ralphmcpherson
Senior Master
A friend of mine (non martial artist at this stage) is looking at starting BJJ. He is wanting to do a martial art soley for self defence reasons, not fitness, flexibility, make friends etc, basically learning to defend himself is the number 1 priority. He asked me if doing BJJ by itself would be good for self defence or whether it really has to mixed with a stand up or striking art to really be effective as a means of defending himself. I personally, dont know the first thing about BJJ but thought I would ask on here as there seems to be a wealth of knowlege and experience with the members here. I also told him to check some clubs out and ask some questions but he said he has done that and generally gets the usual "salesmans lines" about how it is the best MA for self defence, just watch the UFC etc and he was looking for a more unbiased view. So to those of you who do BJJ or know anything about it, how does the art fare purely for self defence without knowing any other MA (which he doesnt, I actually doubt he could punch his way out of a wet paper bag by his own admission)? Also, is any striking, kicking, punching etc taught as part of the BJJ curriculum? Thanks in advance, I will direct him to this thread and Im sure he will be grateful for the advice.