FolkJitsu: Funk Wrestling For Submission Grapplers

The Unified Theory Of Grappling can Wrestling and BJJ be unified?

BJJ is a form of exercise your can perform sitting or even lying down. Not having to support one’s full weight is a luxury that’s hard to overlook, unless the supine state makes you feel vulnerable. Wrestling involves falling down over and over again. While falling can be exciting, casual athletes and people over the age of 25 tend to think of it as a drawback. Although they have different characters, both arts share the goal of physically controlling an opponent. Neither approach to grappling could fail to improve by incorporating the principles of the other.

So far, there isn’t a standard model for combining wrestling and BJJ despite every grappler having a huge incentive to do so. The problem is the contradictory approaches the styles take to controlling momentum. Jiu Jitsu, tends to redirect momentum by changing the structure of a position, wrestlers rely primarily on creating momentum and applying it to weak points in an opponent’s structure. Both systems express these qualities to a certain extent, but the difference is undeniable. Wrestling focuses on efficiently applying force to an opponent and denying the opponent opportunities to apply force, Jiu Jitsu emphasizes redirecting and smothering the opponents force.

The contrast between these philosophy’s creates a problem: When does the optimal strategy change from wrestling style force application to BJJ style force redirection? BJJ practitioners notoriously give up top position too easily and simply “sit down” in front of a stronger opponent rather than fighting for top position. In contrast, wrestlers get strangled with guillotine chokes they might have avoided if they had simply aborted a take down and ceded the top position. The grappling world is crying out for some kind of heuristic for balancing these hard and soft attitudes.

Funk wrestling exists at the border between the two styles. “Funk” is short for funky and it refers to the class of wrestling tactics that work even after every level of a wrestlers defense has been breached and the only remaining option is redirecting momentum. Funk is a neglected side of wrestling because it tends to be favored by less gifted athletes who get by on sheer technical knowledge and are satisfied to win more often than they lose.

Funk movements are proactive because they exclusively seek to achieve the dominant position. Funk moves are reactive because they rely on countering the opponent’s attack by redirecting momentum. This combination of traits provides tactics that fill in the gap between Wrestling style“Seizing the initiative” and BJJ stlye “Counter attacking”. Thanks to Funk moments focus on “Retaking the initiative” a class of techniques which exists in both arts and thus provides a Rosetta Stone to translate between them.

I propose an integrated wrestling/jiu jitsu or “FolkJitsu” meta-game which integrates the tactical layers of BJJ and Wrestling. My observations about wrestling are based on this cool video I saw.

Starting from standing:

Use the head position to maintain offensive superiority, execute a take down and secure top position. Hand fight to maintain offensive superiority, execute a take down, and secure top position. Use hip position to maintain offensive superiority, execute a take down and secure top position. Use Funk wrestling to scramble to a top-position or stand back up. Pull guard and look for submissions sweeps and reversals. Use half guard (or leglocks) to look for submissions sweeps and reversals. Roll to hands and knees to avoid side control. (Turtle or Dogfight) Use Funk wrestling to scramble to a top-position or stand back up.

In the final stage of the cycle, Funk wrestling acts as a rational return to the feet allowing the practitioner to make full use of both his wrestling and his guard without having to prioritize wrestling or bjj philosophy. In other words, by constantly seeking and never voluntarily conceding the top position fighters can smoothly transition between proactive and reactive uses of momentum without being confused by labels. For this reason, I’ll be scouring YouTube and my personal network for all the funky resources I can, and eagerly anticipating Ben Askren’s UFC fights. BJJ and wrestling take immense dedication to learn, but with a conceptual framework for integrating them, I intend to get the most out of my studies.