Grappling: Martial arts types
So I said In a previous post that there are two types of martial arts. Striking and grappling. This article will go a little deeper into the grappling side.
Taiotoshi set up in judo from an ouchi or Uchimata fake.
Grappling is much more closer range than their striking counter part. But even within the world of grappling, different ranges exist. With Jacket (gi) grappling arts, it is easier to keep opponents at an arms length and keep opponents closer when position is established. This is because the “handles” created by the clothing material locks you and your opponents in. Having a myriad of handles all over has many implications. First of all, unlike striking, it makes it very difficult to engage more than one opponent. When you are locked in close range, in jacket, It is hard to freely escape from the grasp of you opponent. Even though I say jacket to categorize this type of art, I will include any martial art that uses clothing to gain leverage or to lock in a position like Sumo.
Some jacket grappling martial arts:
Judo, Sambo, Brazilian Jiujitsu, Japanese Jiujitsu, Shuai Jaio, Mongolian wrestling, Sumo etc
*important to know, some striking heavy arts contain grappling elements and vice versa. You have to look at it like a spectrum.
Let’s now look at the no-gi grappling martial art. This is very intuitive. Think wrestling, No-gi bjj. Without the tool of the handles, you have to grasp your opponent’s body or yours in order to keep control. For instance, you can grab your opponent’s wrist. Although grabbing your opponent’s wrist is a fleeting momentary form of control, it is necessary to improve up the ranks of the position hierarchy. Eventually, if you can circle to your opponent’s back and grab your own wrist while encircling your opponent’s body with a seatbelt, you have a much more superior form of control.
Okay, so we have Gi/no-Gi. Now let’s talk standing and ground.
When looking at the different types of grappling martial arts, you have to take account the natural form of the human body. Humans are mostly upright, sometimes we sit and sometimes we lie down. This goes true in martial arts too.. Humans tend to be the most athletic standing. Grappling arts like wrestling and Judo have the first goal of taking the opponent down with a subsequent progression of goals on the ground. More ground oriented grappling arts such a Brazilian jiujitsu has that initial goal as optional, since one can opt to sit in order to bring the fight down to the ground.
Another differentiating factor into the grappling arts is the ability to grab the legs with your arms. Theoreticlally it is difficult to control someone’s legs with your hands. The legs are much stronger. But the important thing to note is, they tend to be less coordinated. Also, even an attack such as the double leg take down is not really arms vs legs. Because you use your head and your legs in order to off balance your opponent. The different rule sets determine how the shape of the grappling art looks. If you look at grappling arts that don’t go hands to legs, posture tends to be upright. Think Judo and Greco Roman wrestling (you can still attack the legs with your own). When you can shoot into the legs with your hands, then the athletes take on more of a bent at the waist stance in order to protect their legs.
Ground fighting
Different ground oriented grappling martial arts have different goals.
Some positions are awarded, generally the ones with martial merit. Being on top in side position where your opponent faces upwards, is almost universally a winning position. These positions are rewarded because with your opponents legs away from you and with your opponent flat on their back, the biggest threats (that is rooted in their athleticism) is taken away. Especially, if you can keep them there. The hardest punchers will have a hard time being able to do damage when you are on top. Think knee on belly position.
The goals generally are to win in position first by restricting your opponent’s movements first, then isolating their limb or neck using your own. This is called a submission. You want to apply a combination of constricting pressure, torque and leverage in order to submit your opponent. Grappling arts such as wrestling, do not have submissions. They specialize in takedowns.
IF you are interested in learning basic Judo, here is a great one by my father.
