist attitude is awful when putting yourself out there.
I recently spoke to one of my instructors, Eli, and he said you just have to do it, film it, cut it, post it. Don't worry about the negative feedback, focus on the positive and constructive feedback.
I actually was brainstorming ideas the other night and though about what types of contests that I could post on Steemit. One of the ideas was to post one technique name with a brief description, and challenge current jiu jitsu practitioners on Steemit to submit their video attempting to explain the technique. It would be great to see how different people present the same technique. Each user could post the video to their own account and earn. I would then create a post with all of the entries, and after the 7 day payout, reward the winner.
The difficult part is the judging criteria. Any input on this idea is appreciated :)
One of the few types of posts we have to go by are the #openmic, #rapchallenge #beatbattle type of topics. The judging is so subjective. You cannot really go by how much each person earns, or # of upvotes or re-steems.
I have to agree you with in that the content being produced is for the existing practitioner and will be hard to gain traction for anyone who doesnt already have some interest in BJJ. But then also at the same time I think it is important that we are putting out content for those who are already involved in the sport, so that we lay the ground works for when they come on Steem and try and find a community they can see that there is already one built and they can grow and be a part of it too. So I think you have to find a sweet spot for your content putting out stuff for both new and existing practitioners.
I do think you are right. We need balance. One thing I've noticed with my upvoting and re-steeming is that there's quite a bit of UFC and mma news posts. A tiny fraction of it is BJJ at this point. I think we need to really work on attracting instructors who already have followings on YouTube, or are attempting to make a name for themselves. We would see quite a bit of content from those types of users.
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