I’m a BJJ fanatic too, but if it really comes down to me defending myself I’ll rather throw a guy a beating while he is on the floor getting stomped on… I’ll never try to shoot someone if I have another choice.
If I do end up on the ground my best friend will be a technical stand up to get back to swinging for the fences…
Or just running the fuck away if he has a knife or anything tbh… I don’t want to be a hero I want to be alive 
By the way, re-reading your post this might just be a misunderstanding. Yes the seminars on self defence included taking fights to the ground, this was not the focus of the techniques though. Typically, they are based on (like many traditional JJ techniques) starting from a common attack in the standing position defending it, escaping it, reversing the control then either submitting the other person standing or putting them on the ground in a way that gives you the option of following them to the ground to finish the fight or breaking off the fight and disengaging whilst you are still standing.
Gi makes you a way better grappler. I’ve trained in Sambo, Judo and bjj (Judo since my youth) I barley train without the gi and crush guys who always train without it.eddie bravo is not a major grappler all the top notch submission grapplers (lower at least 90we percent) train mostly with the gi. Marcello Garcia, bjj penn, damian miai, etc etc. The jujitsu in MMA isthe horrible, alot of these guys just do no gi and it looks sloppy.