How much BJJ do you need?

Discussion in 'MMA' started by special43543, Oct 5, 2005.

  1. special43543

    special43543 Special Member

    Hey guys, I have trained about 6 months in BJJ now, and I am very intrested in MMA. However, I have no muy thai schools or MMA clubs around here so I am pretty much stuck with my BJJ. Whenever I watch MMA, I always wonder how much training of BJJ you actually need. I know you can always tone your skills, but so much of BJJ is use of the gi. Since I don't really want to compete in BJJ, I usually train by grabbing arms and legs instead of the actual gi, and administer chokes and submissions without use of the gi. So with doing this, how much training goes into BJJ that you can use in MMA?
     
  2. impala

    impala New Member

    It's much different without GI, because your opponent will grab differently too and most of the time you slip off when grabbing his arms/leg... in Ju-Jutsu we sometimes make Randori on the Ground outside on some grass without GI (because it will get dirty) and it's a lot different. No gi chokes, no spiderguard, sweeps are much harder, etc.
     
  3. neryo_tkd

    neryo_tkd Valued Member


    a friend of mine trained with a black belt instructor from the gracie barra academy and they also had training sessions with a GI and training sessions without it.

    @special43543, can your instructor help you out with some additional training?
     
  4. TsukinoKage

    TsukinoKage New Member

    I do high school wrestling, so it's a great combo on BJJ gi work (chokes, grips + subs) and no gi escapes and takedowns.
     
  5. swamphunter1968

    swamphunter1968 Valued Member

    Watch Royce


    Take a look at the first couple of UFC's. Watch Royce Gracie submit everyone with barely a punch. Watch some of the videos of these fights and it will show you that you can't ever have to much Jiu Jitsu. Although you'll probably never use your entire "arsenal" in a MMA match, why not have the tools at your disposal? JMO
     
  6. impala

    impala New Member

    Yeah, but rather concentrate on the important stuff, Armbar, Triangle Choke, Mata Leon, Figure Four (reversed) etc. before going for flying neck cranks or toehold to omoplata transitions ...
     
  7. IrishStomp

    IrishStomp Valued Member

    I don't think there is any really fitting answer to this question. It's more like "how much BJJ experience would you want to have going into an MMA fight?" and for me, I'd want a hell of a lot. I mean how much do you need to fight? Well, you don't NEED any BJJ exp. to fight, but it's really all about how much exp. you want. I think you got the wrong mindset for this, man, you should be thinking "yeah, I'm gonna go and train as hard as I can and get more experience than anyone else out there" not "ok i wanna be an MMA fighter but how long do i have to actually study and train to be one." I mean, to me, anyway, the bare minimum doesn't seem like the right way to go in MMA training. If I were you, I'd say take an estimate at how much training you think you need to fight in MMA, and then I'd double that and train for that long before doing it.
     
  8. special43543

    special43543 Special Member

    Well, my viewpoint isn't exactly how much do I need of BJJ to never do it again. I want to be able to do BJJ for a while to get good at it, and then move on to maybe muy thai. I can't do both arts at once, and I haven't done anyt MT. Most of the MMA stuff I see is position and then ground and point and not position and submission. Granted, there are quite a few submissions, but you can usually get a win off of a dominant position with good striking, and that is just basic BJJ.
     
  9. UGFighter

    UGFighter Valued Member

    Grappling posture plays an important part in MMA.. something that you will tend to notice in blue belts and above IMO.

    Once you start throwing strikes, you give your opponent more space and for guys with slick games this is all the space they need to escape...

    as a bare minimum, I would say you need a solid foundation of the basics:

    breaking posture of someone in your guard and being able to retain guard and get it back, some subs from guard such as armbar, triangle, omoplata and some sweeps.. being able to get our of guard, back to your feet.

    being able to get posture in guard and pass a couple of different ways standing up as well as knowing what to do in half-guard on top (and vice versa).

    SOLID, I can't stress enough, solid, solid escapes from the bottom in all positions. A decent top game with some subs you're good at.
     
    Last edited: Oct 13, 2005
  10. thomaspaine

    thomaspaine Valued Member

    Submissions are harder to pull off at that level because everyone is just so good. Have you seen any lower level independent MMA shows? There are a whole lot more wins by submission. Even if you'd rather go the ground and pound route, you still have to know submission defense, and lots of bjj is the best way to pick that up. It'll also help you with your ability to hold someone down and maintain position while you ground and pound. If you think the gi is holding you back ask your instructor to start up a no-gi class, or just ask someone when you're rolling if they want to go no-gi and take off your gi top.
     
  11. hunter_kaval

    hunter_kaval The Ronin

    As thomaspaine said you really should get some no Gi training in if you are considering competing in MMA apart from that the best thing you could do is. Arange regular trips to places where you can train MMA muay thai ect, even if its only once or twice a year I mean its better then not training at all in those areas :D .
     
  12. Lance Havock

    Lance Havock New Member

    How much bjj??? enough to know how to pull guard and sweep. and you need to know what a triangle choke is as well as an armbar. But if you want to fight MMA, you need to be training for mma in an mma enviroment, not in a bjj class. Other wise you run the risk of being a victim to the sprawl and brawl.
     

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