Grappling In The Martial Arts

How should striking in the martial arts be emphasized? Let's look to history first, to find the answers.


Western History of Striking
In the ancient Greek Pankration days, the vast majority of matches involved grappling. Strikes were used to augment grappling actions, set up grappling actions, and occasionally finish from certain positions. This is seen in modern MMA, as well. 

After time, a form of boxing was included in the games, as was a form of wrestling. These were eventually all but replaced by the Roman Empire's gladiator contests - which are noted for their increase in brutality. 

As the Roman Empire gave way, and the British Empire rose, people continued to fight.  Folk wrestling became the predominant unarmed means of combat. Again,  strikes were used in conjunction with the wrestling, but almost never in lieu of it.

Old fencing texts, dating back to the 1400's and even earlier, made note of grappling techniques, as well as some striking techniques.  The clear bent of these texts were to retrain a man used to wrestling into a fighter who would keep his feet in order to deliver an effective cut or thrust with his sword.

In the late 1800's, Catch-As-Catch-Can wrestling was codified from the folk wrestling of the era. Included were inputs from many regional "styles." Choke holds, though known to CACC exponents, were barred from contests. Instead, pins were recognized - likely due to their usefulness in obtaining a good "ground & pound" position.

During the same time frame, the Marquess of Queensberry Rules were codified, and boxing became a sport in similar fashion.

Both boxing and wrestling forbade the more injurious techniques that are often seen in combat. Modern MMA allows many of these forbidden holds and blows - but not all.


Eastern History of Striking
Dates are harder to come by, but the same stories hold true for Eastern martial arts with regards to grappling and striking. 

China had grappling art Shuai Jiao as a base, and more recently added Kung Fu for striking. In fact, Kung Fu is often translated as Chinese boxing. 

Japan had Jiu-jitsu for both striking and grappling, with an emphasis on grappling. Okinawa had Tegumi wrestling and later developed Karate for striking.


Modern History of Striking
The US has had boxing since the late 1800's. American servicemen brought Karate back with them in the early-to-mid 1900's. At the same time, TV was making a rise in American culture. Also, while Folk, Freestyle, and Greco-Roman wrestling were popular, they didn't get as much TV time as scripted "Professional Wrestling" entertainment. Thus, an overriding concept of striking as a predominant style of combat began to take hold. 

Enter the Ultimate Fighting Championship and the dawn of modern Mixed Martial Arts competition. Early matches were dominated by grapplers. The culture was shocked back into reality, and grappling made a huge comeback.

Now, every MMA fighter includes three main styles: western wrestling, BJJ, and boxing / kickboxing. 

It is understood that real combat not only involves grappling,  but tends to favor grappling. Pure striking only exists in sporting contests with extensive rule sets designed to keep the action on the feet. 

Similarly, with the boxing match in two weeks between MacGregor and Mayweather, it is largely given that if the same two men fought under MMA rules, MacGregor would win in short order - due to his grappling skills.


Conclusion
If you wish to be combat ready (read: want to do martial arts for self defense), your base must be grappling.  Striking is a must as an ancillary skill.  A fight may or may not be won with strikes.  A fight may or may not be won with submission. However, a fight will be lost if you do not know how to grapple.