I got into a fight the other day, I did not look for it it came to me. A landlord I was doing some work for blamed me because a tenant did not pay his rent. He phoned me in a rage and said he was coming round to get his money. I was in babysitting my 4 kids. So shut the door and went outside and waited for him at the end of my driveway. He turned up and stormed out of his car and came nose to nose with me and said something along the lines of ‘wheres my ****ing money’ with that I told him to sling his hook in not so many words. He then tried to headbutt me to which he did’nt get very far he then swung a couple and caught me not very hard though, so I lined him up and cracked him right in the head and followed it up with another. He then ran away like a little girl. I follwed after him calling him a little **** etc. We then got stuck in again this time he caught me with a couple of shots one of them was a cracker right on the nose. My nose began pouring with blood I then whacked him again a few of times and the ******* ran again like a whippet, he turned up wanting to fight and every time he got hit with a few good shots he was off, I tried to catch up with him and get him to stand like a man and fight but he was gone I couldn’t catch him. The twat had left his car running outside my house, so I grabbed his keys so he couldn’t go anywhere. I then grabbed a jack handle out of the boot of my car and went to find him with the full intention of killing him. The neighbours were all out now and they had called the police so I thought better of it and went back and dumped the jack handle and cleaned myself up.
I was ****ed off that ******* had turned up at my house and although I’d hit him with a good few shots and he was the one running away he had still got in and caught me with a good one on the nose and made it bleed.
After this he got carted off by the old bill. On reflection I have had time to see what I did wrong. I threw all my training out of the window and just decided to slug it out with him, you do this with people your gonna get caught! What I needed to do was find his corner get down there and grab round the waist take him to the floor once he was down there give him a good kicking.
Martial arts training? I’ve got 18 years of it and a 4th degree, does it help?to some degree…but i could teach the most effective stuff in 1 session! Get the corner, damp down the arms so they can’t hit you hard, tackle em to the floor…then kick them black and blue!
Theres tactics that are useful and lots of bull**** which is not. Why did all MMA guys start grappling? because thats the best way to win a fight without getting hit. I learned a valuable lesson by taking a shot: Don’t slug it out and one on one always go for the floor!
what style/s have you studied? Tossing years of training out of the window and slugging it out is very common. I used to do it all the time. I studied a primarily striking art in my younger years but would always resort to grappling when fighting. Strange that…
I have studied mainly contact reflex training white crane gung fu similar to wing chun but different, obviously did the usual striking arts stuff my younger days too, kick boxing etc.
This fight didn’t end in grappling, but in retrospect I should have made it do so. And in future instead of slugging itn out I shall be taking them down and stamping them all the way.
Sorry about your fight. It is quite common for technique and training to fail under pressure.
However, no matter how angry a person becomes, IMHO the technique should begin when the opponent is first visible. In our style we are taught how to react, where to stand, how to determine ranges and a whole set of tactics that start to kick in immediately even before the encounter takes place.
I’m not trying to trivialize your experience or offend you in anyway, but quite honestly, if you have not tested your skills in a real fight in 18 years of training, then something was amiss in your training. Not that we MA should go around looking for fights, but it’s good to spar with different styles, do some friendly slap boxing with a street fighter (your buddy at work or find some guy at the gym who likes playing tough guy and make it a friendly, but competitive match). Some guys are natural fighters and can throw some surprising techniques.
It is useful to be able to control your adrenaline under pressure and it might be good to train under pressure as well. As an example of how pressure can be effective( and I can only speak from personal experience); Last time I had an adrenaline rush, a person cam up to me and stuck a gun in my chest and said, " I’m going to kill you." That was serious. I’ve been in 2 fights since then and all I felt since then was a strange sense of calm and almost a sense of elation that I could get another chance to use my skills.
Once again, please excuse any impertenance here as I can only offer a humble opinion, but your experience is common. Perhaps it isn’t the techniques or style that seemed amiss here. Perhaps more realistic training might be in order.
In any case, sounds like you got the better of your opponent and that’s what counts.
Scythe, you have a good point about grappling. Law Enforcement uses it mainly as not to hurt the suspects too much.
Yet on mass attack situations, grappling is not that effective. You may defeat one, while the rest pummel and kick you into nothingness. Or they stab or shoot you, since you loose most perception of them.
Striking, neutralize the ones struck if posible and getting away from the situations are the most sane tactics for self preservation and street survival.
Also, legally, your right to self defense ended when the *******, as you call him, “then ran away like a little girl”. LOL. If you pusue him and do some real damage, you are liable and there are grounds for assault charges.
So analyze the mental training you’ve had and the results of your physical training. If you don’t train outside your “comfort zone” and in high adrenaline, high emotional situations, the result mostly is not using the training you’ve had in your comfort zone. This is not an indication of your situation, this is a statistical fact from most case studies I’ve encountered.
That being said, I hope you whipped that ******** good! Hope you and your family are in the best of health.
Theres no need to be sorry about the fight, i came out on top and learned a valuable lesson, so I’m not too fussed, just a little pi**ed about getting caught in the first place, but still you can’t go to war without casualties.
