>>76799501 (OP)
Grappling is the oldest and most evolved form of fighting you can learn without a weapon. Every culture with any sort of martial history on Earth has a version of competitive wrestling for a reason. The Japanese developed jujutsu (unarmed grappling) because even with their spears, armor, and swords, they understood the importance of being able to kill someone when you're disarmed or too close to use a weapon, and also how deeply primal grappling is and the fact it can teach gameness.
The reason BJJ has succeeded where most other arts fail is complicated; it's not the absolute best combat sport (boxing or Judo are better), but it is the best for most people who can't fight. You cannot take someone who is a zero and make them a hero by putting them in kung fu or aikido or any traditional Ninja bs. Only a competitive combat sport can do that and BJJ is the safest of these to practice into old age.
Take for example Judo. It's a young man's sport and kids die every year in Japan from brain and spinal injuries training Judo.
Boxing and MT might be better for taking someone tough and turning them into a knockout sniper, but at the cost of probable permanent damage to your brain - the most important organ you have, which houses your entire intellect and personality. You have a much lower chance of developing CTE when your main focus is groundfighting.
Wrestlers will smoke pure BJJ guys **if the wrestlers learn submissions** but that's a big if. I have choked out the local wrestling coach as a shitty blue belt because he didn't know what a triangle was. And he was bigger and stronger than me. Submissions are that powerful.
BJJ is the sweet spot that offers a low bar of entry, longevity of practice, teaches gameness even to small or weak people who otherwise cannot fight at all.
Knowing what to do trumps everything else in a fight. Period. BJJ is not the only path to this knowledge but it's by far the most accessible and open source.
