the flow of a real fight

[TakeItEasy]

There's a lot of talk about what works in a real fight, so let's take a look at one of the MOST common scenarios where a regular person will get in a fight.

 

Person A) picks a fight with person B) for dancing with "his" girl. Now, the way it generally goes is both fighters are untrained (let's assume you are trained) and scared of getting hit, so they are at a distance from each other. They will kind of box each other. This is where standup is handy to put the guy down immediately before he realizes he is outmatched if you are capable.

 

If you get one or two hits on your opponent he is already pissed off and is not going to want to get hit again, so his response is to charge you. I have seen this a million times and it is what all untrained fighters do, if the initial couple of hits don't go their way they immediately sense their disadvantage and charge you. This is where standup becomes quite useless unless you get lucky and catch the guy before he gets to you. Now you need a ground game.

 

The guy will tackle you and it becomes a wrestling match, generally with the guy who tackled you wildly grabbing and punching at random, but rarely with any clear purpose or devastating effect because they are fighting with rage and not with their heads. At this point anyone can either try overpowering the guy or if they have ground training can use that knowledge to quickly get the guy in a hold, knock him out, or if you're particularly cruel break something.

 

Please feel free to critique this or add to the list of most common scenarios and how to prepare for them.

[aznkarateboi]

Sorry, but you are completely wrong when you say that if your opponent charges you your standup is useless. You can do many things if he charges you, for example hitting him, stepping to the side, etc...

[Sasori_Te]

I have to agree with azn. You are guilty of the thing that most of us here on this forum are guilty of at one time or another. You are trying to paint all martial arts and artists with the same brush and it just doesn't work. I think it's also safe to say that there is no common scenario. Every situation will be as different as the individuals involved in it. There are a number of things a stand-up style can do against a charge. They may not always work just as we had hoped, just as a ground fighters techniques will not always work the way that they hope it will.

[Tal]

If you get one or two hits on your opponent he is already * off and is not going to want to get hit again, so his response is to charge you. I have seen this a million times and it is what all untrained fighters do, if the initial couple of hits don't go their way they immediately sense their disadvantage and charge you.

 

Very true! I too have seen this many times (I think anyone who's seen a few fights will have seen it too).

This is where standup becomes quite useless unless you get lucky and catch the guy before he gets to you. Now you need a ground game.

 

Wrong. I've had people do this charge on me before; I just move out of the way (tai sebaki) or go circular just as they are about to hit me. You can easily trip someone at this point, or throw a roundhouse to their kidneys. If the guy is in a rage and you're calm (and have some skill), you can 'dodge' those charges indefinately if you have the space. I've always used ground fighting or even stand-up grappling/throws as a last resort. If you go to the floor his mate will probably come and stamp on your head (seen it happen). Ground fighting is fine in a one-on-one fight, but you gotta watch out when there are other people around.

 

I mentioned space above, and that is often a factor in a real fight, especially in a bar or anywhere indoors. The place may be crowded, or you may be between tables. In this case, you cannot get out of the way, and if the guy is charging you, you either have to knock him out quick or grapple. You don't necessarily have to go to the floor, but once you start grappling the chances of going to the floor increase greatly.

 

This is my philosophy. I'm not a big person, so I like to stay up so I can use my fitness and agility to my advantage. For a big person, grappling may give them a greater advantage.

 

What you cannot do is say that in a given situation, one type of fighting is best for everyone.

[Tal]

One of the most common situations I've seen start with some guy pushing another guy for whatever reason. If someone pushes you, I'd take it as a good sign. Its showing they don't have the confidense to go for you straight away, and neither are they expecting you to go for them straight away. As soon as they push you, go! In most cases you'll surprise them. Kick their groin, get them off balance (you can use the momentum of their push to bring them of balance) and put a wrist lock on (having pushed you, their wrists will land in a very convenient position). Then you can throw, break their wrist, whatever. I've used this in real life. As long as you go the instant they start to push you, you'll surprise them.

[kotegashiNeo]

I disagree, I worked as a bouncer and have seen many fights go this way. Buddy hits on other guys girl, then other guy smashes beer bottle on buddy's head and then turtling,while other guy feeds uppercuts at buddy. In Canada we have a lot hockey style fights as well,they grab on to the shirt and whale on each other and maybe jersey each ther. pulling his shirt over his head so he can't see and then rapid fire punches. Some of these guys can have hundreds of street fights under thier belts so I wouldn't call them untrained, undisciplined yes, untrained no. As for dealing with scenario (A) don't hit on a guys girlfriend

[Northren Ogre]

Kota...um kota...neo dude has very good insight..I've also worked as a bouncer and seen hundreds of "hockey style" fights. Great fun to see two guys hanging on to one anothers shirts and whaling away on one another.

[Rich67]

I've been in fights, and they never go as planned. ASSUMING a fight will go by a script is the worst thing you can do; cause when it deviates from that script it leaves you confused and unable to function. I trained and learned how to AVOID clinches and takedowns. As a result, I sparred with friends who were well trained in grappling, and they had a tough time taking me to the ground. That's where I was able to defeat them, by resorting to a good stand-up game. Granted, I see where you are going with this, and I have to say that it is good to learn grappling and wrestling also. But without a good stand-up game base, you are probably going to get roughed up pretty good in a real fight with a fighter who has multiple bar/street fights under his belt and doesn't have much formal M/A training. Some street fighters are damn tough; never underestimate anyone. And from what I've been in and seen, a lot of fights start with a sucker punch. And if it's a good sucker punch, that can pretty much determine the course of the fight. In my older and wiser ways, I can say this:

 

The best way to win a fight is to avoid it altogether. Don't dance with another guy's gal, and if your gal is dancing with another guy, ditch the b****!

[Natural]

In my school am the leader I do all sorts of muay thai karate judo jujitsu moves no one dares to face me.

[Natural]

Rich67 you are right but ditching the bullshido is kinda rude.