Martial_Artist

Kimbo bleeds like anyone else. He tires and feels pain too. Just to different degrees. People ascribe so much awe to his looks that they forget he puts his pants on one leg at a time like we do, he has to eat, breath, and use the bathroom too. Strategy? Fight him like anyone else. Fight to win. Hit him hard. Move out of the way of his punches. I cannot understand the thoughts of those that solidify the fear of size into strategy. Kimbo can take a hit. Well, a lot of people actually can take a good hit. The human body is quite resillient that way. I've seen people pummeled, stabbed, shot, and beat and sitting in a gurney telling me what happened. Kimbo just turns the reaction of being hit into a combative. How many people practice getting hit or maybe even flinch-resistance training? It prepares the mind for the eventuality of being hit. Flinching is a defeated response to being struck. It's a "I don't want to get hit and that hurt, don't do it again!" response. Suck it up. If little bitty gangbangers can soak up the punishment of being jumped in. Then you, as a trained martial artist, should be able to do just as well. You've just been approaching it all wrong mentally for too many years. Seriously, the fear of Kimbo shouldn't even be a topic for martial artists. He is no different than anyone else you could potentially have to fight. You guys need to remember that greatest are not all on television or youtube. There are plenty of serious fighters, many with experience far greater than backyard fights, on this world that don't show up on Spike.tv or youtube. There are great athletes in the MMA world, no doubt. Kimbo can do damage, no doubt. How much of what you see is the mental defeat suffered by his opponents before any punch is thrown? How many of you have already resigned yourself to defeat just because he looks scary? If the thought of fighting a physically larger, stronger opponent frightens you, then perhaps you need to focus more on training. Power in hitting. Speed in hitting. Are we not martial artists? Adapt what you can do against whoever you fight. One of the first rules of warrior training is not to kill your warrior in training. All this does is program the mind to "die" in a real fight. You must have the mentality that you can't be killed, even though you might. I imagine that many training scenarios in many of today's dojos result in a student losing the scenario. I provide an example: in Simunition training you are taught to keep shooting even if you take rounds. You are taught to win the scenario regardless of where you have been shot or what kind of wound you think you have received. Why is this important? Because the mind will play a great role in not just surviving a deadly force encounter, but winning. There are countless stories of police officers facing bad guys after being shot and still fighting, even though mortally wounded. It's the least you can do for yourself and your loved ones. If thugs and criminals can take a beating or get shot and still fight, then why not us? You have got to tell yourself that no one is going to take your life away from you. That no matter what you feel, you will go home to your family. I hear so much of this defeatist attitude on martial arts forums that it is really no surprise why the public has no respect for traditional martial arts. It's not so much the technique as it is the students. Students who do not train to win a fight. Who find it more comforting to say "I'd run away" or "He's too big and strong, so I would have to find a weapon." Students who have never felt pain to understand how to deal with it once felt at the hands of someone who doesn't care about you and would care less to see you dead. Not to say running or obtaining a weapon are not solutions, but it's the instant "I stand no chance so better hedge the odds." This is not the mentality of the warrior. Now, before you all run off screaming, you can't keep that ego and pride in a fight it will get you hurt or killed. You need to understand your limitations. It's better to avoid fights at all costs. There is a season for all things. Including choosing not to fight. That's not the point of what I'm writing. I'm not writing about strategy. And if that's all you're seeing you've completely missed the point. How can a serious martial artist view someone and the only or foremost response in a self-defense situation he can think of is to run? Shouldn't the response be: Hmm, I would have a hard time fighting that guy. Maybe I need to work on this or that. I might not win, but he's going to hurt too. That's something I learned as kid from my Dad. He told me when fighting a bully you make him hurt. You make him work, sweat, bleed even. You never let him win easily. You fight like that and even if you don't walk away strong, you walk away with respect for yourself and from your opponent. People like Kimbo count on their intimidation factor in their ability to win. We all do to some extent. How nervous do you feel fighting against someone you know you can beat (say a white belt with no prior experience)? How does that confidence translate into your sparring match? Confidence is a huge factor in combat victories. Why do you think police and military train all the time? Why do you think they work on skill sets and developing skills sets? It's to build confidence in those skills to reduce the stress induced by combat thereby increasing their combat effectiveness. Isn't that what you do each time you train at your dojo, dojang, kwan, or school? If not, why? Aren't you training skills and sets tested and refined in an environment designed to increase warrior confidence? We are martial artists and we might find ourselves entering the realm of the universal human phobia: the toxic, corrosive, destructive environment of interhuman aggression. It goes along way to ask what is the difference between a tornado destroying your house and hospitalizing your family and a group of gang members breaking into you house assaulting you and your family hospitalizing everyone and then burning your house down. The end result is the same. You have lost your house and your family is in the hospital. Tell me, what's the difference? I'll you think about that one. Now, before everyone goes off and says you can't win every fight. There's always someone better than you. That's true, but that's not what you train your mind to believe. Because if you do, then the nexy guy you fight, who you might have a chance at beating, starts to hurt you or seems to gain the advantage what's going to happen? You're going to remember you can't win every fight. Or there's always someone better than you. You're going to lose mentally before your body even has a chance to win. Saying you can't win every fight or there's someone better than you are not strategic considerations. They should be training inspirations, not fighting concepts when approaching a conflict. Strategy is for a different post. We can argue running vs fighting. Weapons vs empty hands. But that's not what I'm talking about right now. I'm trying to cut through years of whatever training you have undergone that has programmed you to accept the possibility of defeat for whatever reason and resign yourself to it. That's unacceptable from a trainers point of view. I would hope none of your teachers are creating warriors who lose. You owe it to yourself and your loved ones to never accept defeat. Which, unfortunately, appears to be the mass sentiment here. Now, for those still stuck on tactics. I advocate doing whatever it takes to win. I'm not going to go into detail because it's out of place in my post. And yes, there are times when avoidance is wise. But I never advocate cowardice. I do advocate making sure you get home each and every day to your loved ones, for your loved ones. Now, I understand some may have a hard time grasping what I'm talking about. Either due to age or experience. Some of you have never had to confront someone who does not feel remorse for killing or wouldn't hesitate to kill you. I hope you never have to. But you should prepare yourself mentally and physically for it. Why? Well, I'm assuming you've decided no one is responsible for your personal safety but you. You have chosen to study the martial arts. You are not studying dance or ballet. you are studying the art of interhuman aggression and combat. You might as well accept the far-reaching possibility that it might occur to you or a loved one. And it won't be pretty. It won't be like the movies. But you have time. And it is a double edged sword. On one hand you have the time to train because you have not had a deadly force encounter. On the other hand time is against you, you never know when you could face a deadly force encounter. George Washington said those who desire peace prepare for war. I think that's all I'll write on this. I probably should have just written an article on the subject. But I felt it better belonged under this topic. I'm not arguing with anyone. It's not my goal to belittle fellow martial artists regardless of the petty bickering that exits among stylists or systemalists (those that bicker over system such as mma vs traditional). I have been a teacher and it has always been my goal to create warriors. Take what you want from this. Or take nothing at all. As much as I would like all martial arts students to develop into warriors I also understand not everyone is. And there is nothing wrong with that. Not everyone is supposed to be a warrior. An ancient Greek warrior leader once said: "Of every 100 men that they send me, 10 should not be here. 80 are nothing but targets. 9 are real fighters, they the battle make, Ah, but the one, he is a warrior, and he will bring the others back." It should be the goal of teachers and students alike to be the one warrior. MA p.s. It probably should be another post altogether the role of size in a fight. Being 5'05" 120 lbs against a 6'03" 250 lbs. But, like I said earlier, I am not writing about tactic, strategy, or technique. I am more or less simply providing a monologue on an observation of mine being a member of this forum for almost 6 years. Being a practicing martial artist for nearly 30 years. And being a teacher for around 10 years. And having seen these things on harsh, bleak ghetto streets. Just my .02 cents.

