• Global Post, "Hong Kong's Kung Fu Flight Attendants"

• Guardian, "Martial Arts for Midair Combat"

• Terminal U, "Hong Kong Airlines Cabin Crew take Kung Fu Lessons"

• Youtube, "HKA Official Ad" video

• BJJ Weekly, "Brazillian Jiu-Jitsu Sport vs. Self Defense vs. MMA"

A panel of three BJJ experts discusses the question: Is BJJ effective in MMA and/or Self-defense?

Summary:
Weakest argument: Both BJJ and MMA are sports and exist in a realm entirely different from self-defense.
Medium argument: BJJ gives you more tools for self-defense than does traditional wrestling.
Strongest argument: 75% of BJJ can be used in self-defense so long as you’re faced with a single, unarmed attacker. In addition, the speaker complains that the rules of MMA no longer favor BJJ.

Response:
I agree with every one of these arguments. The weakest argument above is the best summary of why BJJ is not a combat art, but since there are more details in the strongest argument, it is the best starting point. First, the statement that 75% of BJJ can transfer to self-defense implies that 25% of the art is absolutely worthless in combat. Obviously, this means that a full quarter of the art is dedicated to winning points in a controlled competition, which is what makes it a sport art. Second, the speaker seeks to dictate the parameters of the fight, i.e., a single, unarmed attacker. Those of us who teach combat contend that you can only dictate such parameters in a sport. In self-defense and combat, you can’t possibly determine beforehand whether or not your attacker will be armed or whether or not others will join him, so you must be prepared for multiple, armed attackers. In such a case, clinching with and taking one of many armed attackers to the ground is a serious tactical error, regardless of how well it works in sports competition. Third, changes in the rules of MMA have marginalized BJJ, but the original rules tended to favor BJJ because they were the ones that created those types of competitions. The fact is, games have rules, and some rules tend to favor one set of players over another set. Rules are in the business of discrimination. In self-defense, there are no rules.

Finally, the speaker draws on the old “statistic” that “95% or all fights go to the ground.” I would like to state that a combat art is not complete without some attention to ground fighting. However, such attention should be focused on the fighter’s regaining his feet to enable mobility against several attackers. I would also like to issue a standing challenge to anyone who can find the scientific or academic study that created that “statistic.” If anyone can find it, I will link to it, or post it on this website, but I believe that the notion that anyone was able to collect information on a large enough body of real hand combat to satisfactorily end up with any statistic strains credibility. I also contend that, in this context, the terms “fight” and “go to the ground” must be more clearly defined. It seems much more reasonable to assume that such a “statistic” was simply spun out of whole cloth in the 80’s as propaganda to promote BJJ and lingers today only because no one thought to question it.

On May 11th, 2011, Wing Chun Hall left it's Midvale school and moved to 3575 S. West Temple, Ste. 16, South Salt Lake. Follow the new Tong development on • facebook, "New Tong Progress".