Does jiu jitsu teach less takedowns than other martial arts? If so, why is that? The amazing thing about BJJ is how open it is to – err – “stealing” techniques from wrestling, judo, sambo, etc… (?), whatever it takes to get a point or take the action to the ground. Many academies even institute fully certified judo programs, and compete in judo tournaments.
In the end it’s a matter of time and focus. For student doing jiu jitsu 20-30 hours a week, 5-8 extra hours on judo or wrestling might not seem like a big deal (although the real enthusiasts like that would really spend the “extra” 5-8 hours on more jiu jitsu, lol), BUT if you only go 3x a week for 1.5 hours for class in between job and family, it’s a lot tougher to add more hours for more take-down training.
Also a lot of students find jiu jitsu a little slower paced and intrinsically more fun (more “technical”) than judo and wrestling, so the focus tends to be on jiu jitsu.
So – jiu jitsu is one of the few martial arts that encourages extracurricular training – wrestling, judo – and doesn’t roll it’s eyes at it. That’s the main thing to take away. But at the same time it isn’t required.
The other thing, that hasn’t been questioned, is how helpful judo and wrestling are. In a nutshell, if you are headed towards MMA, wrestling at NCAA levels is indispensable, or mostly so. For gym jiu jitsu, neither judo nor wrestling are required to be effective, and they aren’t even required for competition. I’ve personally seen blue belts neutralize the throwing game of judo black belts just with guard pull techniques. Plus, everything that can stymy a throw in sport judo is banned in judo competitions, but isn’t banned in jiu jitsu competitions, so judo loses some of its apparent decisiveness on the jiu jitsu mats.
Finally, you’d think it is easy to stop a training partner from pulling guard. Maybe you can’t throw them, but surely you can stop them from something as simple stupid as a jump to guard or guard pull? Nope, many have gone there, many have failed. The life of a jiu jitsu player is getting out of someone’s damn guard.