Your only real complaint is your first one about training outside the prescribed rules. Everything else you're just taking too personally. As for your first complaint tell your instructor he's telling other students to cheap-shot during training. That's valid. Unless it's an instructor doing that, then it's not acceptable--unless that's the spirit of your training. AN occasional "hit" is a good wake-up call to test the forgetfullness of your technique. Talking smack? You should talk to your dad about how to deal with a bully. Your instructor is not your dad. Your instructor is almost no different than telling a school official. There's nothing like tattle-telling to earn respect or get a bully off your shoulders. Further on "smack"...who really cares? Do you respect this guy's opinion that much? If it was me he might as well as be farting as 'talking smack' for me to even care. And the snide dog remarks? What is this kindergarten? Again, who cares? He doesn't sound like a bully. More like a pompous arrogant self-inflated ballon. I mean, this guy isn't physically hurting you, right? He's not bullying you into giving him your lunch money, right? He's not physically harassing you, i.e. shoving you around the halls, punching you, giving wedgies, right? What part of what he is doing is bullying again? Maybe I missed something. My advice is to ask your dad how to deal with someone who makes you feel uncomfortable. (setting is irrelevant). I would let the instructor know he's trying to get students to hurt each other without the other one expecting it. But everything else is your issue. You don't sound confident in yourself. This guy just sounds like a lug-headed bafoon making snide remarks to smaller classmates. The only serious concern is the cheap-shotting he's promoting. Again an issue for your instructor. And the dog comments do affect you or you would not have placed them in your rant post. Look, it's unfortunate this is happening to you. But what is it exactly you don't like about this guy? His attitude? Well, guess what, you're going to meet tons of people like him. Are you going to let them bother you the same? Let me ask you this: how much time do you think this guy spends thinking about you outside of the dojo? Compare that to how much time you spend thinking about this guy outside the dojo. Something not seem right to you. You're letting this guy get too much control over you by letting him push the right buttons and he can probably see it in your face, which just drives him to do it more. Like I said earlier, who is this person to you that his opinion matters so much to you? You don't need to fight this guy. He's not physical with you, so it's not a physical dominance kind of thing. You shouldn't give the guy the time of day verbally either. Because no matter what you say, whatever he says will bother you more, because you have already put so much emotional importance on his words to vent about them. I doubt he'd feel the same about anything you'd say to him. So, don't bother. He's not worth your breath. You're wasting too much of your time on this loser. You also might want to work harder on your training. Because you sound afraid of the guy. Mentioning size, and what he claims he'll do to you when you spar. Then you go on to mention how you feel about your training. Don't let this nincompoop get in your head any further. Ignore him and work on your training. Unless he really starts bullying you. I'm not your dad so I'm not going to tell you how to deal with a real bully. You'll have to ask your father-figure on that one. Just my .02 cents. Not trying to offend, just making some observations and trying to help.

