And that’s the real question for me. What’s truly truly relevant for self-defense. And I would add the caveat that it can be done safely. Risking destroying one’s health supposedly preparing for a low probability possibility always seemed counterproductive and misguided to me.
I started martial arts as a kid just wanting to learn some self-defense and as a hobbyist, but eventually got pulled down a bizarro path I never intended to go on. I started training BJJ in the 90’s and have what I believe is a solid foundation and understanding of the fundamentals that are applicable to self-defense, same as my wrestling background. Never an interest in competition and didn’t allow myself to be talked into it, so I did that much right according to my initial goals.
What many martial artists call self-defense seems to be something altogether different. I’m getting up in age now, but remember being a testosterone fueled twenty something who engaged in some very questionable behavior myself supposedly under the banner of self-defense. That foolishness is gone and I would change a lot of that if could do it over. Teaching my wife unarmed SD skills, hard or heavy contact is a complete no-go, nor would I ever try to convince her such a thing was wise or necessary. I like her beautiful face just the way it is. And nor has my son who wants to be a physicist ever taken any head shots. Protecting that beautiful brain is a top priority.
BJJ no doubt has a lot to offer(although I probably lean towards wrestling offering more for SD), and it is probably relatively safer, although that depends on several individual factors, but it’s not without its own risks. I know plenty of folks who have suffered pretty debilitating injuries just rolling. It boils down to why your training and your true goals.
Thanks for the thoughtful post.