American Ju-Jitsu
Eddie Bravo is one of the few who are quietly pioneering a new American martial art. Known generally as MMA, I’m reluctant to dismiss Bravo as simply a great mixed martial artist. Instead, he is a brilliant artisan, creating a new, uniquely American Ju-Jitsu. But somehow he is more; he’s an artist as well, expressing something deep and profound through his craft: that the sum of their parts amounts to more than the whole.
You can see this here, in this video, as Bravo reveals variations on a theme, showing us how the rubber guard is more than just a trick, more than just a system; rather, it’s a new way of thinking.
American Ju-Jitsu
It’s difficult to talk about the Rubber Guard with laymen, not only because it sounds like a prophylactic sex toy, but because no one understands the language: New York, Chill Dog, Douche Bag (and you have to love a move called the Douche Bag).
Eddie Bravo, wonderful innovator that he is, receives lots of criticism for his development of the Rubber, which I think is misdirected if not entirely wrong. There is little doubt that the American-driven study of Brazilian Ju-Jitsu and Shooto and Greco-Roman and other styles of wrestling is giving rise to a new type of martial art, a completely American style of groundwork resembling Ju-Jitsu–an American Ju-Jitsu–of which Bravo is clearly a pioneer.
I found these great Advanced Rubber Guard videos of Bravo talking about where the RG is going (notice how Bravo grabs the leg after sweeping Bollinger, his assistant, to put him into the spider–that’s indicative of the deep thinking Bravo’s put into this: you know the guy’s going to roll out of the armbar at some point, so why not grab the leg and prevent that?):
Here’s part 2, where Bravo does not demonstrate, but speaks about faith in technique: you can’t expect something to work–especially in a scenario where everything can go wrong–without faith. More importantly, he talks about the democratic nature of his style of Ju-Jitsu, of how anyone is able to contribute (so long as it is substantial and viable, naturally); a very American feature:
Here is the last part, where Bravo allows his student, Bollinger, to demonstrate a move on him (a move Bollinger invented, no less). This demonstration is not simply rare–few people have ever seen the Double Bagger–but suggests something significant is flourishing here. I remember watching Carson Daly on MTV years ago and hearing him say that one day the face of music would change, that there is a band tooling away in a garage–right now–with a sound so unique that it’s going to change the face of music. And, whatever you might think of his new gig, Daly was at the epicenter of pop music during his tenure at MTV; few were as qualified to speak about where and how a pop revolution would take place as Daly. Bravo and his RG, I believe, are tantamount to this hidden garage band. Here is some BJJ guy in California, tooling away at some Ju-Jitsu moves he likes, and will probably change the face of MMA forever. That’s American ingenuity.