Oops, my bad. I'm sorry. This is yours. I'm not really a violent person, ok?

Howdy!

That's a good explanation, NightOwl. It's true. It is a mistranslation. The text should read Thou Shalt Not Murder.

How much power is needed? As much as you (individually) can generate is about as much as you need. Is it always necessary to strike with that much power? Maybe not, but, you should be capable of being able to strike with as much power as you, individually, can muster. You don't know when you might need it. I frequently teach trying to end the fight with every strike you use. If it works on the first strike then excellent. If not, then you know with every strike you're throwing, you're trying to end the fight. This obviously doesn't apply to strikes not meant to hit, i.e. feigns, set-ups, &c. But it does apply to every strike you intend to make contact with your opponent. This is not easy to train for. In fact, it's very tedious. I like to use a heavy bag, XXL floor bag, and beat on it as fast and as hard as I can until I can no longer throw a punch. I'm not working specific technique, but building the muscular endurance needed to strike with power and speed multiple times. Then, taking this endurance, I work on my technique through sparring. Hope this helps. I'll add more if needed. I'm out of time right now. I'm being called to something else. MA.

It's not all the adrenaline rush that's making you act that way. It's an elevated heart rate brought on by combat stress or fear. It's a physiological reaction. There are several ways to deal with it. Combat breathing. Better cardio training. Better martial arts training. Mental focus. What's happening is that as your heart rate is being elevated by combat induced stress your body is shifting from cognitive brain to mammalian brain, the hind brain. A great quote states, "In combat you do not rise to the occasion. You fall to your highest level of training." A great book about this is called On Combat by Lt Col. Dave Grossman. I would suggest training more realistically. Get in better shape. Work on controlling fear. Work on breathing. Without being there, that's about all I can suggest. MA

