What is Grappling...?

I don't get too hung up on terminology, but "Grappling" to me is fighting without striking. You don't have to be on the ground but that's typically where grappling happens. Locks, arm bars, wrestling and things like that is all grappling in my book. With that being said, who cares what the technical definition is? I trained in Shotokan for a number of years and I've seen classes get held up, not because of incorrect technique but because of incorrect terminology, that's one of the numerous reasons I quit TMA and went to modern styles. I don't care about nomenclature, I care about technique and effectiveness.

Grapple Definition

Define Grapple

Grappling means to grab: it's the opposite of throwing/evasion. It can involve chokes and locks, but does not specifically include throws or strikes. Grappling can be an intermediate means to a throw or a strike, just as strikes can be blocks and blocks can be strikes. But strictly speaking, grappling means ONLY to grab.

And it's not limited to ground fighting: you can employ a grab, choke, or lock while standing; you can strike, block, and evade whilst on the ground. Groundfighting has nothing to do with grappling, it's all about what you're doing while on the ground. This seems to be a pervasive myth around here: people assume groundfighting=grappling or that standing=striking. No. And No. Groundfighting means that: fighting while on the ground. Period.

In fighting, there are a limited number of technique styles you can employ:

You can strike, block, grab, or evade. That's it. Anything you do can fall into any of these categories, even overlap a few. Each can be the primary technique, the sole technique, a support technique, or a transitionary technique.

And throws? They're forms of evade, with strike, block, or grab as a support. Unless you're in WWE, you're not going to just pick up your opponent and toss him. Rather, you'll use his own momentum by getting off the line of attack (evade) and redirect him somewhere else using a strike and/or a block. Even when in a clinch - no momentum - you look for a balance point to break, taking your opponent to that break in balance. This is easily broken down into a grab and evade, nothing more.

EDIT for spelling

Grappling is close quarter contact. It can include many things. it can be done standing, kneeling, and on the ground. Traps, joint locks, small joint manipulations, throws, pins, clinches, and even chokes are all parts of grappling.

It can also be done with weapons. I won't list them all. We don;t have that much time. Plus I don't know them all.

The bo, jo kali, nunchaku all have grappling techniques taught in them. I was even amazed when I found out the the a shomenuchi sword cut was also a throw.

Too many beginners, wanna be, and fan boys think grappling is lying on the ground and fighting. The root word in grappling is grapple. Which means to seize, grasp, grab, or hold.

Any offense/defense moves used between half the distance of my arm to my chest (to the foe), is grappling.

This includes wrestling, clinch work done in BJJ, Judo, Pankration, of course, but that's extremely close contact.

There are some very close range strikes that can be used even at that distance, but they're not grappling moves. Just exceptions. I don't use the term grappling. I use the 3 field distinctions of striking, joint locks, and throwing. That's because using one word to apply to a lot of things, tends to confuse people. Confused people are annoying.

JW makes a good point about weapons, when they become added as another joint in your body. Then it's half the distance of your arm plus the extra joint, and allows you to broaden the range for grappling moves. It also extends the range at which the enemy can use grappling moves, since they can always try to disarm you or grab your stick. That's why a sword was so good, it prevented people from just grasping it. A blade is always nice, even if it's just a dagger, for people who like to grapple.

I remember someone once saying "There's no grappling in Judo" on this site. It felt like your intention in asking this question was to prove how the current generation that was fed a lot of Gracie family propaganda will describe "grappling". I agree that the current generation is misinformed and thinks that grappling is exclusive term for ground fighting.

Grappling to me always just meant the group of martial arts techniques that did not rely primarily on strikes, and instead focused on controlling the opponents movements through holds. It's fairly difficult to describe it, now that I tried.

