While looking different in their final, technical application, the TACTICS used by the military to defend against attack from the enemy provide a perfect blueprint for building a tactical model for personal self protection.
The tactics used by special forces apply particularly well. Often operating in very small groups behind enemy lines, far from the main force and with only as much firepower as they can carry, SF patrols can be compared to the unarmed civilian who is attacked by a larger attacker or group of attackers.
If we use counter-ambush tactics as an example, it is easy to see that they are very transferable to civilian self protection. Considering that the ambush, as a method of attack, is designed to create a ‘shock and awe’ effect in the target, it is vital for both military units and self defence practitioners to rehearse an active response so as to overcome the momentary ‘freezing’ that occurs when taken by surprise. Whether the ambush happens to an SF patrol in the jungle (see video above), or to YOU in an alleyway or while sitting in a bar, the dynamics are identical.
When ambushed in the jungle, the SF patrol will crouch down and lay down as many rounds as possible in the direction of the enemy. Literally holding their fingers down on the trigger until the magazine is empty, the idea is to create an appearance of superior firepower, forcing the enemy to get their heads down. It’s fair to say, that while trying to take cover from the onslaught, the enemy will have great difficulty in continuing their ambush.
For the unarmed civilian, who is set upon when walking past a hidden position (a doorway, an alleyway, bushes, or simply attacked from behind), the instinctive response will almost always be to protect the head with the hands/arms, just as it is natural for the soldier to crouch down when being shot at. Considering that no amount of ‘covering’ will protect you forever, this response is fine, so long as it is momentary and is immediately followed up by as many strikes as possible in rapid succession towards the attacker’s head. Focusing on speed and aggression so as to ‘create an appearance of superior firepower’, this will force the attacker to hold back on - or even stop – their initial attack. Having fists, palms or elbows thrown towards his face will have a noticeable effect on his ability to attack, whether due to their flinch response or because of having their brain shaken about inside their skull (blunt force trauma).
When the SF patrol has successfully caused the enemy to take cover and have preferably moved in to a better position themselves, they can then use a slower rate of fire; taking better-aimed and therefore more effective shots. No longer aiming in the general direction of the enemy, they are now selecting targets with more care so as to diminish their capability to attack (or in other words, kill them).
For the unarmed civilian this means that once he has created a pause in his attacker’s ambush attempt, he can throw his strikes at a slower rate. Instead of utilising speed alone, and preferably having gained a stable footing, he can then utilize more powerful, well-aimed strike. The goal is to deliver effective concussive blows to the attacker’s head, with the aim of causing enough damage to render the attacker unable to continue their ambush attempt.
For both the SF patrol and the unarmed civilian, the priority is now to escape the ambush site. In the case of overwhelming odds (too many enemy with greater firepower, or an attacker who is simply too powerful to take-on), this may have to happen immediately after the initial blitz, skipping the better-aimed shots/strikes. Simply put, if there are too many baddies, the opportunity to deliver well-aimed shots/strikes my not present itself, in which case the idea is to ‘shoot and scoot’ or ‘hit and run’.
The ambush is only one example of how military tactics relate to self defence. The fact is; combat is combat. And while their may be different forms of combat, the military and civilian tactical options for how to manage them are the same. Further examples being that the military model for carrying out an ambush has within it the blueprint for pre-emptive self defence and that the military tactics of how to prepare for battle and what to do post-battle can be translated quite easily into how the civilian can be prepared for self defence and what to do after an incident.
To learn how the British army approached self defence directly, I recommend that you look into the activities of a little-known unit called 14 Intelligence Company (‘14 int’ for short). This was a plain-clothed intelligence gathering unit that operated in Northern Ireland throughout the 80’s. While trying to remain covert when operating in the toughest areas of NI, they had to utilize unarmed combat methods that paralleled the tactics they used for firearms usage… fascinating stuff that directly applies to effective civilian self protection.
(Interesting (or boring) fact about this pic... a couple of months after originally posting this blog and finding a funny picture to go with it, I discovered that this photo was take during the attempted coup that took place in the Philippines just weeks after I left the country. And this photo was taken outside the shopping mall I frequented whilst staying there)
The venue couldn’t have been more fitting. The New Spartan Gym was located in a gritty-looking industrial estate and had the atmosphere of an old-school boxing gym. Except that apart from punch bags held together with duct tape it also had all the equipment a powerlifter could dream off.
The seminar started with Mick giving us an introduction to his C2 Core Combatives system. Rather than repeat what he said, I’ll point you to Mick’s website: www.corecombatives.com, and his Youtube channel: www.youtube.com/user/MickCoup, where you can spend as many well-spent hours as I have learning about his approach to self protection.
