The Kung Fu Solution for Beating a Jiu Jitsu Fighter
by Jane Hallander
Black Belt Magazine December 1996
Royce Gracie doesn’t wear a cape or have a red “S” on his chest. He can’t fly, bullets won’t bounce off him, and he never has, or ever will, leap over a tall building - especially in a single bound.
But after the talented Brazilian Jiu Jitsu fighter won titles at three of the first four Ultimate Fighting Championship events, you’d have thought Gracie was Superman, the way people were talking about him. Of course, these days, he’s simply a mild-mannered Jiu Jitsu instructor working at a great metropolitan martial arts school.
But, all analogies to Superman aside, Gracie’s tournament successes have forced martial artists from striking systems to take a serious look at their arts and address the distinct possibility that their styles may be lacking when it comes to fighting on the ground. Many instructors who never before saw a need to teach the topic are now imparting grappling techniques to their students so they will be better prepared if they are taken to the ground.
But just exactly how do you defend against a guy who latches on to you like a boa constrictor and tries to squeeze the life out of you while you lay in a tangled heap on the ground?
Kung Fu stylist Martin Ferreira believes he has the answer.
Ferreira, who wrestled in college, teaches Choy Li Fut Kung Fu and Yang Tai Chi Chuan at his White Dragon martial arts schools in Encinitas and El Cajon, California. Although Choy Li Fut is noted as a long-range fighting system, according to Ferreira, it actually contains many close-quarters techniques which would prove useful against grapplers. And Ferreira claims Tai Chi, while lauded for its health benefits, is an effective fighting art at close range and includes a number of joint locks and pressure-point strikes.
The Kung Fu strategy involves separating a grappling attack into three stages: as the opponent closes the fighting distance, as he is attempting a hold, and while fighting on the ground. “It is necessary to know how to defend against grapplers from the time they approach you to the time they have taken you down,” Ferreira asserts. “Our strategy is to make a grappler come to us. I try to keep my body as compact as possible, because a grappler needs something to work with. Jiu Jitsu stylists need you to extend your limbs to take you down. A true grappler comes up underneath your center of gravity, so when you extend your arms or legs, you are open to his attack.”
During the first stage of a grappler’s attack, as he approaches to attempt a front-leg takedown, Ferreira advises his Kung Fu students to hook their arms under one of the opponent’s arms and pull him forward. This tactic disrupts the grappler’s balance and allows the Kung Fu stylist to deliver a blow to the face. The Kung Fu fighter can follow up with an elbow strike that leads into an elbow and/or shoulder joint lock.
At the second stage, when a grappler is attempting to secure a choke or similar hold on his opponent, Ferreira claims a Choy Li Fut stylist should respond immediately with a fu jao (tiger claw) strike to the attacker’s groin. The Kung Fu stylist then uses both hands to remove the arm from around his neck, and rolls the grappler into an arm lock submission hold.
If the fight has been taken to the ground, Ferreira suggests attacking a pressure point on the grappler’s face, which pushes his head backward and loosens his grip. The Kung Fu fighter then uses one leg to hook the grappler’s neck and roll him into a position where a choke hold can be applied.
Ferreira stresses keeping your defense as compact as possible and recommends using short Kung Fu strikes that don’t require great strength or full joint extension to be effective.
When attempting to apply a hold, grapplers seek out straight legs or extended arms to attack. They watch for any extended body part that leaves an opponent vulnerable to joint locks or throws. Ferreira cautions his students not to duck their heads too low or lean forward too much, leaving their necks open to a choking technique. A skilled grappler will immediately pull an exposed head down and initiate a choke.
Cross-over footwork is another no-no, according to Ferreira. Any footwork or stance which causes you to cross one foot in front of the other should be discarded when fighting a grappler. A grappler will take advantage of such footwork by quickly diving forward and grabbing his adversary’s legs, taking him to the ground.
Ferreira also advises caution when attempting a jab punch, which extends your arm and is a choice target for a grappler. It is safer, he says, to force the grappler to come to you.
