Everyone's buzzing about it. The brown belt absolute final. Short and sweet version: I agree with the referee. Here's why: When cameras are on and you are getting paid, you must entertain. Now that isn't to say the fight wasn't actually entertaining, it was very entertaining just not in the traditional sense. Anyone who knows me knows I'm a huge fan of TCGs(Trading Card Games), so I will use that that premise to explain what I mean. Watch two competitors with the same game is to BJJ what a mirror match is to any TCG.
You know exactly what your opponent will do, the winner will be the person who alters their gameplan just enough to give them an advantage. Such as, dragging the arm to arm bar or come to the top instead of dragging the leg and taking the 50/50 position as you would usually. Not only that, but the grip placement and angles you use will be vastly different. Watching a mirror match is interesting because it gives you a chance to study these intricate differences you wouldn't normally see, and that is what makes it entertaining. Don't believe me watch Keenan vs anyone else twice(the same match) then repeat that with Keenan vs Paulo you'll see what I mean.
Is this a problem for sport Jiu-Jitsu? Yes, but it's purely a reflection of the scoring system. The scoring of BJJ tournaments makes pulling guard more profitable. Let's say you pull guard and sweep me landing in full mount. You score 2 for the sweep and 4 for the mount. Conversely, if I take you down and land in Side Control on top I only get 2 points. How is that fair? We both advanced in position twice. You can say you never passed my guard. Well, truthfully, passing guard isn't really my responsibility, my job is simply to get to the next advantageous position. This is why if I'm in your guard and drop back to a heel hook and I come out on top when you scramble to defend I score 2 points.(Look up Leg Lock as a sweep)
How do we fix this? Pulling guard= -2 points meaning their sweep will put them back at 0. Thus, when they mount as in the previous example they are only up 4-0 instead of 6-0. It's really hard to score in a BJJ competition, especially at the high level doing it twice insanely difficult, doing it twice from a disadvantageous position damn near impossible.
Until next time folks
Years ago, maybe 2010 I don't actually remember, I posted a short post here called "Why." That post was about why I prefer to fight able-bodied opponents as opposed to fighting opponents with disabilities. To sum the post up, I do it to prove a point. In that post I mentioned that Physical Therapy(which will be referenced as PT for this post) sucks. This post will explain why. Let me preface by saying PT isn't bad and is in fact a necessary medical service as it's great for pre-surgery, post-surgery, and injury situations. That doesn't change the fact that PT is grossly misused. That's because PTs attempt to make your body work "normally"; what they should do is enhance the way your body already functions. Let's assume you're a cerebral palsy patient who has never walked on your own power and you use a wheelchair for mobility. Instead of putting you in a walker or on crutches and "going walking" around the room. They should p...
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