Why does it have to be only one? I regularly carry a gun and a knife at the same time. I train for both. I can draw a concealed firearm fairly quickly, but that doesn't mean I should be focused on it. There was a training video a while back that showed police recruits in a force-on-force training exercise where they were faced with a knife wielding assailant. The assailant was not to fall, regardless of how many times the recruit shot him with paint bullets. The video showed many recruits attempting a reload when the assailant was already at arm's length and beginning to strike them. What had happened is the recruits were so focused on having the gun they forgot all other tools, including their hands, to use at a close distance. If you're going to carry a gun you have to train with it as a tool, not as an end all. I've seen plenty of gun shots and gun fights where the gun isn't the end-all of the fight. Just because you shoot someone once, twice, even three or more times, doesn't mean that person is out of the fight. You, of course, should have the same mentality. Just because you've been shot once, twice, or even three times doesn't put you out of the fight. Carry a gun and a knife. If you carry gun do you carry a spare magazine or ammunition? Have you trained in performing stress reloads? If you have 5-10 rounds, how many are going to hit a moving, attacking target? Are those rounds going to guarantee a drop? If he's in range to attack you and you still draw and fire, more than likely he'll still be charging and striking. If you only carry the ammunition in the firearm without a spare what do you do when you run out of ammunition? Do you carry a knife? Can you get to it quickly if your firearm now becomes a decorated paperweight? Like I said, I carry both. I understand the limitations of the handgun. I also understand the limitations of the knife. Ultimately your hands are you best choice because they control both the gun and the knife, and your chances for survival when you lose your gun or drop your knife. Remember, even with a gun, drawing and firing as quickly as possible even from a distance as little as 3 yrds can result in missing your target. Combat stress raises the heart rate which causes several known effects. tunnel vision, audio exclusion, loss of fine motor skills. Reaching condition black can render your gun, your knife, your training useless and reduce you to a grunting primate. It's fatal to believe only because you carry a gun you will be victorious in both the combat and the intimidation. If that were the case far less law enforcement officers would die in the line of duty against assailants who know better than the average citizen the limitations of the handgun. The same for a knife. The body can go through immense trauma and still fight well. It's the mind that controls the body. How well do you control your mind? Since this is a discussion involving deadly weapons. Have you fully considered what combat with these weapons is like? The blood, the flesh, the pain, the noise, the smells? Are you prepared to do more than merely threaten the use of deadly force? Drawing a gun or knife is threatening use of deadly force, are you prepared to employ it in your defense? There is more behind the combat than the simple declaration I choose a gun for intimidation or for distance. Or I choose a knife for concealment and close quarters. I recommend all martial artists read "On Combat" by Lt. Col. Dave Grossman. I certainly don't want to discourage fellow martial artists who have chosen the path of personal responsibility in self-defense. But, in such a discussion of deadly force I must at least share my opinion. My .02 cents.

I've been thinking about teaching again.

Forgive mylack of insight, but shouldn't a martial art already be "reality-based"? I mean, who trains to fight ghouls and ghosts? If your martial art doesn't already teach you to fight in the "real world" (whatever that means...we're not on tv) then you aren't learning a martial art. The term martial art should already signify "reality based", unless of course, you are learning to fight aliens. Where did the idea of the separation of martial arts training and "reality based" training begin? The two should be synonymous or at least inclusive. I prefer not to use the term "reality-based". I don't like the connotation. It's as if anything else is pure fantasy or training for something not real. I believe that if you are learning what I believe is a real martial art then the training for the real world is already there. I think what has happened is that a vast majority of schools have lost the "martial" part of their art and have become sport schools teaching something not applicable in combat. As a result of a great number of these kinds of schools existing there has arisen some sort of grassroots need for something considered "reality-based", when in essence, your martial art should already be "reality-based" or you are seriously being short-changed in your preparations to defend yourself. As was stated in a previous post, fighting is not for everyone. And it shouldn't be. Not everyone is mentally cut out for it. There are those gifted few who walk with the natural mind of a fighter and the training only makes them more deadly. Then there are the greater masses who train their minds and bodies to make them deadlier. And then there are the dangerous idiots who delude their egos with a little bit of training and walk the proud step of a fighter, but shrivel in the heat of the conflict. If you aren't training to win a fight, then you might as well as study Tae Bo or Ballet. At least that's my belief. Don't train in a sport and not learn to fight and then call yourself a martial artist, because you have consciously denied the martial part of being that artist. .02cents. MA.

