VIDEO- Making him "TAP" is not good enough, Damian Ross, The Self Defense Company

The "TAP" is only the beginning. In competition the object is submission, in close combat and self defense, the object is to incapacitate your target or stop the threat. Most of the times in the dojo, your training partner will tap when they feel the uncomfortable pain on their trachea or begin to feel a little claustrophobic. Unfortunately this happens well before they start to pass out (ears ringing, REM sleep and muscles twitch). And passing out happens well before any asphyxiation occurs. In MODULE 3 of the Self Defense Training System, Ground Fighting for Keeps we show you how to train to go way beyond the tap with the combat application of the strangle. This drill is one of the many we use to develop this skill in Module 3.

Traditionally in Judo we were taught to never tap on a strangle. You fought until well...you couldn't. This did two things. First it taught you what you could endure and how long you could last when you were being strangled. On the flip side, it taught you how to really strangle.

Joint locks are a completely different animal. While you will wake up from a choke (well if he stops: note to self, when the feet go flat...let go), you may not recover from a torn ligament, dislocation or hyper-extension that results when a joint lock is fully applied. In a blog post coming up I'll show you how in module 3 we train joint locks at 100%.

In training you must take great care in not damaging your training partner. Recklessness could end his career and you will eventually run out of partners. Don't be a "dojo hero". Give up the arm or leg lock even if it's close. What's the point of fighting in practice- it's just your ego. Tap and start again. Conversely if you have a joint lock and the guy is fighting it, let it go before he gets hurt. The more people who want to work out with you the better you will become. Don't be the a-hole everyone avoids. There is always one or two, but don't worry, they don't last very long. If no one wants to work out with you, you could be that guy.

A note on submissions: they are a secondary technique in the world of close combat and self defense. In the Self Defense Training System we detail how and why you may be in a situation to use them, but make no mistake, in the world of hand to hand combat they're inefficient and require a lot more effort and training to become proficient. It's far easier to knock someone cold with a strike than it is to strangle or dislocate an joint. Plus a lot of the sport submissions are not applicable to the street as detailed in the SDTS.

Striking is by far your best bet. It's the most efficient, fastest and most effective means of taking out a target. Submissions became popular because they're easier to control in practice. You can't strike full contact in practice, it causes too much damage on the body over time. Anyone who says they "train full contact, 100% of the time" is either lying, doesn't know what full contact is or hits like a toddler.

Submissions give you real pain, most people in the martial arts world (outside judo, wrestling, shoot fighting and BJJ) have never felt that type of pain and power since most martial arts devolved into a form of cardio kick boxing. Submissions can be controlled and a winner can be determined in a 100% live scenario with little injury when compared to full on striking systems like boxing and Muy Thai.

Ground fighting became even MORE popular because there's even less chance of injury and it requires very little room to work out when compared to judo and wrestling where most injuries occur in the standing position and the most movement occurs in the standing position as well this requires more room. More room equals more real estate and higher overhead. From a business stand point a style like BJJ is a no-brainer: it gives students an excellent workout, provides them with real feedback, it puts them in a 100% live situation that let's them feel full resistance and it requires little equipment (a mat with gi optional).

WOW, now that was a tangent...where was I? Strangling for self defense, striking is more efficient but if your vocation or the situation requires you to do it, you must go far beyond the tap and this type of training in one of the few solutions. Imagine what this drill will do for your submissions in the dojo? I tell you this, if you do this 3 times a week for a month, people will start to tap as soon as they feel you set the choke.

Until Next Time, Train Honestly,

Damian Ross

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