WHO, WHERE AND IN WHAT WILL YOU FIGHT?
by Scot Conway, Ph.D., J.D.

With over a decade of martial arts experience, Kyle knew he was an excellent technician. His instructor had told him so. Few could stand against him in sparring, and his forms and techniques were exceptional. He had trained hard for so long, shown dedication to his art, and traveled the globe teaching. At fourth dan, he knew that he had little to fear from violent men, since most of them wouldn’t stand a chance.

Then it finally happened. His skills were put to the test against an untrained criminal. The man attacked, and a flurry of reactions followed and he sent the man tumbling down an embankment. More angry than ever, and apparently unhurt, the man came back up to attack again. This time he had a two-by-four he found at the bottom of the bank, and he swung it for Kyle’s head. Kyle moved with the grace and speed honed from years of training. He blocked the arm, but centrifugal force whipped the beam around and it hit him in the back of the head. He saw those white motes of light that told him was hurt, but he was still conscious.

Moving with greater determination and ferocity, he pushed himself to full speed and full power. A blur of techniques followed, as flawlessly executed as his years of training of made them, yet his opponent stood! Gathering his wits, the criminal backed off. He wasn’t hurt very badly, but he was certainly taking the worst end of the fight. He grabbed a tire iron and smashed the windows of Kyle’s car. Kyle decided not to face the tire iron unarmed, so he grabbed his own from his trunk. The criminal fled, hit perhaps 20 times, but still able to stand, walk and drive.

* * * * * * *

Ralph had years of jujitsu training. One night on his way to his dorm room, a mugger attacked. There was a brief moment of shock as his mind instantly assessed the situation. Then shock gave way to a confident smirk. This mugger had grappled him, just like he was taught! With skillful ease he worked his technique and had a choke hold locked in even before the mugger hit the ground. Ralph already knew the fight was over. In just a few seconds, the mugger would be unconscious.

Suddenly, pain flared through his skull. He lost the choke hold as he sprawled to the ground. Blood ran down his face and everything faded to gray. The last thing he remembered seeing was the mugger’s friend, still holding a rock in his hand he used to hit Ralph’s head, taking another swing. He woke up sometime later under the prodding of a helpful stranger. He had two concussions and his ribs were cracked where someone had apparently kicked him, but the clinic told him that he should be fine in about six weeks.

* * * * * * *

Many martial artists harbor illusions that they are ready for a real fight. After all, that’s the natural result of good martial arts training, isn’t it? Many really are ready, and many are not. Many are not nearly as ready as they think they are. They might be ready to fight another martial artist for points. They might be ready for a one on one conflict. They might be ready for an unarmed opponent. But are they ready for what really happens?

PROBLEM: MYTHS

There are a lot of myths about real fights. Many people train for the “let’s take this outside” type of “modern duel.” They are ready for two people facing one another, both ready to fight, maybe boxing, maybe grappling, but both playing by some sense of “fairness.” At one Southern California martial arts school, a few students are known for picking fights at dance clubs, taking it outside, and then soundly beating the person. After that, everyone goes back to dancing. This is not how most violent criminal assaults take place.

Many people think they can end a fight on their feet, that an opponent will not be able to grab them because they will not get close enough. Others claim that 95% of fights go to the ground, and they know this because at least 95% of their fights that they intentionally take to the ground go to the ground. Some think they can beat a dozen people all at once, while others say you can’t even beat two. So what are the facts?

SOLUTION: KNOW THE FACTS

In street violence, most assaults are not fair fights. Women are attacked by single, unarmed opponents in about 70% of assaults. Only about one quarter of the time can a woman expect to have to fight more than one person or someone with a weapon. The attacker will almost always be a man, and that man will almost always be bigger and stronger. When weapons are used against women, they are most often brandished or used as a threat before they are actually used to attack.

Men are attacked most often by multiple opponents and armed opponents. Only about 40% of all assaults against men are single, unarmed opponents. A fighting system that presumes a single opponent without weapons might be excellent training for women, but would cover less than half of what men are likely to face. Men are much more likely to face an armed opponent, often using some form of club or knife. A small but significant percentage of criminals will attack with guns. When facing an armed opponent, men are more likely than women to be attacked with the weapon with minimal brandishing of the weapon. When a man threatens another man with a weapon, you should be expecting him to use it. You should expect weapons in about 40% of all violent criminal assaults.

