I know a lot of the students only use this for sport and competitive reasons, in fact, most of them do not even attend the MMA class that is offered at my gym, they only come in for the BJJ.
So let us put aside the competition and sport part of BJJ for a second, shall we?
There certainly is striking and SD aspects to BJJ, as seen when Royce Gracie threw strikes while standing and on the ground in the early UFC's. Nowadays, there's no training of strikes in BJJ class is due to there being a separate class for striking in MT/Boxing and MMA which combines both.
But the truth is, many people who do BJJ only, are just afraid to get hit in the face. And many who do MT only while never BJJ nor MMA is because they're afraid to get taken down and submitted. The MMA class is the most feared by many in an MMA gym as it's a very bad feeling to get taken down and pummeled on. Even after competing in BJJ and MT for many years, the first time I put them both together in MMA hard sparring, it was a very scary & different feeling to getting GNP'ed.
Also, many who are higher rank in BJJ, don't like become that complete noob again by starting out in MT, after being in the same dojo for many years. Worse is getting beat by beginner MT's. Same thing for advance MT fighters venturing onto the BJJ mat. Lots of pride involved.
As stated, I am horrible when rolling with the higher ranking students, but what would be the reprecussions of someone rushing and tackling me to the ground in a real life situation? If I do not bump my head, of course, my first move is going to be to put him in my guard. Then, probably something like a triangle (because I do not know many other moves right now).
With about 11 classes, you should be able to defend a takedown vs. some untrained slob on the street your size or a little bigger.
If you're taken down and must pull guard....and get that triangle.... you should squeeze that triangle hard and try to feel when he's out. Although you don't want to cause brain damage or worse, death....and having to deal with the Law and/or civil litigation later.
You can ease up on the choke and give him a chance to give up. But this is iffy, because once let go, he could resume fighting again. Or if his face is exposed, start punching it to teach him a lesson and cause fear.
If you're about to let him go, do it slowly while positioning yourself to do a scissor sweep on him immediately. This way, once he's out of the choke, he's not in your guard to GnP you.....as you swept him and now have the full mount...where you can talk more sense into him or punch him some more....and can standup and leave.
Another thing to be careful is to not fall for the "TAP". In the street, they may tap as a trick for you to let go and then commence fighting you again.
