Grappling is a non-striking hybrid style formed of wrestling, jiu jitsu, judo, sambo and many other submission fighting styles which consists in applying submission holds and choking techniques in order to make the opponent abandon the fight. Grappling plays an important role in the practice of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) and is considered an effective form of self-defense.
The art of grappling has a recorded history of over 4,000 years. It was a popular form of martial art in ancient China, India, Greece and Rome. Egyptian paintings and sculptures show that wrestling was popular during the period of New Kingdom (2000 to 1085 BC).
There were around 406 wrestling pairs found in the tombs of the Middle Kingdom and at Beni Hasan in the Nile Valley. Depictions of Egyption grappling indicate that joint locks and chokeholds were employed. The ancient Greek rules of winning by submission or pin (Katazletikè) are the same as those of Catch Wrestling, which is another style of submission wrestling, originated from the Lancashire style during the late 18th.
In Brazil was born two famous style focuses in ground fighting. Luta Livre Esportiva was created In the mid 20th Century in Rio de Janeiro by Euclydes Hatem. Brazilian Jiu Jitsu was developed during the same period of time.
Styles
Grappling No-Gi and Grappling Gi
Grappling is a non-striking hybrid style formed of wrestling, jiu jitsu, sambo, and many other submission fighting styles which consists in applying submission holds and choking techniques in order to make the opponent abandon the fight. Grappling plays an important role in the practice of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) and is considered an effective form of self-defense. Since submission fighting is traditionally practiced with and without kimono (Gi), FILA has decided to implement both trends in order to cover the full spectrum of techniques associated to each particular style.
While some athletes prefer one style over the other, most of them enjoy practicing and competing in both. Therefore, the FILA tournaments generally take place in Gi and No-Gi divisions to enable all submission fighters to compete to their highest ability no matter what their fighting background might be. The Grappling Gi practitioner's uniform is similar to a judogi, but often with tighter cuffs on the pants and jacket. No-Gi grapplers shall appear on the edge of the mat wearing FILA approved board shorts and a tight-fitting sleeveless, short sleeve or long sleeve rashguard. Grapplers are not required to wear shoes during the match, but those who choose to shall wear FILA approved shoes.
Fighting
Grappling is most strongly differentiated by its greater emphasis on groundwork than other martial arts. It is helpful to contrast its rules with wrestling greater emphasis on throws, due to both its radically different point-scoring system. This has led to greater time dedicated to training on the ground, resulting in enhancement and evolution of groundwork techniques by grapplers.
Grappling emphasizes taking an opponent to the ground and utilizing ground fighting techniques and submission holds involving joint-locks and chokehold. The premise is that most of the advantage of a larger, stronger opponent comes from superior reach and more powerful strikes, both of which are somewhat negated when grappling on the ground.
When the opponent is on the ground, a number of maneuvers and defensive hold are available to manipulate the opponent into a right position for the application of a submission technique. Forcing a dominant position on the ground is one of the strategies of grappling, and includes effective use of the guard position to defend oneself from bottom, and passing the guard to dominate from top position with side control, mount, and back mount positions. It is often compared to a chess match where the grappler try to think several steps ahead of the opponent in order to submit him eventually. A submission hold is the equivalent of checkmate in the sport.
Training methods
Sport Grappling focus on submissions without the use of strikes while training allows practitioners to practice at full speed and with full power, resembling the effort used in a real competition. Training methods include technique drills in which techniques are practiced against a non-resisting partner; isolation sparring, commonly referred to as positional drilling, where only a certain technique or sets of techniques are used, and full sparring in which each opponent tries to submit their opponent using any legal technique. Physical conditioning is also an important part of training at many clubs.
Sport Grappling Rules
The FILA grappling regulations are based on a progressive point system that encourages submissions over technical points. Points are awarded for takedowns and dominant control positions according to the following progression: side mount > full mount > back mount. Once having reached a position and secured it for 3 seconds, additional points can only be scored if a higher position is achieved. The progression is reset if the opponent manages to bring the fight back to neutral (be it standing or on the ground) or to score a dominant control position in his/her turn.
Primary Ground Positions
During the ground phase of combat the grappler strives to take a dominant or controlling position from which to apply submissions, these positions provide different options.
Side control
The practitioner pins their opponent to the ground from the side of their body. The dominant grappler is across the opponent with weight applied to the opponent's chest. The opponent may be further controlled by pressure on either side of their shoulders and hips from the practitioner's elbows, shoulders, and knees. A wide variety of submissions are initiated from Side control.
