Grappling

Conclusions

Master Ricardo Murgel, former coach of the Brazil National Jiujutsu team and now a world renown combat Jiujutsu Instructor, emphatically states that he will avoid going to the ground at all costs in a street situation. If you are not skilled in grappling, you should avoid it. However, sometimes you do not have a choice. In these cases, you should know some basic grappling techniques so you may defend against the grappling, escape, and get back to what you know best. Do not avoid training in grappling; instead, learn all you can.

Traditional martial arts were developed for combat or actual self-defense situations, while MMA was developed for NHB type sport fighting. This not to say that grappling is not needed in your self-defense training. In a real situation, if a real fight goes to the ground, you need to know how to defend yourself, escape, and then use the opportunity to run away.