focus on stupid techniques that work well in competition (to score points) that is worthless in a REAL fight.
And that's the failing of every martial art.
I love bjj; I trained for years. I'd say about 90% of white belt knowledge is relevant to a real fight. But at blue belt and above, it's more like ten percent. You spend a lot more time learning intricate gi techniques that are meant for tournaments. Plus, fighting off your back isn't a great idea in a street fight. BJJ was meant to be practiced on a mat.
My trainer's trainer was a world champ at bjj. He insisted upon turning pro in his first mma fight, and only wanted to fight the best fighters. So Strikeforce hooked him up with Jake Shields, who then beat the living daylights out of him. BJJ isn't so easy when you're getting your head dribbled like a basketball.
MMA is the same way. It's the closest sport to a real fight, but it is still really far from the real thing. MMA cages are like padded rooms they lock crazy people in. In a real fight, the ground is usually hard, and getting slammed into it or thrown into walls hurts. An MMA cage has a floor of two layers of padded mat that sits on top of big boards that flex a lot. It's not anything like falling into concrete. Plus, MMA has a ton of rules, and the point scoring has very little to do with hurting the other guy, unlike an actual fight.
BJJ came from Japanese jiu-jitsu, which was the fighting style of the Samurais. I would say it is the most realistic martial art. There's no pulling guard and flopping on your back. There's hardly any blood chokes like triangles; they take too long to complete, and thus aren't worth much on a battlefield. I don't think there are any Japanese jits competitions. Too many of the moves are like Krav-maga, crotch-kicks, eye gouges, and nasty stuff that can't be included in a friendly competition. But it's hard to find a trainer who is legit. Kind of like Krav Maga, I think most instructors are bullsh!t artists.
Consensus advice for learning to fight is that you will want to learn a striking art and a grappling art. Realistically, your best choices are going to be determined by your access to good training. I'd rather train TQD under a world champion than Krav Maga under a fraud of a sensai. Boxing/kickboxing is a good striking art; bjj and wrestling are the two most common grappling arts. If you can find a serious mma school that would let you train there, someplace where pro and UFC fighters train, that might be your best bet. I wish I lived in a place like Miami, where I could go to American Top Team and get beat up by the best. Being able to train with the highest level of fighters that you possibly can is a great honor. The last thing you want is a garage full of retards that you can beat up; you won't learn anything that way.