You should also expect multiple opponents in about 40% of assaults. This includes an overlap of about 20% of assaults for which you should be prepared to fight multiple, armed opponents. Often when there is more than one person in the fight, you don’t know how many there will be until the fight begins. It might seem to start as a one on one, but at any moment, someone else could join the fight. An innocent bystander might be another criminal waiting to jump in the fight.

Domenstic Violence is different. In Domestic Violence situations the man and the women are equally likely to be the one to start the violence. Men most often push or shove. Women are more likely to throw something. Women are more likely to brandish weapons, including guns, but when men go for a weapon in a domestic violence situation they are more likely to use it. Public perception usually sees this as a man beating up a woman, but the actual statistics show that both start it in equal numbers, but women are usually the most seriously injured presumably because they are typically smaller.

PROBLEM: UNREALISTIC TRAINING

Many martial artists train unrealistically. They train on double end bags that bounce around five or six feet when hit. They condition reflexes that will hurt them in a real fight, such as maintaining a chambered hand at the side like one does in kata or one step training. They practice on heavy bags, training to hit hard while they ignorantly train to leave just about every potential target open to their opponent. They practice self-defense sets one move at a time, imagining that their opponent will still be where they are hitting even with a half second pause between movements.

SOLUTION: USE EQUIPMENT PROPERLY AND VISUALIZE

The legendary Joe Lewis recommends using double cording on double end balls. He explains that nobody’s head bounces around five feet. The cords should be thick enough to only allow one or two feet of normal movement. While training to be able to hit a target moving five feet might increase overall coordination, you won’t have that kind of movement from an opponent in a real fight.

Practice with your hands in a guard position. When training on your own, practice keeping a guard up instead of keeping your hand chambered, even in kata. Remember: Practice makes permanent. You will reflexively do what you condition yourself to do. Unless you want your automatic reflex to chamber your hand to your side, you should practice keeping your hands in front of you where they can do some good in a real fight.

When you use heavy bags, assume that the bag is someone who is going to hit you back. If you treat the bag like an opponent and not a static target, you should be keeping your guard up and executing your technique with control. Think about what you could hit on yourself if you were the bag and someone else were executing your technique. As you learn to close openings, you will be training better for actual fighting.

When you practice your self-defense techniques, flow through them rapidly. An opponent won’t wait patiently while you decide what to do, so you should move quickly from move to move in one, smooth sequence of movements. As with heavy bag training, imagine you are on the other side of the techniques. What could you do to an opponent who moved like you? If you see too many openings and a technique taking too much time, then clean it up.

PROBLEM: PRESUME UNREALISTIC REACTIONS

Also, many martial artists presume unrealistic reactions from opponents. An opponent struck in the groin will not collapse helplessly to the ground. A form of limited shock may not even allow a man to feel the pain for 20 minutes. One woman was told this by her instructor, but she saw first hand when a criminal attacked her, and during her technique she hit him so hard in the groin that she splattered blood. Even in an arm bar on the ground, he kept trying to hit with his other hand. It took a punch to the temple to get him to stop fighting.

SOLUTION: THINK ABOUT IT

What would it do to you? If you were in a real fight, if you were angry and determined, what could you focus through to keep attacking? We can’t assume that we would be okay after being hit by a criminal, but the criminal would buckle under the power of our punch. While “one opponent, one punch” might work well in theory, the practical aspects of fighting should tell you that you cannot count on it. Could you survive one of your own punches? If someone else hit you the way you hit, what would you do? An opponent might do the same.

Also keep in mind that about 85% of all criminals are under the influence of drugs or alcohol when they are taken to jail. If that translates to violent, criminal assaults, you can expect that your opponent is probably under the influence when he attacks. That means his pain reflexes might not be the same as a normal person. He might not even know when you break something. So long as his body can move, he might just keep coming until he physically cannot move. Also, some people under the influence are known to have inhuman strength. You should be prepared for this as well.

PROBLEM: CLOTHES

Martial arts uniforms bear little resemblance to the clothing people wear in their everyday lives. Imagine a woman on her way to an office wearing a business skirt and jacket, in high heels and hose. Imagine an attorney in a suit, with dress shoes and an attache case. Now imagine a karate gi, a judo kimono, or a kung fu uniform.

We cannot ask a criminal to put off his assault until we have a chance to change clothes. When a criminal attacks, we must defend ourselves in whatever clothes we have on. Imagine being a criminal. You’re waiting for a victim, and men and women in T-shirts and jeans walk by, and a couple wearing a nice suit and an evening dress walk by. Who will you and your friends attack? What will you be wearing when a criminal comes after you?

