Tachi waza and Ne waza: Most of the main grappling styles styles of the world recognize the fundamental distinction between grappling in the standing position (tachi waza) and on the ground (ne waza). Usually any given style has a bias through the rule set towards one or the other. So for example, modern freestyle wrestling and Judo are mostly tachi waza sports (though each has a definite ne waza component) BJJ is a good example of the opposite extreme, it is almost entirely ne waza based. The general aim of most tachi waza styles is to get the opponent down to the floor. The general aim of most ne waza styles is to pin or submit the opponent on the ground. As a general trend today, the grappling sports are becoming more specialized as either predominately tachi waza or ne waza. The result has been good in some ways – a definite rise in skill level in certain areas due to increased specialization and time spent in limited scenarios. It has been negative in others – we are seeing athletes with incredible skill in specialized domains but equally incredible naivety outside of those domains. Remember always that tachi waza without ne waza is pointless – what is the point of putting someone on the ground if you cannot control him there? On the other hand, ne waza without tachi waza is useless – what is the point of refined ground technique if you cannot get him there in the first place? Nowhere is the marriage of tachi waza and ne waza more important than in mixed martial arts, where failure to integrate them adequately often has disastrous results. Here, Georges St-Pierre works on the crucial interface between standing and ground grappling with Garry Tonon.
