What Is Grappling?
Grappling is a combination of Wrestling and Brazilian Jiu
Jitsu. Grappling also includes techniques and positions from other
Grappling Martial Arts such as Judo and Greco-Roman Wrestling, Freestyle
Wrestling, Collegiate Wrestling, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Japanese Jiu Jitsu,
Russian Sambo and others.
Grappling has only been around (at least
competitively) for the last 10 to 15 years. Wrestling on the other hand
has been around since the time of the Greeks. The ancient Greeks competed
in contests of wrestling, boxing, and an all-out fight known as Pankration
similar of what we see in today’s mixed martial arts or cage-fighting
contests.
Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is largely a product of the last
century. Brazilian Jiu Jitsu has its roots based in Judo and Japanese Jiu
Jitsu. The Gracies, who developed today’s Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, gained
their jiu jitsu from a man named Mitsuyo Maeda from Japan.
Judo was developed in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s as a way for the Japanese to apply
their combat Jiu Jitsu to a more sportive contest, which could be used in
schools and other applications. The man who invented today’s Judo was
named Jigoro Kano.
Why is it important to understand where Grappling comes from?
Because you’ll be able to better understand what the needs
are to compete in Grappling. It lets you see that not all tools are the
same and not all Martial Arts and especially the Grappling Arts are not all the
same. Take for example a knife; a knife does a great job of cutting or
stabbing. You can field-dress a deer, or cut a piece of meat, or you can
even spread butter. A gun on the other hand only fires bullets. It’s
a long-range weapon. It’s used for hunting the deer, which you’ll later be
field-dressing with your knife. But the knife and the gun have vastly
different abilities and vastly different uses.
The same goes for techniques found in Judo, Jiu Jitsu, and Wrestling. Not all of them apply
the same way and in the same context. You have to understand that the
rules make the game. This is something that I learned early on when I was
trying to transition from Wrestling to Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and Grappling.
The biggest problem that I see is that everybody wants or claims to have
one-solution that fits every problem…that’s just not true! We see it in
tools, we see it in the vehicles we drive; we see it in just about every other
walk of life.
So why would that apply to martial arts?
It doesn’t! There’s no “one-solution fits every problem” answer. That’s
the beauty of Grappling! There are so many different techniques and
different styles that you can use to compete and have success. It makes
Grappling a great game!
One of the things you can use to your benefit is understand the histories and strategies
of the different Wrestling styles out there. Just to name a few: Greco-Roman Wrestling,
again it was first brought about by the Greeks but was later revived by the French and that is what
we see today in the Olympic Style called Greco-Roman Wrestling; Freestyle
Wrestling is a similar offshoot of Greco-Roman Wrestling, it simply involves a
different set of rules and techniques, namely leg attacks; Collegiate Wrestling,
the kind of wrestling you see in high school, is an offshoot of what’s known as
Catch-as-Catch-Can Wrestling which comes from England and Europe.
Catch-as-Catch-Can Wrestling allowed submission holds as well as pins.
If you want to learn more about Catch-as-Catch-Can Wrestling, go to www.ScientificWrestling.com.
Learning all the Wrestling styles you can and learning Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and
incorporating techniques from all disciplines will greatly improve your
Grappling. Remember it’s not a one-dimensional game and you can’t afford
to be a one-dimensional grappler. I hope this will help you in your
quest of Jiu Jitsu greatness.
Jitsu. Grappling also includes techniques and positions from other
Grappling Martial Arts such as Judo and Greco-Roman Wrestling, Freestyle
Wrestling, Collegiate Wrestling, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Japanese Jiu Jitsu,
Russian Sambo and others.
Grappling has only been around (at least
competitively) for the last 10 to 15 years. Wrestling on the other hand
has been around since the time of the Greeks. The ancient Greeks competed
in contests of wrestling, boxing, and an all-out fight known as Pankration
similar of what we see in today’s mixed martial arts or cage-fighting
contests.
Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is largely a product of the last
century. Brazilian Jiu Jitsu has its roots based in Judo and Japanese Jiu
Jitsu. The Gracies, who developed today’s Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, gained
their jiu jitsu from a man named Mitsuyo Maeda from Japan.
Judo was developed in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s as a way for the Japanese to apply
their combat Jiu Jitsu to a more sportive contest, which could be used in
schools and other applications. The man who invented today’s Judo was
named Jigoro Kano.
Why is it important to understand where Grappling comes from?
Because you’ll be able to better understand what the needs
are to compete in Grappling. It lets you see that not all tools are the
same and not all Martial Arts and especially the Grappling Arts are not all the
same. Take for example a knife; a knife does a great job of cutting or
stabbing. You can field-dress a deer, or cut a piece of meat, or you can
even spread butter. A gun on the other hand only fires bullets. It’s
a long-range weapon. It’s used for hunting the deer, which you’ll later be
field-dressing with your knife. But the knife and the gun have vastly
different abilities and vastly different uses.
The same goes for techniques found in Judo, Jiu Jitsu, and Wrestling. Not all of them apply
the same way and in the same context. You have to understand that the
rules make the game. This is something that I learned early on when I was
trying to transition from Wrestling to Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and Grappling.
The biggest problem that I see is that everybody wants or claims to have
one-solution that fits every problem…that’s just not true! We see it in
tools, we see it in the vehicles we drive; we see it in just about every other
walk of life.
So why would that apply to martial arts?
It doesn’t! There’s no “one-solution fits every problem” answer. That’s
the beauty of Grappling! There are so many different techniques and
different styles that you can use to compete and have success. It makes
Grappling a great game!
One of the things you can use to your benefit is understand the histories and strategies
of the different Wrestling styles out there. Just to name a few: Greco-Roman Wrestling,
again it was first brought about by the Greeks but was later revived by the French and that is what
we see today in the Olympic Style called Greco-Roman Wrestling; Freestyle
Wrestling is a similar offshoot of Greco-Roman Wrestling, it simply involves a
different set of rules and techniques, namely leg attacks; Collegiate Wrestling,
the kind of wrestling you see in high school, is an offshoot of what’s known as
Catch-as-Catch-Can Wrestling which comes from England and Europe.
Catch-as-Catch-Can Wrestling allowed submission holds as well as pins.
If you want to learn more about Catch-as-Catch-Can Wrestling, go to www.ScientificWrestling.com.
Learning all the Wrestling styles you can and learning Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and
incorporating techniques from all disciplines will greatly improve your
Grappling. Remember it’s not a one-dimensional game and you can’t afford
to be a one-dimensional grappler. I hope this will help you in your
quest of Jiu Jitsu greatness.