SOLUTION: TRAIN IN THEM

All you need to do is practice in plain clothes. If you wear a suit, then train in an old suit from time to time. If you wear a dress, then train in a dress. Train in dress shoes, in heels, in jeans, in button down shirts, in whatever clothing you wear on a regular basis. It is best to train in older clothes, since training in clothes will often damage them.

You can learn how restricting some of your clothing might be, notably business and evening attire. A sport coat might make punching and blocking more difficult. An evening dress might make kicks above the shin all but impossible. A tie might create a special vulnerability you will have to deal with in a fight.

As an aside, many martial artists will choose clothing that allows enough freedom of movement to perform most of the moves in their system. One female instructor admitted that she throws a series of kicks in a dress before she will buy it. If it restricts her movements, she won’t buy it. Last year she had to use her art to protect a homeless man, and her clothes didn’t slow her down one bit.

PROBLEM: TERRAIN

Dojo floors are often padded. They are routinely smooth. One does not normally have curbs, fire hydrants, bus stops, poles, bushes, puddles and rocks on the dojo floor. We do not normally slam one another in the dojo walls and crash into the window. In a real fight, all these are possibilities.

Some grapplers strike the ground for a breakfall in a manner that would seriously injure the hand if striking concrete or an irregular hard surface. Some strikers rush in with an explosive movement, which might not work on a well-waxed floor or wet grass. What do you do if you get boxed in by criminals on a stairwell?

SOLUTION: TRAIN ON IT, THINK ABOUT IT

In combination with plain clothes training, terrain training is very useful. The first object of terrain training is to grow sufficiently accustomed to a surface that it no longer is a disadvantage. One must know how to avoid obstacles in any give areas so they do not hinder you. If a martial artist were to lose the fight, he certainly does not want it to be because he beat himself by not accounting for some important terrain variable. One martial artist threw a quick skipping in side thrust against an opponent on wet grass. The kick missed, and the martial artist fell unceremoniously to the ground. He lost not because he was beaten, but because he didn’t think about the surface he was on.

The second goal of terrain training, once the first is accomplished, is to learn how to turn the terrain to your advantage. When fighting on sand, the most obvious danger is getting sand in your face. Obviously you can throw sand in your opponent’s face. If you can also fight blind, then you can throw sand in the air, and as it rains down on all combatants and none can see, you can strike every opponent. If there are multiple opponents, then you can hit everyone, and they must wait since they have friends they could hit on accident. By the time the dust settles, you might have removed one or more people from the fight.

We cannot train on every surface and in every situation in which we might find ourselves in a criminal assault. The number of variables is enormous. Still, with some thought applied in everyday life, we can be ready for just about anything. From time to time in your day, all you need to do is pause and ask yourself a question, “If I got attacked right here, right now, what terrain elements can I use to my advantage?” The more often you do this exercise, the more habitual it becomes. Eventually, you start to note car positions, steps, poles, concrete, grass, rocks, walls, trees, possible makeshift weapons, and more.

* * * * * * *

Alan was a martial artist with many years of experience, but while he trained expertly for virtually every reasonable possibility, there had never been a need for his skill. He was wandering the museum park one evening after a late night in the office in prayerful reflection when he noticed several young men walking toward him. He noted their hostile demeanor and thought it best to leave. Before he got far, they ran up and surrounded him. He tried to talk his way out of it, since they seemed only intent on badgering him. They asked for drugs, then demanded money.

He took their hostility with some serenity, even though he was outnumbered five to one. Then one of them grabbed his tie, jerking him forward, and cocked a fist. He saw another quick movement out of the corner of his eye. Alan exploded into action.

Moving through the man who jerked his tie, he used him as a momentary shield against the rest before striking with an elbow to the crown of his skull. He leapt up on a retaining wall and kicked another off as he tried to follow. As two more came up too far away, he retreated to some nearby stairs. He eliminated one more opponent expertly with his stair fighting training. He had a moment to remove his tie before the three young men remaining closed the distance.

Leaping off to a sand pit below the stair, he grabbed a handful of sand and made for a nearby walkway. Once the men were well away from the sand, Alan hurled his handful at them. With expert precision, he moved in following his thrown sand and was able to knock out two more before they even knew he was there. The last man fled.

Alan called the police. Two of the four he beat had managed to get up and leave, but the other two were arrested. Alan was thankful that he knew how to fight in a suit, that he knew what to do when someone grabbed his tie, that he could fight on stairs, use the sand, and that he had trained realistically. He was surprised at how smoothly the fight went.

* * * * * * *

And that’s the goal to which we all aspire.

Back to Articles Page