It is widely acknowledged that Brazilain Jiu Jitsu is one of the more effective martial arts out there. However, like every martial art – it should also be added that BJJ is not perfect. Nothing in life is, and the same can be said for BJJ. Whilst BJJ is great for self defense, it isn’t everything. With this said, it’s fair to say that BJJ does have some limitations.
Table of Contents
Lack of striking
Whilst a lack of striking may be beneficial in avoiding concussions and is less hard on the body during sparring – learning striking is important for self defense. For instance, whilst a skilled BJJ practitioner may win most street fights, it doesn’t hurt to learn striking to make your game more rounded. One example of this could be cross-training with boxing or Muay Thai. These are fantastic striking arts and will compliment your grappling game. As said, these aren’t essential, but it definitely tightens up your weaknesses.
Another benefit of learning striking is the diverse cardio it offers. In short, BJJ and grappling cardio is unique. When training boxing, you will use different muscles and movements compared to BJJ. This means you may tire quicker as a new boxer compared to rolling as a seasoned BJJ player. This is because your body is still learning the efficient movements of boxing, whilst you will have naturally developed efficient BJJ moves due to experience.
With this said, you may have impeccable grappling cardio on the ground. However, if you haven’t trained striking then you may be shocked at how bad your striking cardio is compared to BJJ cardio. Because of this, we recommend learning striking. Even if you only learn the basics, it’s better than nothing and should cover some of the holes in your MMA and self defense game.
Poor stand up grappling
Compared to an untrained person, the stand up in BJJ is good. After a few months of training you may know how to execute a basic single leg or Judo trip. Whilst your technique may be sloppy, it is better than having zero knowledge in the field. However, after years of training BJJ, your stand up grappling should be significantly better due to the hours of drilling and sparring takedowns.
Having said this, the level of stand up grappling in BJJ is still poor compared to martial arts which specialize in stand up grappling. These include Judo, Sambo and Wrestling. Generally speaking, BJJ will get you competent in these practices but it may be too broad. However, if you train these grappling arts under a specialist – you will pick up the finer intricacies which make things easier.
An analogy of this could be learning an armbar from a blue belt or a black belt. Undoubtedly the blue belt would be able to teach a fairly solid armbar. At the same time, the armbar taught by the black belt will be significantly more detailed. In BJJ, it’s these details that can really improve your game. The same can be said for takedowns. Whilst you will improve over time in stand up, it would help massively to also train the likes of Judo and Wrestling on the side.
Once again, the cardio is different here. As said in the striking section, striking cardio differs to BJJ cardio. Whilst Judo and Wrestling are closer to BJJ due to grappling, the cardio is still very different. This is due to the foot movement which is required with takedowns. In short, it’s good to train takedowns for the cardio improvements as much as anything. Like striking, adding proper takedowns to your guard will also give your BJJ game more options and take it to a higher level. And let’s face it, nobody wants to get to black belt without having a couple of good takedowns in their locker.
Competition strategy can lead to lack of progress
In BJJ, a commonly heard phrase is that competition will improve your game. This is generally true as it highlights your strengths and weaknesses in an intense environment. In short, with adrenaline involved and higher stakes than training in the gym, it will force you to truly look at your BJJ.
However, there are some negatives if you try and game the competition point scoring system. For example, competing can often involve stalling for points or even stalling and winning on advantages. This was seen when the 50/50 guard became popular and old school practitioners were critical of what it bought to BJJ.
As BJJ has roots in fighting and aggression, this position was slow and didn’t look like a martial art. However, it isn’t just 50/50, sometimes you will see people hold a position until the last seconds of a match and then try to sweep to get a sneaky victory.
There isn’t anything wrong with this per se, as it is merely tactical and a win is a win. However, it can encourage bad habits such as stalling and focusing too much on the points system. This can be problematic as it can lead to slower BJJ which means you may not learn as much during training. For example, if you’re happy to sit on bottom mount and defend chokes for 5 minutes, then you may not get submitted. However, it isn’t really a win due to the bad nature of the position.
Because of this, the point system in sports Jiu Jitsu can sometimes produce bad behavior. Whilst this isn’t the fault of competition, it’s more the fault of those who interpret the rules. Overall though, it is only themselves who suffer from these antics as their BJJ doesn’t progress as much as it could with more efficient training.
Strength and weight
BJJ can be great against bigger, stronger opponents. As seen with Lachlan Giles’s 2019 Absolute ADCC run – he beat significantly bigger opponents and did incredibly well. However, at the same time there is a limit where size can be too much.
An example of this could be Gabi Garcia who regularly dominates women’s competitions. Often she may face women at 65KG whilst she stands at over 100KG. There is obviously a big size difference here which plays into her advantage. Whilst it’s unfair to criticize her and she is still very good, it proves that BJJ isn’t magic and has its limitations.
In the gym, you may be able to beat bigger, less skilled training partners. However, at some point, the strength gap may become too much. Whilst BJJ is better at beating stronger opponents than other martial arts – it’s not invincible either. Because of this, you need to be realistic with your training. As well, if you were to include striking then strength and weight would benefit the bigger practitioner even more so due to naturally being on top more. With this said, BJJ is effective against bigger people but it isn’t perfect.
Summary
Overall BJJ is effective against a variety of different opponents and can be considered a well rounded martial art. At the same time, it isn’t perfect and can struggle in areas such as takedowns and when striking is involved. Because of this, we recommend some cross training if only to learn the basics. However, if you are happy to be a BJJ purist then that is fine too. In conclusion, BJJ is a great martial art to learn – but like the other martial arts, it isn’t bulletproof against everything.
