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>Why did it take until the late 20th century for Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu to develop and the Gracie family crush almost all other unarmed martial arts at the start o
by alasdair_ 8y ago
>Why did it take until the late 20th century for Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu to develop and the Gracie family crush almost all other unarmed martial arts at the start of MMA, when humans have engaged in unarmed combat for millions of years and every major country has long lineages of specialized competitive martial arts and tremendous incentive to find martial arts which worked and quick feedback loops?
I suspect the most obvious answer is the same as the issue with other forms of grappling and wrestling - they are very good in structured 1v1 combat where there is a guarantee that a friend of your foe won't come along while you are both on the ground and bash you over the head with a large rock.
- cetico 8y agoMMA is new, historically speaking. BJJ is the best fighting style that fits the rules of MMA. Change the rules a bit and a different style will work better.
- nafey 8y agoWhats the minimal change in the rules that will bring a striking based martial art to the top?
- lostdog 8y agoAllow kicking or kneeing someone in the face when they're down?
- abdullahkhalids 8y agoI am not sure if such is allowed in another martial arts league. But from my experience in fighting, kicking someone anywhere on the body while they are on the ground will quickly and inevitably result in serious injuries. Standing up, you can "elastically catch" the kick and reduce the damage it does. On the floor, you will absorb the full force.
- garmaine 8y agoWhich is why the rules exist, and why MMA is wrestling/boxing, not a martial art. Either you are training to score points within a rule system, or you are training to kill/maim/incapacitate. Don’t confuse the two.
- abdullahkhalids 8y agoI would guess, the following rule changes will help a lot. * Increase the minimum size of the wrist padding and gloves. Which makes it much safer to throw punches. Additionally, the design of the gloves can be regulated so grabbing someone is harder than it is now. * Perhaps, add rules about how long you can stay on top of someone on the ground without doing significant damage. A lot of matches end up with a takedown at the start of a round followed by 3 minutes of light pounding and no serious attempt/success at a submission hold. A 20-30 second limit on no serious on the ground action will go a long way. * Finally, we can directly change the judging criteria to make it easier to win rounds via striking dominance instead of grappling.
- aidenn0 8y agoOne of the more famous Royce Gracie wins was against a western wrestler (Severn) who maintained control on top for almost all of the 15 minute match before being caught in a triangle choke.
- jugglebird 8y agoAllow for more than one attacker.
- zerogvt 8y agoMillions of years? That's an exaggeration. We've been around for much less: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_human_evolution https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_human_evolution