BJJ’s habit of “pulling guard” has become one of the most mocked elements of the art, both online and inside martial arts circles.

Critics often claim that sitting to the ground abandons realism and exposes Jiu-Jitsu as a sport divorced from real-world fighting.

But Ralek Gracie says that view completely misunderstands what guard work was designed to do:

It’s very much in the popular sphere now, for Jiu-Jitsu and martial arts, for people to clown Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu players for pulling guard and to suggest that by pulling guard, that is the antithesis of martial arts in terms of survival and effectiveness.

And it’s simply not true.

According to Gracie, the bottom position isn’t a modern invention created for tournaments, but it’s the very concept that allowed BJJ to dominate other grappling styles in the first place:

The bottom guard position is the single reason Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu upset and took over the world and proved that its efficacy against other styles, specifically freestyle wrestling, was unique and effective.

In any confrontation, especially against someone larger or stronger, getting taken down is not an unlikely scenario – it is the most probable one, says Gracie:

The likelihood that you get put on your back against someone who is bigger, heavier, stronger, has some wrestling, has some judo, whatever they train, is very high.

It’s really high, especially as they get bigger and stronger, and it just keeps going.

From that perspective, training to fight effectively from your back is a form of preparation:

The ability to work off of your back and use your entire body through your legs is the guard position, that was handed down from the samurai.

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