The aim of the seminar was to give us training methods to develop the basic skills and attributes needed for incapacitating an attacker in the most efficient and effective way. In this case, with repeated palm strikes to the bad guy’s brain box!
We got into pairs for the first drill which doubled as a warm-up. My partner was a bloke called Gary who is a retired firearms officer for the Met and also a Spear System instructor. Despite being in his early 50’s, he’s very much into his strength and fitness training, which I could feel the first time he hit the pad I was holding for him.
We started by going relatively slowly with individual palm strikes to the pads held at head-height, to ingrain the proper body mechanics before aiming for power. This is where Mick explained that the people who are always chasing power in their strikes will always be chasing. Whereas for those who always aim to perfect the body mechanics needed for striking, the power will chase them. Even when they try to go soft, there will still be some power there simply because they use their whole body. This is also where he demonstrated a no-inch punch! Luckily not on me, although I was (un)fortunate enough to receive some light whacks on the chest after when he demonstrated how impossible it is to ‘block’ strikes at close quarters.
We then built on this by doing repeated strikes at full force, and then further drills such as checking behind us for secondary targets (attackers) after the initial target has been dealt with, removing obstructions that may be in the way of the target (i.e his arms as he protects his head, or a 3rd party), indexing the target with the off-hand (click here for more info on indexing: http://selfprotection.lightbb.com/q-a-with-mick-coup-f5/black-belt-article-indexing-t5747.htm ), chasing a retreating opponent, and striking an attacker who charges at you.
Before starting the charging drill, Mick explained that if anybody was to fall to the ground, nobody was to help them up. Instead, we were to all rush in and give the grounded person a few kicks up the arse whilst shouting at him to get back up. Nothing too heavy (physically), no more than light kicks aimed to the bum or legs. This is of course to ingrain in the person the tenacity needed for getting back to their feet if ever going to the ground in a real violent situation. It goes without saying that on the street, the ground is the absolute last place you want to be.
After a short break, we did what Mick calls the Stress Drill (I was pleasantly surprised to find this was almost identical to a drill we already do in our class).
We did some slower drills to build up to it, but ultimately it came down to the following structure: there were two pad holders and one ‘operator’. The operator stands in the middle with their eyes closed, feet together and hands down by their side (a very vulnerable and tactically-disadvantageous position). The two pad holders or ‘trainers’ circle round the operator and without warning, one trainer will shove the operator hard and explosively. The shove (which feels more like a strike that follows through) can come from any direction and so could send the operator backwards, forwards or sideways. The operator is then to open his eyes (after trying not to fall over!) and land as many full-force strikes as possible on the pad that is held up in front of him. After a few seconds trainer2 then whacks the operator from behind, which is the signal for him to turn and destroy the pad that trainer2 his now holding up. Then after a few seconds trainer1 does the same and so on for what feels like a long time but what is in fact less than a minute. It’s very dynamic as the pad holders move around forcing the operator to chase as well as strike.
An interesting point is that the whacks you receive during the drill feel more like taps. One guy didn’t even know he had been hit at one point and had to be hit again to make him turn round. However, the first whack/shove you receive when your eyes are closed feels like you’ve been hit by a train.
I was crash test dummy again when Mick was demonstrating before we started the drills building up to the Stress Drill. He had me close my eyes and stand with my feet together and although I knew what was coming and what I had to do after being hit (strike the pad he would be holding in front of me when I opened my eyes), the shove to my chest felt like an electric shock. My breath left my lungs and I let out an involuntary gasp, my skin suddenly became very sensitive all over my body and my senses seemed to open up. I opened my eyes, saw the pad and discovered that Mick had sent me back a good few feet (well, he weighs twice as much as me and almost a foot taller!), and then travelled forward to strike it as hard as I could.
The gap between being shoved, opening my eyes and hitting the pad felt like milliseconds, but apparently I was stood motionless for quite a while before acting. Never underestimate the power of surprise! Military forces the world over have used the element of surprise to defeat their enemies throughout history. And apart from being a reminder how advantageous it can be to us when used for self defence, the drill is designed to inoculate the student to being taken by surprise and to rewire the nervous system to respond with ‘fight’ rather than the more instinctive (but tactically flawed) ‘flight’ or ‘freeze’ responses. As Mick reminded us, nobody is going to attack us when we are fully alert and aware. They will wait until we are at our most vulnerable.