The same advice applies to kicks - an extended leg is a dangerous maneuver against a Jiu Jitsu stylist or other grappler. If he manages to grab and hook your leg, you are going to the ground.
“If a Jit Jitsu practitioner was coming after me, I’d keep my body in a tight package, with the elbows in close to the torso and the arms slightly bent - similar to a boxer’s stance,” Ferreira says, “I’d use a Tai Chi stance that gives me the option of using either leg. My knees would be slightly bent and my hips centered under my shoulders, keeping me in a balanced, stable position.”
If a grappler opts for a front-leg takedown, he will rush underneath your defenses and grab the leg, causing you to fall on your back. Ferreira says you can prevent such an attack by maintaining a slightly bent front leg. It’s safer to keep both of your feet on the ground against a grappler. If you lift your leg for a kick or a knee strike, you reduce your stability, making it easy for a grappler to take you down.
“As long as your front leg is bent and has some weight on it, a grappler cannot take you down, because he can’t extend your leg,” Ferreira relates. “If he tries, you can deliver an elbow to the back of his head or to his face.”
Or you could use one of several Choy Li Fut tsop chui fist techniques on the grappler’s face. These strikes are formed by bending the fingers only to the second joint, rather than clenching the entire hand into a typical fist. The thumb is also folded at the second joint and tucked slightly under the hand. You strike with the extended second joints, rather than the top knuckles, as you would with a normal fist.
Included in the tsop chui arsenal is the ping chui, or “arrow fist” strike, which can be delivered face-up across the bridge of the opponent’s nose. Yum tsop is a corkscrew-type strike in which the Choy Li Fut stylist can dig his knuckles into the side of the grappler’s nose. Both of these techniques cause the opponent to momentarily lose his vision and twist his head sideways, which sets him up for a choke hold.
Ferreira also doesn’t rule out palm strikes to the side of the grappler’s head and/or neck, tiger-claw techniques to the face, groin claws, elbow smashes, throat grabs, or the use of eye gouges. At close range, short, choppy blows are your best bet. Included in this group is Tai Chi’s “high pat on horse” strike to the bone directly behind the ear - a teachnique that can knock the opponent unconscious without utilizing a great amount of power. Close-range strikes to vital areas weaken a grappler’s position and reduce his overall strength and power, thus preventing him from achieving an effective hold.
If the Kung Fu stylist decides to take the initiative and move in to apply his own strike or choking technique, it is best if he maintains a low stance, with his back rounded forward and his weight sunk down into his legs. The lower your center of gravity, the less chance you will be lifted off the ground and thrown by your opponent.
“If you are defending against a grappler and you strike him, you must immediately move away, since most grapplers and Jiu Jitsu stylists can withstand your initial strike then move in toward you,” Ferreira warns. Don’t underestimate their ability to take a blow. Since they are rapidly closing the distance to you, they are neutralizing your blow. Unless you deliver a strike straight to the face, a grappler will receive less than the blow’s full power as he moves toward you.”
Ferreira’s Choy Li Fut and Tai Chi counter-grappling tactics may be the best solution yet for defeating a Jiu Jitsu stylist the caliber of a Royce Gracie. Ferreira’s strategies are the Kryptonite that can bring down any grappling superhero, whether he has a red “S” on his chest or not.
Tags: Jiu Jitsu, jujitsu, martial arts training in san diego
September 24th, 2009 at 10:06 am
Great article! This really illustrates how well rounded the systems studied at White Dragon Martials are.
November 26th, 2009 at 9:39 am
Kung Fu beating Jiu-Jitsu??
March 17th, 2010 at 1:50 pm
Neat little website here- I had been just browsing Google when I came across it.. i didn’t really imagine there could be a website about Encinitas such as this. See ya around!
July 8th, 2010 at 5:43 pm
One of the techniques he talks about is called a shoot defense, which is basically a part of grappling. The point of the article is that you need a realistic grappling defense and some fundamental understanding of clinch and ground game or you will be chewed up.