I don't mean to blow my own whistle but here goes -
One time a black belt in Aikido (The Sensei from another Dojo in town), came to our Dojo and asked Sensei if he would let him test against one of his fighters. Being the best white belt in the class at the time I got the call (If he beat me the Sensei would tell him when to come back (or right then if he wanted to) and he would have been matched against our best Blue). He tapped in about 20 seconds. I practice Jiu-Jitsu. I am sure that if I knew nothing of my art and had stayed on my feet I would have been waxed, but after the takedown (Which he was obvoisly expecting this being a Jiu-Jitsu Dojo) he was like a fish out of water. As far as Grecco Roman, we have a lot of state champ type wrestlers come in and for about 5-6 months they get it handed to them because they don't know submissions and they constantly turn their backs....
One time three Police officers came in (Subordinates of one of the students, A 3rd degree brown) and asked to try some of their techniques. Again, being the best white at the time, I got the call. After 15 minutes of all three of them trying to pin me (I tapped one in about 10 seconds, they didn't expect me to go for a double leg) the sensei walked over and tapped me in about 5 seconds. Later in a joking mood I asked him when I gave them a chance to call for backup. He said "You didn't, but they needed it."
I have only practiced this art, but from what I see, the practice is a LOT more like a real fight. You go all out right up until that moment before their shoulder/elbow/knee/ankle/wrist/bone/neck pops or they tap because they are getting dizzy (MY favorite
). The name of my game is to control my opponent. If I'm doing that (And sometimes I'm not
), the fight goes at my pace and all I have to do is twist until I feel a certain amount of pressure. That is the ONLY time I hold back is that split second. In a real fight, I just wouldn't give a chance to tap. In other styles I see people "Sparring". It seems fairly useless to me.
One other thing... My Sensei also teaches Shotokan Karate. The Karate students call us "Pit Sniffers", not to our faces though. I asked the Sensei why he thought that was and he honestly replied to me "They are afraid of you, even the apprentices"
I am fairly sure that anyone who doesn't train for grappling will be absolutely toasted by someone who does. Afterall, the grappler has gravity working for him AND against his opponent....
so basically, if Lee's grappling techniques were not strong, I think that Helio Gracie (To pick someone from near the same time) would mop the floor with him (No pun intended).