Conditioning in BJJ

Zephyor

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Would BJJ offer me an amount of physycal excercise and conditioning simmilar or greater than a stryking art? and if i start a strykign art after i train in bjj would the strenghning gaine in bjj classes help much?
 

the42cop

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I have done both extensively and in my personal opinion, grappling provides significantly more strength and conditioning than any striking art out there. While striking is a great workout, you are only fighting against the weight of your body and the impact of your striking against other objects. When grappling you are fighting against a physically resisting opponent for every second that you are rolling. Grappling is so difficult in fact that much of it consists of trying to find ways NOT to use strength. Any white belt can (and does) go into a sparring match at 110% strength to try to overcome the lack of technique. This lasts a few minutes before they are absolutely exhausted and unable to move. I'm convinced you can take an Olympic athlete in any "normal" sport and after 5 minutes of grappling they will throw up. I have never found a better workout!

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Tony Dismukes

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A few thoughts ...

  1. Actual free grappling/rolling (the kind you typically get a lot of in BJJ), is a more intense and well-rounded form of conditioning than you will get from most striking arts unless the striking class includes a lot of supplemental conditioning training.
  2. That said, the individual class and instructor makes a significant difference. If you are training boxing or Muay Thai in a class aimed at professional fighters, you will typically get a lot more conditioning than you would in a BJJ class aimed at casual hobbyists with a self-defense focus.
  3. Grappling and striking tend to work the body's energy systems in different ways. For this reason you can find a well-conditioned striker gassing out quickly in a BJJ class and then see a well-conditioned grappler sucking wind before the end of an intense Muay Thai class.
 

marques

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(...) Grappling is so difficult in fact that much of it consists of trying to find ways NOT to use strength. Any white belt can (and does) go into a sparring match at 110% strength to try to overcome the lack of technique. This lasts a few minutes before they are absolutely exhausted and unable to move. (...)
In striking arts beginners replace the 'strength' by speed (or power if they can). And I don't know about you reading but for me striking (training) consists in finding ways NOT to use much speed neither much energy. I think striking can be technically almost as complex as grappling.

PS: No idea about the BJJ conditioning...
 

Grange

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I often train multiple forms back to back to back starting with a striking martial art then moving onto modern arnis and then to grappling to end the night. This seems to work well for me. If we put grappling first I think I'd be really tired for the other two styles and training would be more difficult. Grappling provides me with much better workout than the striking art.
 

Brian R. VanCise

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It depends on the class and the instructor. Striking arts can offer excellent strength and cardio training and BJJ offers exactly the same.
 

msmitht

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In striking arts beginners replace the 'strength' by speed (or power if they can). And I don't know about you reading but for me striking (training) consists in finding ways NOT to use much speed neither much energy. I think striking can be technically almost as complex as grappling.

PS: No idea about the BJJ conditioning...
Nowhere near as complex.
 

Buka

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Would BJJ offer me an amount of physycal excercise and conditioning simmilar or greater than a stryking art? and if i start a strykign art after i train in bjj would the strenghning gaine in bjj classes help much?

Yes. And, probably.
 

marques

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Nowhere near as complex.
Because striking is BS in most of the places, while BJJ still hold high standards.

Even in competitive striking arts the champion may be the guy more athletic, young and/or more engaged with hard training, diets... Rather the most artist. And just to speak about the valuable competitions.

It could lead an interesting discussion. :)
 

Tony Dismukes

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I think striking can be technically almost as complex as grappling.

Nowhere near as complex.

Because striking is BS in most of the places, while BJJ still hold high standards.

Even in competitive striking arts the champion may be the guy more athletic, young and/or more engaged with hard training, diets... Rather the most artist. And just to speak about the valuable competitions.

It could lead an interesting discussion. :)

I don't know that I would describe striking as being as complex as grappling, exactly. I will say that it can be just as deep an area of study. I've had the good fortune to train and talk with some high-level strikers, including a 2x world champion pro boxer. Boxing may be built around only a handful of techniques, but the depth and subtlety in the art of a world class boxer can be just as great as that found in high-level grappling.
 

marques

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I don't know that I would describe striking as being as complex as grappling, exactly. I will say that it can be just as deep an area of study. I've had the good fortune to train and talk with some high-level strikers, including a 2x world champion pro boxer. Boxing may be built around only a handful of techniques, but the depth and subtlety in the art of a world class boxer can be just as great as that found in high-level grappling.
This is why compare striking and grappling is difficult. How to compare oranges and apples?

But you got the main point. We may not have the very complex and impressive spaghetti :) positions in striking, but the complexity is hidden in the subtelity you mention. The details are crucial (and quite imperceptible... and largely untrained, I have found).
 

drop bear

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Comment makes little sense. Bjj is much harder and more complex. If you don't know that then you haven't tried it.

How can somebody be basically unbeatable if the activity isn't complex. Someone stronger or fitter would have come along by now and toweled the guy up.
 

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