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•How To
•Martial Arts on The Street
•Style vs. Style
Today most people associate Brazilian jiu-jitsu with a sporting context, such as grappling tournaments or mixed martial art events, However, it is first and foremost a self-defense system that has always prided itself on being able to defeat the largest and most aggressive of adversaries with correct technique and leverage.
If you practice jiu-jitsu already, this is nothing new. But if you practice another martial art, or simply want to know how to defend yourself, how do you figure out which moves to borrow from Brazilian jiu-jitsu game and add to your self-defense arsenal?
Stephan Kestingis a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt and has been doing martial arts for over 35 years. He is also a certified instructor in Erik Paulson’s Combat Submission Wrestling, a black belt in Kajukenbo Karate, an instructor in Dan Inosanto’s Jun Fan JKD, Maphalindo Silat, and Filipino Martial Arts program. He has also studied Japanese Judo, Russian Sambo, various Chinese Kung Fu systems, Capoeira, Muay Thai, and many other martial arts systems. He’s the owner and operator of Grapplearts.com and Beginning BJJ.com; you can follow his YouTube channel for regular updates.
In the following tutorial video, Kesting goes through what he feels are the three most important submission techniques for self-defense.
The first choke Stephan goes through is the standing guillotine choke, which is perfectly suited to responding to a tackle attempt, which is commonly employed in street fights. Given that these “takedowns” are employed by untrained people, their necks are completely exposed resulting in a high success rate for the standing guillotine. Kesting also breaks down another choke as well as a joint lock to defend yourself with.
Author: Nic is a designer and illustrator alongside being a martial arts enthusiast. You can find some of his illustrative work for purchase here.
