street fights-tell your story

[sensei8]

JudoBrah

You will find that true martial artists do not boast about "Street Fights" as although we train to protect ourselves from attackers in the street aswell as other arenas, we tend to only use our skills only when there is no other avenue.

not too sure how long you have been training or your age but you will find the older you get and the more senior up the grades you get, this will no longer be an issue for you.

Just relax and enjoy your chosen Martial Arts Styles!

Solid post!!

[sensei8]

Well, I've never really had to engage in a full-on street fight before. However I have "used techniques" that I learned in training to keep myself out of them, which is in my opinion, all too often understated.

1. Run the heck away - When it's just me that I am worried about protecting, often getting the heck out of there is the best defense. I was inspired by kata like enpi and kanku sho/dai to practice a lot of running and knee-tuck jumping over tall and wide objects. I have become comfortable gauging exactly what I can and cannot clear, where as an assailant is often not. At least three times I have run away from would-be muggers in a rough part of town late at night.

2. Talking people out of it - As a kid I didn't have the confidence to do this, but now that I have a backup plan I am much more at ease in this sort of situation. I was attending an out-of-town karate tournament when a man came up to me and my friends with a knife and asked for our money. I just stood there and talked to him politely about his financial situation, and then about my own while shaking out an empty wallet (that I always carry with me). He not only apologized. He actually gave me a can of cola he had in his pocket. TRUE STORY!

3. Rolling and break-falling - Twice now I have been struck by a hit-and-run car while riding my bike. Both times it was my method of falling that I learned in karate class that literally saved my skin.

4. Being creepy (okay, so this one I didn't really learn in training! lol!) - Earlier this year someone tried to break into my apartment via the back door. I awoke when I heard the sound, picked up one of my tonfa and used it to tap on the adjacent window with an accompanied slow but disapproving finger wag. He ran. Another time when I was a freshmen in college I saw a man trying to take my bike outside of a taco bell. I just walked out there silently and stared daggers at him with no words until he eventually got creeped out and and went away (I was SO glad that he gave up easily, since I REALLY wan't planning to fight over a stupid bike).

All in all, no real problems. Fighting for me is the last resort, so other than responding to some uninvited playful roughhousing with gentle blocks or joint locks here and there over the years, no, I've never found a real need to use the fighting techniques I've learned as of yet.

Very good post!!

[MasterPain]

The moral of the story is- minimum wage plus cruddy tips do not make delivering pizza in the ghetto worth it. There are people who will try to shank you there for a pizza.

Ev, I'm stealing this. Best quote in a long time.

[evergrey]

Haha, yesssss! Thanks, I'm honored. :} OSU!

[RW]

Martial arts do NOT prepare you for a street fight.

Martial arts are either a sport (like olympic TKD or Judo) or a way of living (Budo .martial arts with a philosophy, discipline, etc.) or plain simply, martial arts.

I mean, a neko ashi dachi stance or a kiba dachi stance are probably the worst things you can do in a fight. Yet martial arts practitioners will spend hours and hours perfecting these stances.

Do you think that having a more aesthetically pleasing or correctly performed tekki shodan kata will help you in a fight?

I'm not bashing karate, I mention the above because that's the art I know the best.

I could also say how it is irrelevant whether someone can achieve the ultra low kung-fu stances, "crane wing" movements, etc.

The more sports-oriented arts aren't exempt from this issue: Try bobbing and weaving like in boxing in a fight, and see a knee smash onto your face. Try that fancy footwork, and see if the other guy just sweeps your feet and makes you trip.

Now even MMA is exempt... the easiest thing to do is to knee someone in the nuts while in the clinch, or headbutt ot plain bite your nose off from the guard position.

Plus a street fight is not a controlled environment... the other guy will have friends, or a weapon, or grab a stone, or try to bite or something...

[tallgeese]

I have to respectfully disagree RW.

Martial arts, at their core, are about learning to fight. Now, the fact that they can, and have, come to take on other meaning largely due to the post Menji restoration outlook on Japanese arts. But they are still, if trained accurately and with proper mindset, about fighting.

It's the martial part of martial arts. I'm not saying that fighting is sole focus of every school out there, but it is at many. Nor am I saying that fight preparation and combative application are the only worthy reasons to study, they are not. But to say that martial art's are not about fighting is to ignore their origins and heart.

This is why I talk about matching your goals to where you train. Some people are more worried about the perfect form. Others, are concerned with competition, and several think about self defense first and foremost.

It's about training modalities and how you're prepping for combat thru your training. There are plenty of threads about that already, so I won't beat that horse.

By you closing argument, one would have to assume that conflict is so unpredictable that it is pointless to train in any way shape or form for it. This is dangerous lines of thinking. Of course you can increase your survivability IF YOU TRAIN ADEQUATELY TO DO SO. Even the arts you've mentioned, specifically to my experience boxing and mma can add useful attributes to your survival in a fight.

Bobbing and weaving can get you hit in the face, as can throwing up your hands and deciding there's nothing you can do to prevent it. You might bet kneed in a clinch, but I can testify that if you've prepped your mind to fight thru, there is every chance you'll be able to in actual application. The head butt while having guard? Train a slipping arm triangle or other counter tactic.

Any sort of bad thing can happen, but training conducted realistically and under pressure with free form attacks and defenses can GREATLY increase your chances. Martial arts are only non combative if WE choose to make them such or accept instruction that does not lend itself to combat prep.

[Groinstrike]

I agree with tallgeese, the base of our tallgeese and myself's base art it a strictly combative art concerned only with effectiveness is fighting at all ranges.

If you train a martial art for self defense, you can make it effective on the street.

That being said streetfights can be the most undpredictable phenomena you can imagine, case in point, a person whom i was acquanted with, whom was an MMA "fighter" and was known to be a "tough guy" was involved in a street fight last night. It quickly changed from a street fight to a tragic event when the other person involved in the fight pulled a handgun and mortaly wounded him, this took place just last night.

I will be using this incident as a lesson to our younger students that just because you think your a tough guy and can fight, you may even be a great fighter, but that all changes when on person decides that it won't be a fair fight.

[MasterPain]

It should be noted that we refused to train that guy due to a poor attitude. We teach a violent art, therefore we don't teach violent people.

[Groinstrike]

It should be noted that we refused to train that guy due to a poor attitude. We teach a violent aItrt, therefore we don't teach violent people.

Its really a shame that human beings are sometimes the way they are. It shows that a tapout shirt does not make you tough. People with a violent history that don't change their ways often end up in tragic circumstances.

Martial arts should keep out of fights and aware of your surroundings. I can't help but be reminded of the death of Alex "f14" Gong, even with a much different set of circumstances.

[okehamptonunited]

As a Fighter you must be able to be aggressive and defend yourself. However you must excercise restraint at all times. Training gives you the ability to fight better but you can't use this on the street unless really needed.

I don't have any stories personally though. To train for a street fight just learn good technique and strength. If the guy is armed I would suggest you too pickup a easily accessible object at the time to defend yourself