Martial Arts Grappling

Some assume anyone can grapple; but there's more to grappling than first meets the eye. After all you're just grabbing on to an opponent and forcing them to do what you want with brute force, no? Wrong, while that might be what an unskilled fighter would do, but a skilled martial artist or street fighter will be able to turn the situation to their advantage and make their opponent submit, or even kill them. Because people don't understand grappling, they're more likely to make mistakes in a street fight that could close them their life. Combat sports are not real combat so grappling techniques need to be modified so they can be effective in real world situations.

Grappling isn't a form of martial arts by itself, but rather it is a set of techniques that can be found in several martial arts including Aikido, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, and Hapkido and many other martial arts from around the world. Grappling can be divided into three different areas. There are throwing techniques like in Judo where you get your opponent off balance and then throwing them to the ground. Joint locks where joints are painfully manipulated to make an opponent to submit are popular in Hapkido. Pinning techniques are where an opponent's shoulders are held to the ground to achieve victory are familiar to anyone who as seen Greco-Roman wrestling. Once you successfully grapple with an opponent you're on the path to victory.

While grappling can be as brutal as striking it isn't an effective form of self defense. Now many law enforcement agencies teach grappling, but keep in mind officers are restricted when it comes to the level of force, they're allowed to use in a given situation. Taking a suspect to the ground is good if you're going to cuff them, and you have help, but you don't want to roll around with them on the ground. In a street fight strike hard and strike first, and if you go to the ground don't stay there long. In competitions matches you can take your time and grapple, because you know your competitor isn't going to pull out a knife or get help from a partner. Grappling is fantastic for taking control of an opponent, but you can't solely rely on it for self defense. If you do grapple in a real fight keep striking with every part of your body and don't stop fighting until they go down hard.

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