I'm not debating that BJJ can be a great tool if you're well practiced and you understand its limitations and your own. My argument is that the Navy cherry-picked a handful of moves, stripped them of all context, purport them to be the be-all, end-all of hand-to-hand combat, and then provide just 3 or 4 weeks of training. There is no months of training, no expectation or provision for mastery, and once the Sailors return to the ship, they have very little time or exposure to follow-on training.
Again, there isn't a practice of BJJ going on. Sailors are being trained and shoved out the door. There are basic training events that have to occur monthly and quarterly on board ship, but it's the very basic minimum needed for VBSS teams to prove to the Navy that they are "ready" to perform the mission. I had to fight constantly for time in the ship's schedule to get the bare minimum time for my guys to practice defensive tactics (What these BJJ moves are called), cuffing, and CQB drills. And I was the XO and controlled the schedule! There are so many operational and administrative demands on a ship's crew that VBSS is often one of the most collateral of collateral duties.
There's no sensei on board drilling these guys a few times a week. There's no active practice of sparring or kumite or kata or kihon. I return to my point that the Navy is not actually serious about regular Sailors performing the VBSS mission and hasn't been since they disbanded the HVBSS squadrons and have nearly completely abandoned it now that SEALs, Force Recon, MARSOC, USCG TACLET, USCG MSRT, and USCG MSST teams are not nearly as busy in the desert as they were. If the Navy were serious, they would block out more time for training, establish a MCMAP-style program, and bring back HVBSS squadrons.
Like in-shore boat teams, coastal patrol, and riverine squadrons, the Navy's regular VBSS (i.e. non-SPECWAR or SOF) capability and program ebbs and flows with operational need. Maybe if we ever go back to war we'll see a return.
Not as high as you may think. I have more injuries from my time playing football than I ever sustained practicing martial arts. When sparring or training with a partner, you are taught to be very cognizant of their safety and not injuring them. You often start slowly and gradually increase speed. Rarely do you go full speed so as not to harm your partner. This goes hand in hand with the training you receive to fall and be thrown properly so you avoid injury when you are sparring.
I think the injury rates for the Navy are a lot higher in VBSS training because it is so devoid of the context and extra training that you receive in the actual martial art. We had four or five injuries (My memory is a bit hazy) out of a class of 30 when I went through the Non-Compliant Boarding course. Three of those injuries sent the Sailors home, disenrolling them from training. Coming from a traditional East Asian martial arts background, I was dismayed by the nonchalance the instructors had as it was clear that injuries were common in the program and very few of them had any training or desire to try and curb them. We were also taught what I would consider high risk movements that can cause injury if not done properly or with good technique and the instructors would goad students into doing these full speed the first or second attempt because "motivation." Thankfully (or perhaps unfortunately), the VBSS program for regular Sailors seems to be getting shelved as SURFOR is slowly killing it piece by piece in favor of SOF personnel.
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