The internet was recently abuzz, everyone openly criticizing one of the Miyao Brothers for his performance in a match against Samir Chantre. If you haven’t seen the video, basically Miyao is scooting around on the ground while Samir wanders around awkwardly not really interested in engaging on Miyao’s terms. There has been a lot of talk about the “pussification” of jiu jitsu, specifically in regards to butt scooting and guard pulling…
I have two very distinct thoughts on guard pulling/butt scooting:
- I am a guard pulling butt scooter. I do it because the two points/whatever positional advantage working for the takedown will grant me are not worth the effort and because my guard is an unusually dangerous one. I am not ashamed of this, but I have been openly criticized for saying this in my articles, and that’s fine. My butt scooting/guard pulling ways have won me many tournaments; including ones where I entered the purple belt/advanced no gi brackets. Butt scooting and guard pulling work very nicely in the confines of most competition rule sets in jiu jitsu.
- Working for the takedown is GOOD JIU JITSU. Guard pulling/butt scooting is NOT. I say this to address a grander scale: jiu jitsu that is applicable both in competition and in a street altercation. Your goal should be to be able to dictate where the other person is. If you pull guard in a street fight you’ll probably get stomped on. If you hit a hard double leg takedown, you are in a much better position. This is not an arguable fact, and yet there are fairly high level jiu jitsu guys have never taken anyone down in competition. Don’t believe me? Find even ONE video of one of the Miyao brothers taking anyone down.
Most competition rule sets in place today neglect the takedown. They just do. If the guard pull were penalized, or takedowns were made more valuable, we’d see more takedowns in competition. This is the “pussification” of jiu jitsu that we keep hearing about. Competition jiu jitsu has evolved into a bizarre game of twister, much like competition Taekwondo is basically tag with feet.
My coach, Pablo Castro, constantly talks about the “game” of competition. When you compete, you’re essentially playing a game that has specified rules. The rules of the game that is most popular today functionally make the takedown far less appealing. Takedowns require us to do certain things with our bodies that may be uncomfortable for some. I’ve had many matches against decent wrestlers in which I simply sat down at the first legal moment, and waited for them to get frustrated enough to engage me. Oh and then I submitted them. All of that time spent learning to take me down and I negate that by putting myself on the ground and fairly quickly dispatching the opponent.
The pussification of jiu jitsu is not being caused by crappy jiujiteiros; it’s being caused by crappy rule sets. I promise that as soon as the standard rules of competition make pulling guard a major disadvantage or handsomely reward takedowns, I will reevaluate my game. I may still pull guard, or you may see me start going for takedowns. I do know how to do them, but I choose not to because the rules don’t make the effort worth my while.
So don’t be mad at the Miyao Bros for sitting down at the beginning of every match and scooting around on the mat. Don’t criticize the player; criticize the game, or rather the specific rules that are chosen for the game.
For all of you guard pulling readers: would you change your game if it meant a much higher chance of losing? For all of the takedown artists, do you really blame us for doing what we do in the confines of the existing rule sets?
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