Around here, if a Police officer sees to guys scrapping, no matter who started it, both get hooked for disorderly conduct. If questioning takes place, further charges could ensue. However, even if the other person doesn't want to press charges, and an officer sees another get attacked by him, he will most likely still get charged. In the end, just waiting to get hit is not a wise idea at all. Not to sabotage the thread too much... Well, as for disorderly conduct in AZ, again, gotta have a victim. If someone nearby wants to prosecute for being disturbed by the disorderly conduct, then both will be charged, or at least the aggressor, but otherwise it is classified here as "mutual combat" and nothing as far as charges being pressed is done. Unless there are significant injuries then an informational report will be taken. Again that's just the way it works around here, gotta have a victim to prosecute a crime and the state can't be victim most of the time. That way if you're in a fight and someone calls the cops you most likely won't go to jail for defending yourself. If there is a victim of disorderly conduct that person most likely saw the fight and can witness to you defending yourself and then you won't get charged with the assault or disorderly conduct. Rather than arbitrarily being arrested for fighting, even if you were defending yourself. Now, if the mutual combat(no self-defense situation, ie two drunk friends fighting in the street) is disruptive to the neighbors and they want to prosecute for the disorderly conduct - fighting, then both will be charged. It's two separate cases. The Disorderly conduct with the neighbor and the mutual combat/assault (or in this case mutual combat because it was not a self-defense situation and neither combatant wants to press charges )with the two involved in the fight. Like I said, I'm not too familiar with the laws in other states, but I know AZ law fairly well. (not perfect and I can't predict how a case will be resolved in court),but I know what the law is on the front end. Anyways, just my .02 cents. I can't give legal advice, but, personally, I wouldnt let anyone hit me.

If you were still alive that is. Most empty-handed attacks don't end up in homicide. Physical injury, yes; but homicide without a weapon of some sort is vary rare among adults. You see it far more often with adults beating children to death than you do two adults beating each other to death with their bare hands. More often than a not a weapon is employed However, I don't recommend taking a hit. Why? No one has the right to hit me. I make that decision. I don't think you should be thinking of the civil legalities of a fight prior to going into a fight. A criminal lawsuit is different than a civil lawsuit. I don't have to press charges against you and you won't go to jail, but I can still sue you for money in civil court. (At least in AZ, I'm not sure how civil vs criminal court works in other states. In Arizona if someone punches you and there is probable cause against that person and you don't want to prosecute, that person will not be charged and will not go to jail for the assault.) I think you should worry about your personal safety and wellbeing before you every think if you can sue your attacker for any dollar amount. I don't think that thought has ever even crossed my mind before. I think it is fitting enough the other guy is beat up, why sue him? Besides, if it is a true self-defense street attack situation the person you are going to sue will most likely not have any accountable money. It's funny how most dirtbags don't have steady jobs, residences, or bank accounts, but can often be found with lots of cash on their person. My two cents, and it's not any legal advice (seeing as how I can't offer legal advice legally) but I don't like the idea of letting anyone hit me, even if I'm thinking of the legal lawsuit while his fist impacts my braincage. MA

Nice.

Well, like it was said earlier, it all depends on your goal. If you want to compete in UFC there will have to be an adjustment to training methods. What I agreed with most was the concept of having to apply things under pressure. And I believe most of the discussion had turned to applying CMA in a MMA ring environment. If that is the case then CMA will have to adjust training for the ring, again, if that is the goal. Otherwise, you don't have to worry about it. Which I think someone else had stated. MA is not a popularity contest. It's a what works contest- if your goal is fighting ability. If your MA hasn't had any good public exposure that is not an immediate disqualifier to its validity. It makes it that much harder to judge, but its not automatically deemed ineffective. Training for a ring environment for competition is different than training for a fight environment. But, as was pointed out before, fighting of any kind is good for training experience. It is quite different to practice a punch against a willing opponent and then try to hit someone who is trying to hit you back. Now, I'm saying you have to be a competing MMA to be any good. Quite different. I don't really care much for competition of that sort - belts and championships, etc. I definitely believe full-contact UFC style training is needed. Where else can you test the effectiveness except in a fight? But again, the OP was about CMA bad rep. If I was a practitioner of CMA I really wouldn't care what other people thought and wouldn't whine about it either. You can argue two methods of fighting all day with words and not reach an agreement. The only real way is fight, but then that doesn't really prove anything more than maybe you had a good fighter vs a bad fighter and who was representing the style. And again you have really good fighters out there who will never fight in the MMA public arena and never be known to the world. That certainly doesn't make them any less of the great fighter. The UFC, and similars, are great for entertainment and a fair demonstration of how somethings work and others dont. But, I don't believe it the end all of any discussion for martial arts. And I certainly don't believe the greatest fighters in the world are found in its ranks. There are some excellent athletes no doubt. To the OP if you want CMA to be more popular then you will have to do something to shape public opinion and right now that's the MMA arena. BUt, really, why should you care? If you are confident you can fight, then does it matter that your system is not represented in the ring? Or that other people bad-mouth your system? Great wisdom there is in: "sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me." A lot people have forgotten that and let the words of others carry them away. MA.

I would have to agree with nine_weapons. He makes an enormous amount of valid points. It's also way too late in the game for me to add my two cents. But this has been a great thread to read. Excellent, indeed! MA