1) Sport BJJ is riskier on the street than Self Defense BJJ because the techniques are not designed for the street. There’s no striking in Sport BJJ and there’s weight classes in competition- so Sports BJJ favors techniques that ignore this risk in the street. Example: Turning your back – doesn’t happen in Self Defense BJJ. In Sport, Turtle is a position that’s trained for.

2) There’s no training on how a fight actually happens in Sport BJJ. How many fights start at the knees vs. a grab or a sucker punch? Ryan mentions ‘being suckered…’ as a way to being defeated. Sucker punch defenses exist in Self Defense BJJ not Sport.

3) Conditioning, strength and weight is not as critical in Self Defense BJJ because you wont have those advantages in the street. To be fair, even a top level 150lb wrestler is going to have problems taking down an average 200lb guy who is escalating the violence.