You sure you know what you're talking about?
I have a background in freestyle and collegiate wrestling and boxing. And a take down will work in any street fight. If you can go for a shoot go for it. If they go for a shoot just sprawl back and pancake when you can. Then ground and pound when you get in a dominant position.
Regardless of what fan boys tell you:
Wrestling > BJJ.
Especially as a grappling martial art.
It's why wrestlers have more championships won than any other art form in MMA.
Also white people created pankration. And pankration out dates vale tudo and all that hybrid wrestling/NHB shit.
anything can work in a street fight.. What I'm saying is that in a street fight, there are no rules (different than competition)... so if you go for a single leg, a dude can hit elbow you in the back of the head (possible knock you out). It goes for bjj too. You aint gonna do a flying armbar on concrete or pull guard in an alley wit dirty needles and glass on the ground. You're not gonna triangle choke a guy with a knife in his hands.
I personally think MMA fighters are good "well rounded fighters" so whether you are fighting someone that wrestled in High school or someone that only been in street fights, you're more prepared. Why, bekuz in MMA, you train in all aspects, stand up, take downs, throws, submissions, reversals, positioning...etc...
over anyone that hasnt taken MMA.
I agree, western arts are powerful and explosive. I aint gonna take away anything on the wrestling front. Wrestling has done alot for MMA and alot of wrestlers have held titles.. No doubt.. but you have to look at how things have evolved throughout MMA. Mark Coleman, Tito, Randy, Mark Kerr, Kevin Randleman, Dan Severn...and countless others even a time in the UFC, Wrestlers were the dominant ones... but things change and you cant just rely on wrestling. You have to know some stand up, you have to know submissions or atleast to defend them... its been proven that no one combat style is the best. If you are just a wrestler looking for a pin and dont know anything about submissions.. then you'll be out classed by the grapplers that exploit the weaknesses of that. Same with bjj... if you dont learn mma.. you'll get worn down and lose. Dan Severn (great wrestler) knows that and Alberto Crane (great jiu jitsu player) know that.
I agree that Pankration was the first type of hybrid of its kind, but China, Japan, India, Mongolia... all have rich martial arts histories too.
personally, I can give a shit about which race did what. I currently wrestle, do bjj (gi and no gi) and box. every so often get with another sensei that teaches escrima and Small Circle Ju jitsu, and other times go to learn more about European sword fighting. Regardless where it started.. I learn it for myself. So I never look at Wrestling vs bjj or judo vs aikido or anything like that. I try to do what GSP does, train wrestling for wrestling and bjj for bjj... and if it comes to open mat submission wrestling, put it together.
