Brazilian jiu-jitsu is often hailed as one of the greatest martial arts to have ever been created. That being said, it is very important to recognize that no martial art is without its shortcomings, especially if it chooses to only specialize in one area, this includes BJJ. It is often said that martial art is only as good as its practitioner, but sometimes the fault also falls upon the practitioner’s teacher. Until one reaches a certain level of mastery, what practitioners usually do is just repeat set patterns that were taught to them by their instructor only thinking of the shortcomings of that move in regards to the rule set that they are operating on. Just like a boxer doesn’t worry about getting kicked, a wrestler doesn’t worry about getting submitted and a  jiu-jitsu practitioner does not worry about getting punched.

That being said, there are certain fighting styles and moves that favor a BJJ player, and because of that same reason, there are certain moves that aren’t taught in the school because they do not either favor or apply to the lessons being taught. In this article, I will be going over the techniques that are not taught in the dojo.

An important but often overlooked series of moves that your BJJ school didn’t teach you was most likely anti-grappling techniques. The reason for this is because normally in BJJ, you are trying to learn how to grapple and initiate a grappling exchange, not avoid one. There are many instances in which getting into a grappling match can be beneficial, but by the same token, there are plenty of situations in which going to the ground would spell doom. Being taken down or getting the takedown in BJJ is the first time to transition into more ground fighting, not to get up and get away. In MMA, escapes from the ground back to your feet are a staple of everyday training and can come more in handy in a real-life situation than keeping the fight on the ground.

Another series of techniques that your Brazilian jiu-jitsu school didn’t teach you, is dominant positions and transitions for ground striking. While often times there is an emphasis on shielding yourself from possible strikes on the ground, there is no training regarding how to throw strikes from a dominant position or transition into a dominant position to throw strikes. In mixed martial  Arts, there is a larger emphasis on leg rides, hand fighting and attacking with strikes from different positions, whereas the striking in Brazilian jiu-jitsu is defensive at best.

Brazilian Jiu-jitsu is a great martial art and a very fun sport with many practical applications. That being said, like anything in life it’s not perfect. The two important techniques that your BJJ school did not teach you are anti-grappling techniques, and offensive grappling striking, both of which have huge practical applications in street and sports scenarios.

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