Well not replacement...but yeah.
I think it was the IBJJF pans that recently took place that had steroid testing implemented and more than a few division champs weren't at the podium for photos because they heard they had to take a piss test.
The sport is legitimately filthy at most competitive levels, and that filters down from the top, even to the local stuff.
But even without the gear, some dudes will just wreck your shit for free in competition. I think there was recently a 16 year old kid who was given the moniker "the adult slayer" because he'd compete in adult divisions and would lock in a heel hook and immediately apply breaking pressure.
This is not to dissuade you from competing. I still do and still think it's a great, but do so with the knowledge that you shouldn't expect your opponent to wait for you to tap once he gets grips.
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Gruesome.
https://www.mmanews.com/news/watch-o...g-to-leglock-2
https://twitter.com/@twitter/status/https://twitter.com/ONEChampionship/status/1614109583496351746I continued to apply breaking pressure on his leg about 8 minutes straight, but my opponent unfortunately would not tap," Musumeci wrote. "This resulted in us seeing how damaging these leg locks can be. Always important to tap so you avoid surgery and a year recovery. FYI this was the most disgusting feeling ever. I literally felt every part of his knee rip like cardboard
Bert Gummer is my spirit animal
Yea I watched that fight live on broadcast. And that Mongolian dude should have tapped. He ruined his knee and probably the rest of his fighting career, by being stubborn.
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To add to the general idea of the thread in considering things that 'do and don't work' in a broad sense.
One reason to work arm and leg submissions (and wrist and ankle locks, like the cheap bastard you are! ) is to remember we want to control any and all parts our opponents give us.
Or put simply: Position before submission.
While we all have our favored ways of solving problems, we have to remember that grappling is a positional game. He with the dominant position...and some luck...wins the day. In the gym, we may work our way to our favorite positions slowly, methodically even. But on the street, we want to work our way to the best position we can, in the shortest possible time, and execute whatever finish we can as soon as we can.
If your control position has you leg or ankle locking someone - oh well and crank that bitch down and break it. Not a lot of people can run on a broken ankle.
That all said, my observance has been anyone who is comfortable getting to and working from the mount often wins. Because a high mount let's you control your opponent well and then use your tools as you want.
Yeah...that one was gross. The thing is tho...he didn't tap.
I'm well aware that the dude may never walk again, but this just emphasizes to me again and again why I will almost always prefer chokes.
Case in point, a dude named Mokaev (sp?) on the pre-lims of the most recent UFC card had his knee bent backwards in a knee bar, very probably destroying his ACL and guaranteeing a long, painful and expensive recovery, and he refused to tap and instead won the fight by RNC.
I do still really appreciate the leg lock positions as excellent sweeping/standing positions however. I love using a single leg X as a sweep, or elevating into the saddle. Excellent ways of getting off your back.
My understanding of BJJ has been dramatically altered as of late, having watched an instructional called "Power Bottom" by Craig Jones and I'm probably going to try to incorporate more of that style of guard where "If you can wrestle up, do it, if you can stand up, do it, and if you can turtle up, do it." and start to play my game based on the idea that it is generally better to be on top.
I'm sure leg locks still play a role in this...just not sure exactly what role that is.
Just stand up is my favorite defense right now. I'm working my way through make z guard great again and picking up some fun tips.
Would you recommend power bottom?
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Memento Mori
So, Z guard is my shit. I loved that one...especially now that I'm exploring the choi bar as a response to when I try to get to SLX or saddle and get crossfaced. But I'm also super ghey for half guard.
Not sure whether Just Stand Up is all that similar (it seems like defense or escape yeah?) But I can't recommend Power Bottom enough. It's excellent if you're looking for a way to attack off your back in ways that BJJ doesn’t traditionally teach.
I really do think Craig may end up changing the way we look at BJJ in much the same way John Danaher did with leg locks.
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Ryan Hall said something in one of his recent instructionals (I think Modern Half Guard?) that was similar to what Craig says at the start of Power Bottom. Basically that a lot of BJJ practitioners don't bother to try to get to their feet from guard at all, and they should because top players don't expect it. And that you can fight a lot of sweeps by...just not conceding the sweep.
I think quite a few BJJ folks have come to this conclusion, and it's interesting to watch strategies change. I've personally found that standing up from guard if someone isn't really pressuring me tends to confuse and frustrate the top player.
Oooh, man. My first white belt competition, my opponent was clearly better on his feet than I was. Took me down, I escaped, we stood back up. Repeat x3, then I finally ended up in his closed guard. Not usually a good position, but "OH MAN, I CAN FINALLY PLAY JIU JITSU I KNOW!"
We'd gone out of bounds, ref moves us back to the middle, starts us up... and the guy just scoots back and stands back up again. I just wanted to scream for mom because he was breaking the rules, lol.
Needless to say I did not win and also I am trying to practice a lot more stand up now. Nothing makes me grumpier than when people just concede bottom turtle when the other guy isn't pressuring anything.
Yeah, it's even better when you just wrestle up.
It's the unholiest BJJ strategy, but when you're seated, they are standing, and they have their head higher than yours? I've tried it. It's really that easy. You can hit the sloppiest double. You can literally drive your forehead into their chest and grab their knees, or hit some type of single. It's hilarious how well it works.
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