Waiting to be touched by a felon. Martial arts and self defense systems train you to wait. When you're training grabs and holds in the dojo it always looks like this: Partners get next to each other, attacker grabs defender, defender does prescribed attack. Then you get in a circle and one by one you get attacked by people who know two things: what you're going to do and how they are going to react. Everything works and you look like a kung fu rock star.
In the real world...attacker grabs defender and proceeds to punch, kick, stab and bludgeon the snot out of defender immediately. You think you will have time to react, but this is the cold hard truth you must come to grips with. As soon as your grabbed, it's almost over. The bad guy has a plan, you don't. By the time (seconds) you figure out what type of attack it is, they will be outlining your body with chalk. Your mind does not work the way you think it will work when you are stressed. Think about the times you are extremely tired in training, where all you can is basic strikes...that's more like the real world when you're under a real attack.
Point of note: the initial attack only PREEMPTS THE REAL ASSAULT. That grab of the collar or the sleeve is only meant to distract you or pin you down for the follow up. The fact of the matter is, that initial grab is inconsequential. But it's the initial grab that "experts" focus on, we say, forget the initial attack and always "Always Attack the Man!"
This technique in this video comes from Module 4 of The Self Defense Training System titled "Defense vs. Mugs and Holds". In this video, Damian Ross of the Self Defense Company demonstrates the double forearm shiver, designed to stop and shock your attacker when he gets too close. The problem with other systems is that they train you to wait to be attacked and then they train you to focus on the initial attack.The Real issue is that the initial grab is what preempts the actual attack. In most cases the initial grab is only meant as a distraction or a way to pin you down and set up up for the real, follow up attack. This double forearm shiver is one of many tactics from Module 4 that enable you to react in an extreme close range before it's too late.
Train your instinct. When someone gets to close you have to be sensitive to this and react immediately by either moving or attacking. If you tell them to move and they don't, now you have no choice but to act. By act I mean blast them into the stone age.
I can't tell you how many specific defenses I was forced to learn earning my black belts. I literally have sat in the middle of a group of attackers literally hundreds of times. They would come in and in true dojo-Hollywood fashion I would dispatch them one by one. Hell, I even won trophies doing it. But when I reflected my current training against my real world experiences they didn't match up. The real world was fast and frustrating. It was surreal in nature and over before I knew it. That's why when I discovered the Self Defense Training System, I knew it would work and I have a secret for you...(it really does). I discovered that 90% of what I learned for self defense through my previous training could be shit-canned. I simply chalked my time up to experience. I made a lot of great friends (even met my wife)and discovered the training that would lead to The Self Defense Training System through my martial arts training, so I definitely got my money's worth. Sometimes you have to go through a whole lot of BS until you can identify the truth.
Sir, Although I agree that traditional martial arts training does not prepare for real world attacks, they are an important element of it.
Your ability to bring out the best of your close combat techniques are mainly due to talent and skills acquired in your prev martial arts training. Your execution of throws, submissions and heck even the "chop" are all neatly done, and one can tell your training before it.
I started with close combat trg n moved on to krav maga and now traditional martial art. It is just good to explore all areas.
2 comments:
Sir,
Although I agree that traditional martial arts training does not prepare for real world attacks, they are an important element of it.
Your ability to bring out the best of your close combat techniques are mainly due to talent and skills acquired in your prev martial arts training. Your execution of throws, submissions and heck even the "chop" are all neatly done, and one can tell your training before it.
I started with close combat trg n moved on to krav maga and now traditional martial art. It is just good to explore all areas.
Thiam,
Thanks for your comment. I will respond in a new blog since I feel your perception is a mistake most martial artists make.
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