grappling useless in the real world?

Question

I watch a lot of MMA and was thinking of taking up grappling, but my friend said it is useless in the real world.
He said that as soon as I take a fight to the ground, a friend of the guy Im fighting will just stomp on my head. And going to the ground makes it harder to flee if you need to. Is this true?
What should I take then?

Answer 1

The guy who said some Muay Thai with a bit of grappling is probably most correct.
The ground is the last place you want to be in an uncontrolled enviornment, but you need to know what to do in case you do end up there.
Muay Thai will teach you push kicks that will keep your opponent from closing in enough to lock up, and if he gets passed leg distance, a good jab should keep him back. Next will be some good knees and/elbows. If he gets past that, then you need to know how to react in close quarters/on the ground.
There are some rules in MMA that are for protection, but also give grapplers an advantange when they are moving in. In the ring, in a controlled enviornment, grappling is definatly tough to beat, but in the real world, while you do need to know it, you want to keep it your last option.
I say learn something like Muay Thai, and supplement it with some grappling.

Answer 2

Grappling is not useless. In fact, just the reverse. Kicking a guy in the head is not very useful. (And I am a karate guy..haha...can you believe that?)

If a friend is out of control, do you kick him or try to get a hold of him?
How often do you see police punching and kicking a guy? How about security officers? A doctor dealing with a patient.. would he be allowed to punch or kick him if the patient was being violent?

But, that being said, in a real fight "for your life".... I would much rather end it quickly by breaking a guy's leg, hitting him properly in a key spot, etc. Besides, there is no room to "go to the ground" in your average dance bar (unless you are fighting over why the place is so darn empty..haha).

So, it is really a good idea to learn both. You will probably need both skill sets as some point or another.

(I grew up in Canada... there is ice everywhere and almost every month of the darn year - so you are every likely to end up on the ground, even if you are just walking..haha. But seriously, a fighter in an icy place like Canada must know ground work.)

Answer 3

You have to remember that most of the time, your average street fighter will simply charge at you, and then you can definetally use some grappling. As for the other guy's friends jumping in, yea it happens, and you have to make sure your friends are there also so that wont happen, or if your alone you really shouldnt be taking on more then one person if you dont feel comfortable with it. If the fight gets on the ground, and I would say from personal experience 60% of the fights do end up on the ground, you have a basic idea of what to do, and what to do if you ever get on your back and hes on top of you.

Besides, it cant hurt to learn it just for the hell of it. You will find that mixing up arts that you already know with grappling is very effecting. Suppose your a muay that artist, you can elbow with one arm and using the same arm in the same movement, take your opponent down with a head-and-arm or a shoulder throw.

Answer 4

Even if the fight is one on one, I always say stay on your feet if you can in a street fight. Mainly because the opponent could have a knife on him and grappling could easily lead to you getting cut. Not to mention the stuff that may already be lying on the ground. And yes your opponent could also have friends near bye. But that doesn't mean grappling is useless. It can still come in handy depending on the situation, so learn it anyway. It adds to your arsenal.

Answer 5

if you become a good grappler you will be able to end the fite for the 1st person in a matter of 2 or 3 moves andas for the other guy if you are fast enough you can use his momentum as he is coming at you to hit you to end his fight aalso grappling is not useless . there r no guns in japan not even the cops have them guess what they use to subdue the criminals they r after grappling so guess what it worlks

Answer 6

Your friend has a point, that could happen but in a one on one or if you have friends there that keep your opponents from jumping into it a person with solid grapping skills always has a big advantage. The bottom line is all the best fighters are well rounded in striking and grappling.

Answer 7

Rickson Gracie is a 7th Degree Black Belt Open Class Champion of the Gracie Family, whose technique is considered to be the finest expression of Gracie Jiu-Jitsu in the world. His innate talent and early mastery of the sport have resulted in an impeccable undefeated record in more than 400 fights, including Jiu-Jitsu tournaments, free-style wrestling, Sambo, open weight free-style competitions, and no holds barred challenge matches. So I'd have to say grappling is one of the best, if your trained well in it.

Answer 8

Grappling is the start of real street fight but if u get close enough start punching and kicking

Answer 9

The GRACIES have sure created a mistaken image of grappling.What makes people think you have to go to the ground to win.?One of the nastiest street fighters I have ever known was a 5th dan in judo and I never saw him go to the ground .Arm locks and bars and chokes work just as well standing and throwing someone violently to the pavement who doesn't know how to break fall can have devastating effect.He had good ground technique but he never had to use it

Answer 10

i think what your friend said makes sense

but grappling is god to know

maybe try a system that has both grappling and strikes best of both worlds :)

some suggestions are

hap ki do, kin bushi ryu, zen do kai, some japanese ju jutsu schools, "ninja" schools or just take up boxing and judo or something :)