Edit:

corrected a sentence by adding a missing word

you're the one who's invested all these years in training and research right? so what does everybody else here have to do ,

you can't just make them stop and think they have to do it themselves,there is no single way to define grappling anyway, that's like asking what is fighting? it's to deep and personal a question that takes decades of training and experience to even begin to scratch the surface of like you have

I could say something uneducated like listing a number of grappling based sports , but to be honest there is no way to have a complete perspective of grappling without putting in the years of training and research needed by looking at every art form you can,

if you talked to me 3 years ago I would have thought you were crazy telling me there is grappling in Karate or most forms of Kung Fu, but after looking more in depth I can see how ignorant I really was

You can post this question in an attempt to dispel ignorance and expect the younger generation to become better educated competent martial artists but in the end it is down to the individual to accomplish this , there are some highly educated answers here posted by people who no doubt have much more experience and training than I do ,but I still know that none of us here is ever gonna be close to getting it right because everyone here has a different perspective on the subject and though there is probably a finite number of techniques and positions in grappling due to the limitations of the human body no single person here will ever know them all, they will amass quite a knowledge of grappling but never a complete one the same is true of fighting in general, so ther is no clear cut way to define it

Good question. It has long been obvious to me that there are many here that have very different ideas about what is and what is not grappling. As I understand things, my definition of grappling includes anything that involves restricting the attackers movement or controls his body, balance, ...etc. So any joint locks throws or restraining techniques of any kind would be grappling. A bear hug, ....etc. In other words striking, kicking, sweeping would not be grappling. But any manipulation of the other persons body by using your hands, arms, or body to clench or restrain would be grappling. Included would be any pressure point manipulations of pressing or grabbing (Tuite-Jitsu).

It is as simple as that....

...

do you want the english definition or the roughly translated from asian languages definition?

not everything translates exactly but some do and remember things change over time.

in old boxing circa 1700 a punch was exactly that a motion with the arm made in a punching motion like a leather punch or hole punch with any hand formation not just the traditional fist they used the extended knuckle, palm heel, finger tips etc. but as long as it is in a straight line like a hole punch it is a punch much like any move in karate that is a tsuki isn't really a punch but a thrusting strike.

hooks and uppercut like swinging blows but from other angles too were referred to as rounding blows or round arm blows and they had hammerfists, backfists & edge of hand chops done with what they called chopping blows as in chopping with a sword.

the similarities probably came from them both being derived from warrior methods and more specifically sword arts.

so how do you define a punch?

the way it was originally meant or the way it is now?

I define grappling in the traditional western way which is synonymous with grab/ing and grip/ing and any method where you can entangle any part of them with any part of you is grappling.

grappling and wrestling are two different things as well and originally meant struggle not just to grapple or grip/grab in the english definition.

I have no idea about the other cultures ideas or concepts but I do know a bit about western history specifically related to martial arts but someone said something about anything manipulating the body but again in the western definition that is controlling the body and can be done without an entanglement.

*edit*

good point about ground fighting but what about a grappling hook, it just hooks onto something to let you pull onto it just like an anchor albeit not under ground but it doesn't have anything to do with setting someone off balance and a big part of grappling is not allowing yourself yo be entangled or embraced or grasped or whatever you want to call it .

I guess technically grappling strictly in fighting terms could be defined as, the act of engulfing an object within the circumference of a part of your person that attaches you to them?

Technically, what we do in Kajukenbo is not really grappling in the MMA sense. When I used to train at the MMA training center, we used to watch the BBJ guys at the other end of the gym doing their stuff on the mat, that I would consider to be grappling. I am not that what the BBJ people do is easy, obviously, it is not, it's just different from what Kajukenbo people do.

In Kajukenbo, when we do a judo throw, we punch and kick the training partner a few times before the throw is done. It is to cut down on the resistance. We are not going for a struggle, we are trying to bring the opponent down to the sidewalk so that we can kick him some more. We are used to being punched and kicked hard, it is assumed that the average opponent on the street is not.

The same principle applies to the wrist locks, arm locks and leg locks we apply. We punch and kick the opponent a few times before the lock is applied. We are not trying to submit the opponent, we are trying to disable the opponent's limb so that he cannot pull out a weapon against us. For training purposes, we do not apply the lock with full force, and we let go of the pressure when the training partner taps, we do not let go of the training partner, we continue to punch and kick the training partner after he taps. While we are not trying to submit our training partner, the locks are done with violent force, which results in excruciating pain for the receiving partner, and after you tap, you will still be punched and kicked.

So, I do not consider what we do in Kajukenbo to be grappling, like in a contest to see who can outmaneuver one another. It is street fighting training, but street fighting that includes Judo throws, and Hawaiian Jujitsu wrist locks, arm locks and leg locks.