Eddie Cummings Believes In The Sub-Only Jiu-Jitsu Movement

FloGrappling senior editor Hywel Teague sat down with leg lock specialist Eddie Cummings in New York for a chat about everything from why he’s a true believer of the sub-only jiu-jitsu movement, to his difficulty in finding opponents who will face him under sub-only rules. 

“It’s tough finding opponents. In that 145 and under weight class you go through the traditional top names, they’re not always interested in sub-only. It’s not so much that they’re scared or even that it’s not worth their time or it’s the money. I think what we’re seeing now is more and more division between sub-only and points events. 

I am a ‘sub-only’ type guy. Sub-only in quotes, because there are various rules we try to express a submission-orientated style. I consider myself in that camp, but I’m not necessarily preaching in that camp.

 
“I watched the Worlds. I watch every match. I sit at home and I watch every match, and I re-watch – I study the IBJJF guys. I mean, I watch wrestling, I watch judo. I love grappling as grappling, but we certainly have to choose what area we want to specialize in. 

"I’d like to do No-Gi Worlds some day. I’d like to do a wrestling tournament someday in my life. Believe it or not, I do train wrestling. It would be fun to do that. But my chosen profession is as a submission grappler, that’s what I do for a living, and I don’t think No-Gi Worlds is a submission grappling tournament – it’s a jiu-jitsu tournament, which is a different art. I view myself as a submission grappler." 

I believe in the sub-only movement. I know I said I wasn’t going to preach, but I lied. More than it’s a different style. That’s all we’re really saying, is that there’s a different approach to grappling.

 
“Forget the debate on self defense or realistic fighting. We passed that line a long time ago. This is a sport, we’re just saying this is a slightly different version of that sport, or of that art.”