Grappling - A Martial Arts
Training Discipline

What is Grappling? Are there specific martial arts that focus on this form of combat? Is this form of hand to hand combat an important part of a warriors martial training discipline?

We will explore answers to all of these questions and more as we investigate this martial art training discipline.

Grappling and the martial arts We will also review different arts, how they use effective grapple techniques to form an defense and how to incorporate these techniques into your own warrior training path.

First, lets take a look at what several definitions of the word grapple:

to grapple - the act of engaging in close hand-to-hand combat; "they had a fierce wrestle"; "we watched his grappling and wrestling with the bully"

submission grappling - the sport of hand-to-hand struggle between unarmed contestants who try to throw each other down

Grappling is an element of many martial arts, and consists of techniques for handling the opponent in which the opponent is held or gripped rather than struck.

This includes maneuvers to obtain a strong position (for example guard or mount), takedowns, various pins, joint locks, and pain locks. It normally excludes techniques such as biting and pinching.

Grappling may be engaged in either standing or on the ground, although many standing techniques are takedowns, and thus used for forcing the opponent to an unfavorable position on the ground.

Throws are considered grappling in some martial arts, whereas other arts consider them extensions of strikes or kicks. When unskilled fighters get embroiled in combat, a very common instinctive reaction is to attempt to slow the situation down by grabbing the opponent and holding them still.

As a result, grappling happens very often between unskilled fighters. Of course, skilled fighters can grapple much more effectively and may choose to grapple with an opponent.

With sufficient skill, grappling offers the possibility of controlling an opponent without injuring them, which is why most police receive some form of grapple training.

Moreover, it is possible to design rules making grappling into a relatively safe sport; this is more difficult with other kinds of fighting. Grappling is notably not a martial art, but a mode of fighting.

Many martial arts contain grapple training, although the amount and type varies. For example:

Jujutsu

judo

aikido

wrestling

Brazilian jiu jitsu

..All focus primarily on submission grappling techniques, whereas boxing and Muay Thai contain practically no grappling techniques.

Some martial arts have their own name for grapple techniques; for example, in Eskrima, grappling is normally called Dumog.

Some Escrima systems practice grapple techniques while one or both participants are armed. This practice is significantly more dangerous than unarmed grappling, and generally requires a great deal of training.

Many sports, that are derived from the martial arts, have rules which forbid grapple techniques.

For instance boxing or savate competition, when competitors become too close, they "clinch" or grab each other and the referee immediately stops the fight.

This is generally done to encourage practitioners to focus on other aspects of the match such as punching or kicking, which are deemed more important, more challenging or more entertaining.