You do realize law enforcement train pressure points, right? The Gracies are overrated anyway. The early UFC fights were handpicked bums who had no grappling experience or were on the other side of the bracket against the tougher competition (Shamrock). Not a single member of the Gracie family including the Machados is anything in MMA competition now. Division 1 wrestlers are better grapplers.
When I argue/debate I always try to back my claims with evidence. Now, I know you have a very high opinion of yourself as you have stated before but in this discussion you have not provided one iota of credible evidence. Pay attention, as I will show you how it's done.
When have you ever seen a police officer control a violent prep using "pressure points"? Have you ever subdue a violent offender using "pressure points"? I served off and on for years as an Uke for a police officer teaching fellow officers how to subdue preps during a violent situation. Never has there ever been any instruction or use on "pressure points". What is your experience and involvement regarding police self-defense training?
"The Gracie's are overrated?" In what way? The fact is that nobody is going to be even remotely successful without knowledge of Gracie Jiu-Jitsu or it's various hybrids but all with the same roots.
What was your personal experience regarding the first UFC tournament and how do you know how the opponents were picked and their level of expertise? Back in 1991 one morning, I walked into the original Gracie Academy on Carson St. in Torrance and saw Rorion watching videos of Vale Tudo fights and taking notes. I asked him what he was doing. He said that he wanted to take what we were doing now, offering $10,000 to anybody -- ANYBODY -- that wanted to come in to the academy and fight a Gracie. If they lost they go home hopefully learning something. If they win they get 10 grand. Pretty win-win if you have no ego. Rorion told me he wanted to start a new sport where various martial artist actually fight with minimal rules to detemine what is the best fighitng style. No hand pick nothing. Just show up and show what you got. We got challenges constantly and the Gracies never lost.
If it was up to Rorion to "hand pick" Royce's opponents then he would not have had Shamrock enter the competition. Shamrock was a real athlete and a real figher and quite familiar with the ground game. All the other traditional martial arts (TMA) ignored ground fighting so Rorion knew that no matter who it was they would lose once on the ground, and none of the striking arts had a clue how to defend against take downs. Shamrock was different and add to that a far superior athlete when compared to Royce. Still, Gracie Jiu-Jitsu was just that effective and unstoppable at that particular time.
I was there when the UFC was first being created, I was at the first UFC, I was pretty familiar with how opponents were chosen and know that Rorion didn't have a say or get to pick and choose Royce's opponents. It was no secret that Rorion started the UFC to promote Gracie Jiu-Jitsu and there was no way he would intentionally risk having the weak, scrawny, poorly conditioned Royce, and the least skilled of all the Gracies, go against someone like Shamrock. How about you? What was your involvement with the original UFC that makes you so confident to make the claims that you do?
You are quite right that there are no Gracies (the Machados never competed in MMA) though competing in MMA that have distinguish themselves. What's your point? This in no way diminished the effectiveness and necessity of Gracie Jiu-Jitsu. The Gracies no longer have a monopoly on the art and the Gracies, as athletes, are not particularly gifted or talented. Now that the pool of competition has increased exponentially more and more gifted and talented athletes have tossed their hat into the ring and the Gracie family has faded as dominate force.
D1 wrestlers are not better grapplers than top level BJJ competitors from a martial art perspective. A top level BJJ competitor against a D1 (which by definition is an elite athlete) will, with all else being equal, beat a D1 wrestler every time. This should come as no surprise if you are educated in the two disciplines. There are no submissions in competitive wrestling. Wrestling is more about control than submission. A BJJ competitor can be controlled all day without breaking a sweat and do it forever. A wrestler isn't going to last long being choked or arm barred. Techniques that are completely foreign to a wrestler. I know because even as a one year blue belt I could easily tap a wrestler. They would always take me down but it didn't matter. There is not much else they could do after that. And wrestlers love to turn on their knees which is the worse thing you could do with a BJJ fighter. All my wins, and they were all wins, easy wins, were by chokes when they would turn to their knees and I would hop on the their back and apply a RNC.
Wrestlers now dominate MMA for one very important reason. They are inherently better athletes and their fighting style is more conducive to MMA. Tournament Jiu-Jitsu can be very passive and the vast majority prefer to fight from the guard, to fight while being on their back. There is a lot of down time during a match if you want and far more passive as the BJJ players, which is a better description than fighters, try to pass the guard or the guard player trying for various sweeps and submissions.
A wrestler is far more aggressive and consequently in far better physical condition because of this style. They always strive for the top position and use their body weight and position to control their opponent rather than the gi used in BJJ. There is no need to pass the guard in a fight and many are quite content to sit there dropping bombs on their helpless BJJ black belt.
Also, and this is important and a point I've made before. A D1 wrestling organization is run as meritocracy where an athlete has to earn their spot and in the D1 division most, though talented, motivated, and discipline athletes don't make it. Jiu-Jitsu is run as a business and the only way you can get "cut from the team" is if you don't pay your monthly dues. Therefore a D1 wrestler, or any class of competitive wrestler for that matter, is on a whole different athletic level than BJJ competitors. All else being equal, if you teach a wrestler Jiu-Jitus and a BJJ black belt wrestling, the odds vastly favor the wrestler.
My claims and opinions backed by evidence.
