A karate black belt Jesse Enkamp decided to enter a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu tournament with the sole intention of proving that the grappling art is ineffective. Enkamp firmly believed that since 100% of matches start standing up, the goal should be to end the matches quickly without going to the ground.
“They say 90% of fights end up on the ground. But a 100% start standing up and that’s where you want the fight to end,” the karate black belt stated. He viewed BJJ’s focus on ground fighting as impractical, likening it to “practicing how to get knocked out” in a karate class.
Confident in his stand-up abilities, the karate expert entered the BJJ tournament determined to simply remain standing and avoid grappling at all costs. However, he soon discovered that staying on his feet was much harder than anticipated when faced with skilled grapplers constantly trying to take him down.
Despite his younger age and perceived strength advantage against higher-ranked opponents, including a black belt, the karate practitioner found himself repeatedly taken to the ground. His strategy of disengaging and standing back up was met with warnings from the referee about the rules requiring active grappling.
Faced with the reality of being disqualified for passivity, the karate black belt reluctantly engaged in ground fighting as a last resort. Surprisingly, he managed to secure a submission victory, proving at least a basic level of competence in BJJ in his video.
In the end, the karate expert acknowledged that while his approach of solely focusing on the standing aspect was flawed, the experience reminded him of the importance of not losing sight of a martial art’s original purpose – self-defense.
The tournament served as a wake-up call, highlighting the need for martial artists to adapt and embrace various techniques and scenarios, rather than dismissing entire disciplines based on preconceived notions or sport rulesets.
