I forgot that I was the one who initially posted this topic over a year ago. I began training in BJJ shortly after posting the question. Because of the recent responses to my initial question, I would like to post some of my observations after a year of training in BJJ. These are, respectfully, my own observations based on my experience so they do not reflect the experiences at all BJJ schools. I have posted some of these before on other thread replies, so I apologize if some of this is repetitive. I'll bullet point my observations to keep my thoughts straight:
- Some background of the dojo where I train: The BJJ dojo is a respected BJJ school that teaches through the filter of tournament success. It is a Gracie/Machado-style focused school and the instructor is a respected BJJ tournament judge and heavy in the tournament scene. The instructor talks about using BJJ in self defense, but the techniques are primarily designed for tournament submission. I would rather train with instructors who are primarily focused on self defense, but the people at the dojo are really good people, and sometimes it's difficult to find people that you feel comfortable training with.
- Most of the BJJ training begins while sitting down. The act of "going through the entire self defense scenario" isn't taught at all. Meaning, defenses against punches are rarely taught...if at all. When it is taught, it's isn't taught enough to make students feel aware of what to do if a person is coming at with a desire to attack. My own thoughts is that most of the students are not trained to be prepared to deal with the entirety of a self-defense situation from beginning to end
- I think that the higher ranks in BJJ, just like most martial arts, would feel more comfortable dealing with "dirty tactics" because of the years of training and bumps and bruises. The higher-ranks, I'm sure, would react by responding with what they are taught in training. In BJJ that would probably include getting tighter and going for a quick submission. For other arts that may include striking, pushing, biting back, eye gouse, running, etc. I say that because I don't think that there is one specific way that all grapplers would deal with dirty tactics, especially if those defenses aren't regularly trained.
- I have found that the element of surprise can be a huge advantage over an opponent, no matter the martial art. I've told this story before, but I was training with a BJJ Back Belt from standing position. He went to take me down and I accidentally jabbed him in the face (my instant reaction). He buckled to his knees and I apologized profusely. He was expecting me to sprawl, because that was the filter in which he was trained. The surprise of my jab would have given me time to run away.
- My accidental attempts at "dirty tactics" while grappling: I think a lot of how a grappler will deal with dirty tactics can be based on his or her individual personality. I was rolling with a Blue Belt and I accidentally elbowed his groin while I was in his guard. He released me and curled up. I was rolling with a Brown Belt and he immediately got me in a triangle choke...I could not have tried to bite him if I had even thought about it. He was too fast. I was rolling with another Blue belt and my accidental headbutt to his jaw caused him to release. There are fellow BJJ students that I know that I could rip at their ears and they would let go out of sheer surprise at what I've done, and there would be BJJ students who would get very angry and break my arm in an armbar. I guess my point is, I have found that there isn't one universal answer as to how grapplers will deal with dirty tactics, but that it is based more on the individual make-up of a person. A lot of it is theoretical until it happens to that individual student.
- Ultimately, in my "a little over" one year, I have observed that there is a strong correlation with the amount of experience a BJJ student has and how they deal with dirty tactics. The higher ranks deal with them better than students year 1-3. I guess it would be like that in any art. A lot of it has to do with the personality make-up of the student, but I would imagine that the same could be said for the aggressiveness as to which the dirty tactic is applied.
Again, this is just from my own perspective.
