Good points on the jab being used to control distance and set up other stuff, not to actually hurt the guy.
Too bad he had to through in all the old arguments about fighting a grappler that have been knocked down time and time again...
Soft surfaces favour the guy on the bottom. Generally this means the weaker grappler.
Soft surfaces are for your protection if you get thrown, a throw is a grappling technique.
Eyes, throat, etc are targets that are most often useable in close, on the ground or possibly even in a clinch. Ranges that involve grappling, and yes, grapplers are capable of hitting too. And if someone is in control of you on the ground they are the ones in a position to be able too hit, not you.
It all comes down to this strange seperation that striking only guys have come up with, that seperates grappling from striking. They are not seperate. Is someone takeing you down, planting there knee in your belly and raining down punches grappling or striking?
Seperated/Footwork
Clinch
Ground
Three ranges, three types of movement. In all of them you can punch or use grappling techniques to change the position or look for submission. Grappling is just an expansion of footwork. It is about controlling position and angles. Putting yourself in a better position to do your stuff then the other guy. No grappling means putting sever restrictions on positional play, remove the restrictions and someone with better positional work will likely win.
Think of it this way.
Teach a group of people to box. But don't let them move. They just have to stand in one spot and box. Teach another group to box, but spend a good deal of time teaching footwork. Teach them to enter, hit, get out. Teach them to set up angles and stay off angle from the other guy.
Now put them in the ring. The guys that spent all there time punching without moving are going to likely have better hands, but they will get picked apart.
Same thing happens when you don't teach people to fight and position themselves in a clinch or on the ground.
