I've never competed in a point jiu-jitsu tournament, but the guys I roll with are getting ready for a point tournament (2nd Annual Western Regional Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (Gi) Championships)
As I've started to focus on point jiu-jitsu (since we just had an ATP at BVT Impact) I find it lacking the soul that drew me to the sport. Submissions, the art of making someone give up.
Am I the only one that seems to miss out on the greatness that is point tournaments? What good is it to get mount if you miss the tap?
Its a sport and continues to refine itself as one so the "win" aspect
slowly but surely starts to weigh out the how, why, and where of the
art. That's not all good but part of "winning" in a international sport
where it does not matter how as long as you are within the rules.
I agree with you at heart but the reality is that most grappling sports
once they are in place for a while become all A game matches where
the most minimum of tactics and the tightest of strategies made
functional play out for the greatest number of "wins". So yeah, you get
the stall for a takedown, stall for a pass and stall for each pin until the
time rounds out as the majority of matches but....that's what makes
our favorites so cool....they go for and are able to score the
submission.
We all know plenty of guys that would rather lose to points than go in
for a "win" that involves no submission. JJ Machado has shown and is
often out spoken about going for sub being his game and emphasis no
matter how the points end up playing out.
In other words, don't worry your self with what others may play to.
Stick to what you enjoy and work that. Their will be times and certain
opponents you mayy find yourself exclusively playing points to. Its in
those moments you must decide to go for that type of win or stick to
what brought you to the art to begin with.
If you DO NOT have the points system then you get sloppy and risky blend of freestyle wrestling with leglocks - there is a good example in "The Contenders" (no not the boxing reality TV but the japanese grappling tourney from a few years back)
Training for point comps helped tighten up my game a lot. The rules are there for a reason.
That being said I think the most important thing is to have fun. A lot of modern fighters have stopped worrying about points and just go for the kill. If you watch Dean Lister, Leozino, or Marcelo Garcia they are always attacking and going for submissions.
You just need to ask yourself what you want to get out of competing. Do you want a medal, do you want to test yourself, or do you just want to have fun? Your answer may result in all three
Dean Lister, Leozino, or Marcelo Garcia they are always attacking and going for submissions. Yes, but do they ever give up positions or lose points? No.
And Viera is pretty often a point fighter as well. Probably most exciting one of them point fighters:D
If I'm not mistaken, the points system was initially developed to encourage people to seek positions on the ground that were favorable in MMA or in the street, i.e. to encourage people to work for the mount and the back instead of having only a guard game.