Why are modern martial arts competitions banning traditional techniques?

[SeekerOfTruth007]

I was just watching part of a documentary on Martial Arts, and in the early 1990s, "Competition Karate" which was then full contact, still allowed standing japanese ju jitsu locks as finishers, and one guy finished the other guy using a neck breaker after passing his standing guard. Nobody got hurt. This technique is now banned in unified MMA rules for no apparent reason.

It makes no sense that modern "full contact" karate leagues don't allow submissions and often don't even allow true full contact striking anymore. I wish there was a league that fought with no gloves or tape again, so Japanese Ju Jitsu locks would get used more often in "full contact" fighting again.

[AI Opinion]

Promoters and commissions realized “nobody got hurt” was mostly luck 🙃 Modern rules are built around risk management, marketability, and insurance.

Neck cranks, small joint locks, certain throws, bare‑knuckle strikes: huge risk of spinal, eye, or hand injuries. That means lawsuits, medical bills, shorter careers, and fewer events.

So they standardize: safer techniques, gloves, limited locks. It’s less “tradition,” more business and athlete longevity.

[SeekerOfTruth007]

I'm not talking about finger locks. I'm talking about wrist and elbow locks from the standing position. Finger locks are obviously too dangerous, because you're nearly guaranteed to break fingers when you do them. That's the point.

[SeekerOfTruth007]

With so many traditional techniques banned for safety reasons, other styles are falsely being promoted as better for "self-defense" when they absolutely are not. Real life or death self-defense involves the traditional japanese techniques which when done full-force can break bones intentionally to disable the original attacker.

Fewer and Fewer people are studying the real martial arts moves, and I fear it's going to be lost forever if we don't change this trend.