What to do against a grappler?

[ZhuiQuan]

I've seen many videos of grapplers fighting people who have bad Kung Fu.

Has anyone sparred or been in a fight with someone who tried grappling them?

[Chief Fox]

I have. My 8th grade wrestling instincts took over and I sprawled.

Another grappler I sparred with I'm guessing wasn't very good because I could see his shoots a mile away and I didn't let him get to me.

The best way to defend against a grappler is to learn their fighting style so you can recognize it.

I'm not saying that you have to become a grappler to beat one but it helps to understand your opponent.

[ZhuiQuan]

That makes sense. I never watch UFC or go to tournaments, but maybe I should just for the knowledge. Kind of like a sports team watching a rival team play in order to catch coaching strategies, patterns and techniques.

I was killing some time watching videos on youtube and saw a few "kung fu vs. _____" videos and got curious.

[YiLiQuan1]

The only way to understand grappling/groundfighting, and therefore to be able to defend against it, is to study it. This isn't a new idea... You study your opponent in order to know what's coming, and then you learn to do what he/she does in order to forestall/neutralize/control what they will do.

Get to a class... Don't rely solely on video, though I will recommend the Gracie video series (well instructed, easy to understand and replicate). Then practice what you've learned, regularly.

[unkokusai]

I'm not saying that you have to become a grappler to beat one but .


but that is in fact the best way to go about it!

[Malsah-FSkarate]

it depends on how big, heavy and strong he is. grapplings all about strength, the stronger guy's got the odds going his way. if your the weaker man, the water principle is probably your best chance of countering.

[YiLiQuan1]

it depends on how big, heavy and strong he is. grapplings all about strength, the stronger guy's got the odds going his way. if your the weaker man, the water principle is probably your best chance of countering.

Having done some grappling, I wouldn't say it's all about strength (anymore than any other aspect of fighting is all about strength), though certainly if one fighter is less conditioned than the other he/she stands a significantly lower chance of success... That's something too many MAists neglect, thinking their "superior technique" will level the playing field with someone who is better conditioned. It's BS and real fighters know that.

That having been said, all things being equal, the fighter who's repertoire includes more grappling training will certainly be better enabled to deal with another grappler's attack.

And what do you refer to by "the water principle?"

[unkokusai]

. grapplings all about strength, .


No it's not.

[SevenStar]

it depends on how big, heavy and strong he is. grapplings all about strength, the stronger guy's got the odds going his way. if your the weaker man, the water principle is probably your best chance of countering.

Nobody with even a basic understanding of grappling would've taught you that...

[Merryprankster]

Oh I dunno 7*. I would have told him it's all about strength!

Royce Gracie clearly was bigger and stronger than Kimo and Dan Severn, as well as Ken Shamrock.

My "rude awakening" at the hands of a 150 lbs purple belt when I was a 190 lbs white belt with 4+ years of wrestling was all about streng...

oh...

my bad.

[Yao Sing]

Forms, lot's of 'em. Especially the Wushu ones with flying kicks. Just keep doing them until he can't stand anymore and chokes himself out.

:p

[lunghushan]

Have your friend kick him in the head while he's on top of you. That's worked for me.

[Merryprankster]

Ah lunghushan! You encountered the "stupid grappler!"

Great news - stupid people exist in all styles...

Further, grappling does not equal "groundfighting." There are whole grappling arts built around throwing...

The below is a repost:

People seem to be forgetting the most important part of groundfighting training here...

I have 5 years of wrestling behind me and 6 or so of BJJ.

Arguments about "what if," aside, the question is not "who can *I* hold down," but "who can hold ME down?"

The answer is "some percentage of the well trained grappling community, and not a big percentage of the population at large.

In a single or multiple opponent situation there is a strong possibility that I might fall. That I might be blindsided, or that I might trip over a chair or something. It happens to the best of us all.

I know how to fall, and I know how to GET UP, even when I've got a 300 lbs monster on top of me. And I know this because I've done it.

As Fatherdog pointed out, if you are stuck underneath somebody like that, you are in trouble. There's no two ways about it.

The idea about groundfighting is not that the ground is necessarily the best thing to do...it is that with such training, you get to have a greater say in where the fight goes and remains.

Without it, somebody else might make that choice for you.

Your opponent lunghushan, just made a bad decision.

[lunghushan]

Yes, it was going pretty well for him but he forgot there were 2 people.

Supposedly the reason CMA never really did much with ground fighting was they assumed you'd be dealing with multiple attackers. Plus, the ground is dirty and your clothes get dirty.

[YiLiQuan1]

Supposedly the reason CMA never really did much with ground fighting was they assumed you'd be dealing with multiple attackers. Plus, the ground is dirty and your clothes get dirty.

The multiple attacker theory is a sound argument against groundfighting, but I have yet to see many schools train realisitically, much less realistically against multiple attackers... They usually employ the "attack in sequence" drills, where attacker A is followed by, not assisted by, attacker B.

As for the ground being dirty and a fear of dirty clothing being the excuse against ground fighting, I don't think anyone worth training under would use that kind of sorry excuse... I suspect a teacher worth his/her salt would simply say "we don't do that," instead of coming up with a lameass excuse like "we don't like to get dirty." :rolleyes:

[Sifu Darkfist]

fight hard and in your face like Chuck Liddel or Cung Li

[unkokusai]

fight hard and in your face like Chuck Liddel or Cung Li

...who are both grapplers...