Two ways of studying Jiu jitsu: one of the beauties of Jiu jitsu is that you can approach it in two very different ways – both of which are very profitable to your development. The first is to study Jiu jitsu as a martial art/combat sport in itself. If you study Jiu jitsu as a stand alone art by itself you can make fast progress and really focus on pure grappling. I still believe after all these years that just Jiu jitsu by itself makes for an extremely effective fighting style. Even a very highly ranked fighter would have to be very wary of a very good Jiu jitsu player who had no MMA training and stay away from certain positions and play a smart tactical game to win. The other approach is to see Jiu Jitsu as a component of a complete fighting style that borrowed from various combat sports to produce a well rounded MMA style that covered everything. This is generally the best approach for fighting but is often not suitable to part timers or older athletes or professionals who simply can't risk daily injuries while working a full time job. Here is a nice photo of two great athletes training with the squad who represent well this split. keenan cornelius is of course, the specialist who dedicates his time to single discipline Jiu jitsu grappling. Georges St Pierre is the all rounder who uses Jiu jitsu training as a vital component of an overall program as a professional MMA athlete. Both are wonderful ways to approach the art. I've always loved the fact that Jiu Jitsu can adapt to the needs of its followers like this and it has created some amazing memories for me as a coach to see different athletes with different goals working together in their own directions.
