Submission Wrestling/Brazilian Jiu Jitsu

The difference between the two, while very similar on the surface, is very different once practiced at any length.

In competition they both use a point system. American School of Martial Arts will not teach you the point system unless you are in the kids class. The philosophy being "It is better to lose while attempting submissions than to win by points." Brazilian Jiu Jitsu was created for submissions.

At a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu seminar, we were being taught the baseball choke from knee mount. An old school Judo guy asked how many points knee mount would be. After hearing the answer he then stated, "If you already have knee mount, why would you attempt the collar choke and have a chance of losing those points?" The instructor looked at him while trying not to smile and replied, "To submit him." That seems like an obvious answer, but many Brazilian Jiu Jitsu schools will try to win on just points.

I can think of a case recently where a BJJ school sent in a bunch of 2-3 year white belts into the beginner division to go for points only. They were hopping from knee mount to mount to crossbody like kangaroos on coffee, racking up points to bring home the team trophy for most accumulative points. I would not be proud of that trophy. At American School of Martial Arts we practice for submissions applying to Mixed Martial Arts.

Submission wrestling is a much faster game. There is not all of the clothing to grab onto. You have to learn to control your opponents body by going limb to limb instead of hand to cloth.

Many times during a grappling session I found myself grabbing pants and jacket to save myself from ending up in a bad position, which is not bad considering uniforms can resemble grappling with clothes on. When an outdoor jacket or hooded sweatshirt is worn, all of the collar chokes and gi manipulations are applicable. In Minnesota we wear heavy clothes nine months out of the year, so I think practicing BJJ in a gi is very good for self defense.

For Mixed Martial Arts competition, you need to practice without the gi. There is a school of thought that goes, "To be good at no gi you must first learn to be good at BJJ while wearing a gi." I don't believe that is the truth. To be good at no gi you must practice no gi. To compete in MMA the probability that you will wear a gi is very slim, so you must train without a gi.

When practicing, always think of strikes, because once the striking is practiced along with submissions it changes your game. Practice with and without the gi, do not limit yourself and always go for the submission.

Win, lose or draw... train hard and get in the ring.