When it comes to Jiu Jitsu there is only one family that matters, the Gracie’s. They revolutionised the sport and how it was perceived around the world.
Generations of the Gracie family have been champions in BJJ. It gained worldwide fame when Royce won the first ever UFC event and that was when the UFC was everything goes. They showed that BJJ was the most effective fighting style out there. Since then every MMA star studies BJJ and if they don’t they are guaranteed to get an ass whupping.
So why on earth would the godfathers of Jiu Jitsu criticize the sport?
Well it seems the Gracie’s believe tournament BJJ is ruining the art of BJJ.
Royce explains that BJJ was designed as a street fighting style and not for tournaments. He makes some great points saying most martial arts are ruined by point scoring tournaments. He is right when he says the sports were not designed for this tip tap approach. That’s why many black belts get their asses kicked when they get in a real fight.
Now I’ll exclude boxing, MMA and Muay Thai from that. All of these sports have enough contact to hurt. But many Tae Kwon Do, Karate and Kung Fu tournaments are almost non contact these days.
Royce’s direct quotes are below;
“What ruins most martial arts is tournaments; the points. Teaching a guy to score points? There are no points on the street.”
“My father was always against tournament competition. You want to compete you get in the ring, Jiu-Jitsu is not a points game. It’s a self defense. Like most martial arts are a self-defense… “MARTIAL ARTS” not a points art.”
You can read the whole article HERE
Its difficult to argue with the Royce. If you watch any Jiu Jitsu tournament you will see techniques scoring points that would get you smashed in a fight.
But having said all of that having some BJJ skill and knowledge will massively help you in the street as long as you use it in the right way. As with all fighting styles you have to be selective what you take into the street.
Check out the article, it makes interesting reading.
