question

[JerryLove]

Watch more, later, UFCs... You'll find that strikers who train to deal with grapplers do just fine... Strikers who don't train realistically die even faster than grapplers who don't train realistically.

[cross]

UFC has rules. The street doesnt.

[Tal]

all fights (well, nearly all) start standing up. if you're good enough in a stand up art you can finish the fight before you go to the ground or start grappling.

 

i've been in a few street fights before, and i've finished them all off without having to go to the ground.

 

as said already, UFC is sport and it has rules. what's more, the competition is very even (relatively). everyone's a trained fighter and becuase of the weight categories people don't have to fight opponent's twice their size.

 

on the street, 'competition' is far from even. some are completely untrained, some are fairly well trained, some are very well trained, some a short and skinny, some are built like tanks.

 

also, what constitutes a 'victory' on the street is not laid down in stone. if you knock someone to the floor on the street and then run, you have probably won as far as you're concerned.

 

in UFC you can't kick people in the head or crush their face with your boot when you floor them. this works very well on the street, a lot better than grappling.

[GrrrArg]

Stand up works better against more than 1 person than grappling does. Street fights are not always even in the number game.

[Gino]

I don't think there is any black or white here but there never is in martial arts because it is all about the individual.Remember fighting in a ring with rules is a world apart from fighting in reality.However, I am a very strong believer in taking part in Full contact tournaments and training at your club with as much body contact as posssible including take downs,locks and chokes.That way should you come across someone in the street that is an experianced fighter you are better equiped to deal with it.So harsh as it may sound, in my opinion if your not doing some sort of ground training you may find yourself at a disadvantage.

[delta1]

You need both, trained realistically, as well as some physical conditioning. And if you plan on using it much it wouldn't be a bad idea to at least learn first aid, maybe even an advanced healing art. Ballance! Ballance! Ballance!

 

For the street I'd give priority to stand up fighting, for the following reasons:

 

*No matter how many fights you believe go to the ground, they almost all start standing up.

 

*On the street, he has friends, or you may have other enemies. And it isn't unheard of for a bystander to just step in and take a cheap shot to a downed fighter.

 

*Street fighters have weapons until proven othrwise. Go down and roll, he may pull a knife, and you probably won't know it till after he uses it.

 

Most seriouse striking arts are incorporating a ground game in case it goes that way, and grapplers do know how to strike. And most arts teach some kind of joint locks and throws. If you are seriousely training for self defense, learn them all. And get your first aid card updated, just in case you still aren't invincable!

[Drunken Monkey]

and don't expect to kick serious behind after two weeks...

[Valithor]

The UFC "proved" that for men aged in their 20s or 30s who can afford to train full-time and choose to fight competitively that the grappling arts are often superior.

 

The fights are held with two fighters who have spent a great deal of time preparing physically and mentally for the fight to be at a particular time, under particular circumstances in a particular environment.

 

Perhaps it is more "realistic" than any other competition, perhaps, but it should not be taken to be anything more than that.

 

...

 

Having said all that, I have great respect for all profession martial arts and grappling in general.