Is BJJ just a fad?

**Lindz** · Posted On: 8/17/2010 5:59pm

I know what TMA stands for. But how do you categorize an art as traditional or not? Even some rex kwan do bullshit that was created last week will have traditions. Give me a definition that could be used to categorize arts that you haven't encountered already

What, in your mind, is it about karate or rkd that makes them "traditional?

**GIJoe6186** · Posted On: 8/18/2010 12:10am

TMA - martial arts that train without aliveness.

Pretty much thats what people, myself included, think of TMA as.

Kyokushin is Karate but it doesn't suck because they spar. Tae Kwon Do does mostly suck though because there sparring is unrealistic and leads to poor habits.

Judo, BJJ, Sambo, Wrestling, Sanda, Kyokushiun, Boxing, Kickboxing and Muay Thai are all non-TMA. Pretty much any grappling form is not TMA.

Seriously u must be retarded or trolling trying to ask what makes something TMA. Live training, not TMA.

**Lindz** · Posted On: 8/18/2010 12:28am

What's traditional about not sparring? All those arts you say are non tma have traditions, ram muay in muay thai, white pajamas and belts in kyokushin etc but somehow that doesn't count?

Seems like everyone who uses tma vs mma really means arts i like and arts i dont like

**KO'd N DOA** · Posted On: 8/18/2010 10:02am

Originally Posted by mikishman

I'm not sure if your mocking me or not. I assume that you are. I was just answering the question that Lindz asked. Since he said "What means TMA?"

Lindz is from B.C. - therefore he was trolling.

A simple sentence like yours, but like yours, not enough to be evaluated.

I'm not mocking you Mikishman, every word in TMA has had threads debating their seperate meaning, and adding all three to designate something higher is difficult.

My TKD is an art that in theory, traces its roots back thousands of years. TKD is almost brand new.

BJJ is a new art, but its roots trace back into traditional time, therefore a TMA. Even in the new art, the bias given to a Black Belt from Brazil, vs a home grown BB, harkens back to a loose sort of tradition.

I made sure to find a Japanese Judoka to learn my Judo from.

MMA could be a TMA, because the claimed lineage, the way of doing things. The training and building of a MMA champ, is now following in the tradition of others who have trained to fight MMA.

All this to say is that members in this site, have a long tradition of argueing regarding the martial arts.

**bobyclumsyninja** · Posted On: 2/08/2011 10:27am

I don't think an art that has become almost prerequisite to success in top tier mma, could be, in any way construed as a fad.

A lot of people don't know the difference between a les paul, and a Telecaster, or a Strat, and a 335 model. They are not fad guitars, they are mainstays, as is BJJ in upper level fighting. It's just your average non martial arts loving person doesn't give a ****.

**Kickapoo** · Posted On: 2/08/2011 9:47pm

Is BJJ a fad? Maybe as we know it today. Martial arts are always changing, expanding, shifting. But I doubt BJJ will ever really vanish.

Also, food for thought, this thread was made six years ago, which is probably a good sign that it's not a fad.

**Vince Tortelli** · Posted On: 2/09/2011 9:41am

(Zips up flame retardant suit)

I think "pure" BJJ is starting to have less and less to do with real fighting/MMA, with all the crazy guard pulling tactics, wacky gi gripping manuvers, and the tear inducing level of takedowns and throws being taught in many gyms.
(Note to the reader: I am sure your gym has double legs taught by an Olympic freestyle wrestler. I am talking about EVERYONE ELSE'S gym)

Fad? It depends on what you mean by that. I think what we're going to wind up with is "BJJ for MMA" and "BJJ for the sake of BJJ" with the latter going the route of Tae Kwon Do, Wing Chun, etc.

**risingphoenix73** · Posted On: 3/04/2011 10:33am

Originally Posted by Aesopian

Undoubtedly discussed before, but I felt it was time for an update and reaccessment of opinions.

Do you think BJJ is just a passing trend?

i thinks it's just part of a bigger sport (mma) and people had no respect for it til the gracies were spanking pure strikers in the earlier ufc's...just my opinion.

**risingphoenix73** · Posted On: 3/04/2011 10:34am

Originally Posted by Vince Tortelli

(Zips up flame retardant suit)

I think "pure" BJJ is starting to have less and less to do with real fighting/MMA, with all the crazy guard pulling tactics, wacky gi gripping manuvers, and the tear inducing level of takedowns and throws being taught in many gyms.
(Note to the reader: I am sure your gym has double legs taught by an Olympic freestyle wrestler. I am talking about EVERYONE ELSE'S gym)

Fad? It depends on what you mean by that. I think what we're going to wind up with is "BJJ for MMA" and "BJJ for the sake of BJJ" with the latter going the route of Tae Kwon Do, Wing Chun, etc.

true about the gi grabbing. i noticed alot of pure bjj guys rely heavily on that.