Personally, I don't train in BJJ with a gi since both in a street fight and in a MMA fight you don't have a gi (unles you are Royce or Yoshida). That is why I study submission grappling without a gi.
I agree that BJJ will always have a place in fighting no matter how far we advance in MMA. It is a great art for submissions, sub defense and for teaching disipline. As far as a grappling base, I would say that wrestling is better for that IMO but you definitely need submission training in MMA.
The one thing I have noticed happening is that there are too many black belt factories popping up as the sport of MMA gets more and more popular. For example I have a friend that got his brown belt (one belt away from back belt) in less than a year. That is laughable since in any real Brazilian Jiu Jitsu school you could take many years to achieve such a rank.
Also, it is a JJ school he got his brown belt in, which too many people confuse for BJJ. I have never trained in any formal school and yet I find myself teaching him stuff all the time. It is quite funny.
In other words, beware of the black belt factory.
|