I have heard from a very good BJJ Brown Belt ( or maybe even Black Belt now) that Jimmy Pedro has very good newaza or ground game. I personally believe that his comments are ignorant and inappropriate and I would expect him that at his age and time on the mats to have had a bit more growth...
Judo, Wrestling, and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Sambo , etc... are all in my opinions the study of bio-mechanics.
What makes them different is the approach certain groups have taken to study them and the rules of competition which are based on what to each Arts believes to be more significant.
A smart Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu will see in an Olympic Judo guy the opportunity to work on a part of his stand up that will give him an edge under Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu rules.
Like Xande did to Roger in 2006 after training with Olympic judo bronze medalist Flavio Canto. Rumors are that Flavio Canto is great at newaza.
http://www.geocities.com/global_trai...rpo_quatro.htmHere he is in action:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrEbwDHL-Hc&feature=relatedI personally believe the guy could win the Worlds if he trained for it and had the right strategy, but it wouldn't be as easy as people proclaim it to be. Before the 2006 Mundials I recall Saulo saying that he new a little secret about Roger that will give the edge to his brother Xande in 2006. In the Road to the Championship DVD I believe this secret was that Roger has vulnerabilities in his Judo. Xande became absolute champion that year with and ipon sagonae.
I believe that the rules in judo and wrestling are very restrictive while in BJJ ( Gi or No gi) allow for more innovation at the cost of injuries. They are not perfect, but nothing is…
I believe Jimmy Pedro made an immature comment.
When I was at Cornell University I trained with the wrestling team from time to time. I could knee bar them, sweep them , take the back, and even keep them from taking me down, etc...but this one kid in particular could take me down with a double leg at will. Instead of feeding my ego I decided it would be nicer if he beat me on the stand up battle until I could stop his double leg. What would I learn from tapping a wrestler with no bjj experience?..absolutely nothing. Him on the other hand never asked me to show him any BJJ moves because I feel he liked to be in the teacher position the superior sport athlete position and me his student. So I say sure...it helped my takedowns alot .
When I was in Michigan there where 6 black belts in judo not a lot of brazilian jiu-jitsu guys to train with. I decided to focus on my judo. At first I would like to tap them to show that BJJ was superior but then I realized this was foolish. Throwing them will be a much greater accomplishment.
I have a 6th degree black belt from Romania Olympic team that trains with us. He used to turn to his knees every time he hit the ground. At first I was once again foolish to explain that this was not a good position. I then realize he would only get it after he tapped or was choked or I manage to turn the turtle into a 30 second pin. At first it was really hard because he had mastered his turtle defense, but now he don’t go there no more....On the other hand he trains more BJJ than he does Judo which is nice to see.
I say if you really love BJJ study Judo’s best, study Wrestling’s best, etc….because if they study our best and we don’t…then we will be in trouble.
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