I agree. You need to grapple in order to know how to grapple. Shuai Chiao is a grapling art. Mei Hua Long Fist has ground fighting techniques.
But you are also assuming a friendly match where I will wrestle with you. And no, I am not talking about being able to prevent anyone from shooting in. Shuai Chiao players know better than that. But there are other methods.
Also, I mean really, do you think you could wrestle me if I was armed? I like BJJ because I think it is morally superior - I can stop drunk uncle al without hurting him. I also like the tactile confidence you get. Same reason I like Judo & other JuJitsu. But I hate to break it to you guys, but there really is some good Kung Fu out there. I just didn’t have the good fortune to learn BJJ, which is lucky because I had to fight armed street punks instead of drunk uncle al.
Grappling is not restricted to certain countries or regions. Some of the best guys I ever fought weren’t Brazillian but Turks. (But then I never faced Rickson Gracie either, I just watched another of his fights. He’s really great.)
It really is a crime that grappling skills were so downplayed or lost due to ‘secrecy’ and cult like behavior in CMA.
Another thought: Most ‘high level’ techniques actually are some form of combative grappling as oppossed to striking strategies. Thoughts anyone?
“But you are also assuming a friendly match where I will wrestle with you.”
No, I just meant that once it is in a wrestling situation A good grappler will follow up with a counter to your counter, since most grapplers train in combos, just like stand up fighters. I should use this comparison, it is like if you threw a hook at me and I blocked it, chances are where you train in a stand up style you won’t just be relying on that one punch and you will follow up with something else before I have a chance to do anything.
“Also, I mean really, do you think you could wrestle me if I was armed?”
If you’re armed, I’m going to be somewhere else. I don’t care what you train in (while every art has disarming techniques) if you are facing an opponent with a weapon your best bet is to run if at all possible.
I have to mention that I am not a grappler who believes strictly in grappling. In my opinion you should cross train, no matter what your style, that way you are prepared for most situations. I don’t train in stand up but I know the importance of it, that is why I at least train on a heavy to practise combos and to keep my punching speed and power up. Not as good as formal training, but at least it is not neglected.
The danger I see with an emphasis on ground work, is that you may not know your opponent has a knife until you are rolling on the ground and you suddenly find yourself stuck like a pig.
While it is good to know, at least my (however limited) excperience has taught me this should not be a primary strategy in the street. But you should know how to deal with it if you end up there.
I can see why you would worry about such a thing, but my strategy is if i get the guy to the ground I’m not going to give him a chance to do anything but protect himself. When training for the street the first thing I do when we hit the ground is use my elbows and knees so it will become second nature. a guy who is not comfortable on the ground will be too bewildered to do anything but cover up. Heck, even if you are comfy on the ground once someone starts throwing an elbow or knee at you you have no choice but to defend. If you want to use grappling in the street you can’t go in trying to fight like Royce Gracie, you have to go in and fight like Mark Coleman or Vitor Belfort. Because the last thing you want to try to do is wear your opponent out by lying on him, chances are you will get stomped, and if the guy has a knife like you mentioned, he will have no problem taking it out and shanking you. So bottom line, take the guy out as fast as possible and get up.
I’ll buy that aurgument. For years the first thing I did on the ground was bitch slap my opponents head into the concrete. Took the urge to ‘rassle’ right out of them.