BJJ knife defense

[Makalakumu]

In another thread, Arnisador brought up a point that I wanted to discuss. He stated...

The BJJ knife defenses I've seen haven't impressed me. But, they seem to take the view that against armed or multiple assailiants you're likely out of luck no matter how well trained you are--which isn't a bad guess, but I still would like to have a plan!

I thought that was provocative. Does anyone else feel this way? Could someone provide a different view? I haven't trained in BJJ so I would like to get some more info from those who have.

 

[Andrew Green]

My understanding is they are just straight Judo borrowed techniques...

 

[Makalakumu]

My understanding is they are just straight Judo borrowed techniques...

If that is the case, then I could comment on their techniques. I would like to know if there are any differences though. What is their set up like? What attacks do they train? Is anything different?

 

[arnisador]

You can see some at any bookstore--they have a dozen books on BJJ at every Barnes and Noble, it seems! One is BJJ for Self-Defense which has some of these knife techniques, and the description of them as Judo-like isn't far off. They basically assume you can grab the knife arm and then get into a standard armlock. (I'm simplifying and generalizing, of course.) They are willing to throw some strikes but mostly as a set-up.

As I understand their argument, they agree that BJJ isn't so good against the knife (or multiple attackers), but argue that nothing works very well in such a case, so the argument that their art lacks such defenses can be dismissed. I don't agree, but I think it's worth considering the point that, indeed, it's hard to survive against multiple opponents in the street.

But I've done it...

 

[ajs1976]

You can see some at any bookstore--they have a dozen books on BJJ at every Barnes and Noble, it seems! One is BJJ for Self-Defense which has some of these knife techniques, and the description of them as Judo-like isn't far off. They basically assume you can grab the knife arm and then get into a standard armlock. (I'm simplifying and generalizing, of course.) They are willing to throw some strikes but mostly as a set-up.

Head over to amazon and read the reviews of the BJJ self-defense book. They either say it is the best SD book ever or using the techniques will get you killed.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/customer-reviews/1931229279/ref=cm_rev_prev/103-0074268-0712623?%5Fencoding=UTF8&customer-reviews.sort%5Fby=-SubmissionDate&n=283155&s=books&customer-reviews.start=1

 

[arnisador]

They either say it is the best SD book ever or using the techniques will get you killed.

Yup. My feeling is that BJJ is an excellent component of self-defense, but I wouldn't want it to be all I had. Many of the techniques in the book seem like a stretch to me. Try using a stand-up art until you need the BJJ, I say.