Suprises - or MMA techniques that don't work...

[MightyB]

Thought this could be a fun thread--- for those of you who cross train or do a groundfighting style... have you found positions and techniques that you wouldn't do in an actual street fight or that have suprised you as not being as effective as you would've thought?

For me- I don't like the scarf hold. It's true that it's a strong hold in competition and that I have a good way to submit people from it in Judo... but there's no way in Hades that I'd use it on the street because it seems to fail to account for the free arm and the nasty habit people have of using it to cross face and all kinds of fun stuff that wouldn't be allowed in a match.

I'm also a big hater of the guard - no sir-ee I don't like it. I grew up watching Royce make many a big man his b!tch with it, but I found that it's a dangerous spot to be in... not just on "the street" but in a match as well...

[MightyB]

When I say I'm a hater of the guard - I mean that I don't like to put people in the guard. I'd rather work on being aggressive and work on escapes rather than using the guard defensively.

[Yung Apprentice]

I came across an excerpt from a different magazine where Dave Camarillo says," The rules of BJJ water down the realization of a fight. I want my students to be able to protect themselves, not win some match where lying in your half guard is a good strategy".

MMA is the closest thing to a real fight, but can never substitute for a real fight. A real fight can happen anywhere, and anytime. Real fights have no rules and therefore there are more variables than a competition fight.

But, as I said before, it is the closest thing to a real fight you can get and IMO the closest possible way to train for a real fight. You train the guard, so if the variables get you in that position, you are not helpless.