Full Mount is considered one of the most dominant Grappling positions.
Mount (grappling)
The practitioner sits astride the opponent's chest, controlling the opponent with their bodyweight and hips. In the strongest form of this position the practitioner works their knees up under into the arm pits to reduce arm movements, limiting their ability to move or counter the submission attempts. Full Mount is mostly used to attack the arms or apply choke holds.
Back mount
The practitioner attaches to the back of the opponent by wrapping their legs around and hooking the opponent's thighs with their heels. Simultaneously, the upper body is controlled by wrapping the arms around the chest or neck of the opponent. This position is commonly used to apply chokeholds, and counters much of the benefit an opponent may have from greater size or strength.One type of Guard
Guard (grappling)
In the Guard, the practitioner is on their back controlling an opponent with their legs.
The three main types of guard are Open, Closed, and Half. In closed guard, the bottom grappler has their legs around the opponent's trunk and has their ankles closed together to provide control and a barrier to escaping the position. In the open guard, the legs are not hooked together and the bottom grappler uses their legs or feet to push or pull in a more dynamic fashion. In the half guard, one of the top grappler's legs is being controlled by the bottom grappler's legs.
Submission
The majority of submission holds can be grouped into two broad categories: joint locks and chokes. Joint locks typically involve isolating an opponent's limb and creating a lever with the body position which will force the joint to move past its normal range of motion.
Pressure is increased in a controlled manner and released if the opponent cannot escape the hold and signals defeat by submitting. Opponents can indicate submission verbally or they can tap out (i.e. tap the opponent, the mat several times. Tapping one's own body is dangerous because the opponent may not be able to tell if his or her opponent is tapping.) A choke hold, disrupting the blood supply to the brain, can cause unconsciousness if the opponent does not submit soon enough.
A less common type of submission hold is a compression lock, where the muscle of an opponent is compressed against a hard, large bone (commonly the shin or wrist), causing significant pain to the opponent. These types of locks are not usually allowed in competition due to the high risk of tearing muscle tissue. This type of lock often also hyper-extends the joint in the opposite direction, pulling it apart.
Joint locks
A practitioner attempting a type of armbar submission.
While many joint locks are permitted, most competitions ban or restrict some or all joint locks involving the knees, ankles, and spine. The reason for this is that the angles of manipulation required to cause pain are nearly the same as those that would cause serious injury. Joint locks that require a twisting motion of the knee (called twisting knee locks or twisting knee bars, or techniques such as heel hooks, and toe holds) are usually banned in competitions because successfully completing the move nearly always results in permanent damage that requires surgery.
Similarly, joint manipulations of the spine are typically barred due to the inherent danger of crushing or mis-aligning cervical vertebrae. Leglocks are allowed in varying degrees depending on skill level, with straight ankle locks being the only leglocks allowed in the beginner division, or white belt level, straight kneebars being allowed in the intermediate division, or blue belt level and toeholds with the pressure applied inwards are allowed in the advanced division (purple, brown, black).
However, most joint locks involving the wrist, elbow, shoulder or ankle are permitted as there is a great deal more flexibility in those joints and those locks are safe to use under tournament conditions. Also, some fighters practice moves whose sole purpose is to inflict pain upon their opponent, in the hope that they will tap out.
This includes driving knuckles into pressure points, holding their opponent's head in order to tire out the neck (called the "can opener" or kubi-hishigi) and putting body weight on top of the sternum, floating ribs, or similarly sensitive bones. These moves are not true submission moves - they are generally only used as distractions mostly in lower levels of competition. They are avoided or aggressively countered in middle to upper levels of competition.
Chokes and strangles
Chokes and strangles (commonly but somewhat incorrectly referred to as "air chokes" and "blood chokes" respectively) are a common form of submission. Chokes involve constriction of the windpipe (causing asphyxia.) Strangles involve constriction of the carotid artery (causing ischemia.)
Air chokes are less efficient than strangles and may result in damage to the opponent's trachea, rarely even resulting in death. By contrast, blood chokes (strangulations) cut the flow of blood to the opponent's brain, causing a rapid loss of consciousness without damaging any internal structures.
Being "choked-out" in this way is relatively safe as long as the choke is released soon enough after unconsciousness, letting blood back into the brain before oxygen deprivation damage begins.
However, it should not be practiced unsupervised.
World Grappling Championship
The World Grappling Championship is the most important of FILA Wrestling's annual Grappling tournaments. The first of these competitions took place in Lucern December 20-21, 2008.