You seem to have assumed I have never had a real fight in 18 years of training. I have had my fair share, and so far have always been victorious and usually never hit with anything that has bothered me too much. This time came out on top but had a busted nose to go with it, this pi**ed me off as I am so used to not getting hit, what I am trying to get at is that it don’t matter who you are, you get in a fight there is the obvious potential to get hit. In my reflections afterwards I looked at the way things went and came to the conclusion that in a one on one situation the best thing to do is to strike from the corner and to go for the take down asap then to do some serious kicking and stamping!!!
My point being, not really traditional kung fu!
In response to Liokault:
I’d say that was exactly the point.
In response to evolving power:
You have some very good points about training outside the confort zone, its easy to slip into that mode and you are right you need to put the pressure on yourself a little more in training to keep the feeling alive of what the real thing is like.
I totally agree that grappling is only any good one on one try it with multiples and you are ****ed.
One on one in a street fight I would not be grappling for arm locks etc it would be more a case of take them down and then give them a good kicking, I wouldn’t want to be too civil and just restrain some ******* who was trying it on with me (sorry thats just the way i am)
“No your honor… after he fell to the floor I just triped, several times because he held my foot. That’s why the brand of my sneakers is is marked all over his head, hips and kness… repeatedly…”
what size are you Scythe? As a little guy i’d love to be able to grapple someone straight out but i know that it’s largely impractical for me, i just don’t have the mass to effect a takedown, hence i train a striking art where i can dance around and use the advantages i have. Would you try and use the takedown against a bigger opponent or do you think it would be better to revert to stand up fighting in that situation?
Farmer Burns was the World Champion in Wrestling ofthe World, before it was “entertainment”, in the early 1900’s about the 20’s. No one could beat this grappler. He weighted in at 160 something pounds.
Judo, before turning into wrestling with gi’s, was a very functional system of grappling using very sound technique instead of strength. Most japanese ain’t Sumo.
The Graicie’s jujitsu was created and used by thin brazilians.
Also, immediately after a takedown, it doesn’t mean you’ll stay on the ground with the opponent… get up and do some damage and then run away from the danger (of getting hurt or caught! LOL).
It depends what works for you… just try it!
In my case, wrestling consumes lots of energy so I’m looking for principles and techniques closer to more energy conserving grappling techniques. Mostly if going to the ground, if fight (anything goes!!!), not grapple.
I’m about 12 stone 10lbs and about 5’10.
But to be effective in grappling or to grab and takedown you don’t have to be huge. The Gracies aren’t big guys and they grapple with some big fellas and don’t have too much trouble taking them down.
In a real fight you only want the advantage of the takedown then kick the ****er hard multiple times:D
Thanks for sharing the experience. It’s good to hear what happens in the real world. A lot of guys haven’t been in a fight. I’ve known black belts who’ve had their butts handed to them more than once.
LOL about that part where he was running like a little girl. That was FUNNY!!
Yes, getting hit in the nose is tough. Once was hit square on the knob by a ricocheted racquetball and busted wide open. Man, did that p**s me off and there wasn’t really anybody to get angry at. It just plain hurts and makes a person mad.
Thanks again. No matter how trained we are, I think we seldom can escape unscathed.
I think your point is valid when you say: “Why did all MMA guys start grappling? Because that’s the best way to win a fight without getting hit.”
In response to Liokault
I’d say that was exactly the point.:
Got to disagree.
The point is that you came out with out being maimed or killed not that you feel you won. The other guy got a good smack on the nose in on you, is he down the pub telling every one how he kicked the **** out of you? Knowing (hardley anything about) human beings I think he probably is.
i’m glad you weren’t seriously injured. it sounds to me likeyou learned a great deal from this experience, so in that you are fortunate. there is a saying"train for chaos, thrive in chaos". whatever else you may have learned, i’ll bet that next ime you are in a situation you’ll be much calmer.
Yes I’m afraid so, it was not a choice when I get mad in a fight I’m not thinking bout anything but doing some injury.
Liokault:
LoL you are probably right, but then thats part of what ****ed me off about getting hit in the first place. But then what do I give a **** about what he is telling his mates…in his mind he knows what went on.
1renox:
Funny that about the Black belts who get their ass kicked, you’re right there are many of them. The thing is alot will have trained for along time in the martial arts and never had a fight they then go and teach, its a bit like trying to teach someone to swim without ever having got in the water!
Yes I’m afraid so, it was not a choice when I get mad in a fight I’m not thinking bout anything but doing some injury.
Well, you don’t sound proud of that, which I can respect.
I can certainly understand developing tunnel vision under stress. But if you’ve got to draw some lesson from this, I’m thinking it needs to be about priorities. Not whether takedowns or punches work better. Or when you should morally have relented on your attacks. Or whether a punch in the nose justifies chasing the guy down.
I’m sorry. I don’t mean to get overly lecturey. But you’ve got four kids. That has to be more important than some git in the front driveway.