One memorable moment during the drill was when one person stumbled and fell at the end of his turn being operator. This was the first and only falling person of the day and I had forgotten the rule of not helping them up. As the man fell at mine and Gary’s feet, we both instinctively bent down to help him up, only to be taken by surprise as Jon Fell (Mick’s assistant instructor for the day) came rushing in and hoofed matey up the backside! After about a second I picked my jaw up off the floor as I remembered why this man was being kicked and found myself barking at him “UP! UP! UP!” as we all ‘encouraged’ him back to his feet.
Afterwards, Mick said to him “Now, if you ever fall down in a fight, you’ll remember that arse-kicking and get back up ASAP!”
After another short break, we were invited to partake in the final test of the day; the ‘Live Drill’, which sounds less scary than the Stress Drill but is in fact one of the most hardcore drills I’ve come across in training. As we laid down the mats in preparation there was a palpable atmosphere of apprehension; an opportunity to practice some ‘tactical breathing’ to reduce the effects of adrenaline and slow the heart rate. This drill was totally voluntary and 6 out of the 10 of us had a go. It’s also worth mentioning that safety was the biggest priority; not all the safety measures are mentioned here.
The format is this: one referee (Mick) two fighters and two safety guys (each fighter has his own safety guy). The fighters - wearing head gear, neck brace and groin guard - lay face down and facing away from each other, about 3 meters apart. At Mick’s signal, the safety guys put pressure down on their fighters who have to fight their way to their feet, turn and destroy their opponent. It’s all-out, anything goes, maximum force and aggression but the fight is only allowed to go on for about 5 seconds before Mick blows the whistle. This is the signal for the safety guys to grab their fighter in a specific way, pull him off his opponent and get him back on the ground. This time, the fighter does press-ups until the whistle goes again, at which point they are held down again, fight their way up, try to kill each other and the process repeats (with the press ups) one more time.
By default, the two guys used for the slow demonstration stayed on for the first full-on three rounds. The room became very quiet as everybody watched the controlled mayhem. When it was over, Mick asked for volunteers. One part of my mind was coming up with all kinds of excuses not to (the biggest one being that I was the lightest guy and that I would have that disadvantage), but another part was happy to have the opportunity to test myself in a controlled environment. I stepped forward and was waiting to see which giant I was going to face (there was some big boys there). After a few seconds, Gary stepped forward. On the one hand I didn’t feel good about it; we had got on so well having been partners for the past 4 hours, I didn’t think I would be able to go full force on him (and later, he said he felt exactly the same!) but on the other hand, despite being stronger and broader than me, he was an inch or so shorter. So I was slightly relieved not to be fighting one of the big guys.
So, safety gear on, face down. With the gumshield in plus the effects of the adrenaline, my breathing made me sound like Darth Vader inside the helmet. The whistle went, and all I can remember of it after struggling to my feet, is getting a good knock to the head and landing a couple of headbutts that felt totally useless with the helmet on. Then I was thrown down and it was press ups time. I felt better doing something rather than just waiting motionless.
All I can remember of the second round is landing one or two shots but receiving one big one to the face which made my nose throb and eyes water. As I got thrown face down I was very much expecting to see blood pool in the face-shield, but it never came even though I was sure I could smell blood (later when I got home I wasn’t surprised to see a load of clotted blood when I blew my nose!)
In the final round I got to my feet and turned to find that Gary was still struggling to get up, not really wanting to hoof him in the head, I was secretly hoping he would get up and stand with me. My wish came true as the next thing I knew he was in my face landing some good ones! I remember switching hands as he covered against my right, and then switching again and landing a good one with the right.
When the headgear came off, I double checked my nose and it was fine. But when I grabbed the bottom of my t-shirt to wipe the sweat off with, I noticed some blood on it. Then I saw more on my left hand. Turned out my thumb nail had come away from the thumb a bit and was dripping. Gary couldn’t find any scratches on him so it must have caught on one of the gaps in his face shield.
The way we fought was obviously very influenced by what we had been doing for the previous four hours, in the sense that all we did was straight-palm eachother in the head. Nothing wrong with that though; it’s a very effective technique when coupled with intent. Which is something we both attested to as we gave each other feedback on our performances.
The last fight was interesting. One fighter was a big guy with previous martial arts experience who works as a bouncer. The other was a bit smaller with no previous fight training at all if I remember correctly. In the first round he took a hit as they closed the gap, and seemed very stunned at the force of it, but soon came-to and fought back. In the second round he took a massive hooking palm to the side of the head which had us all collectively going “Ooohh!” and that was it for him. He didn’t do the third round. Don’t blame him either; his opponent was the person I feared going up against the most! I’m sure that hit would have had me on the floor if I’m honest.
All in all, it was a great day. I took a lot away from it. There were some points Mick made which have caused me to rethink some of the drills that I teach, and certainly new ones I want to incorporate. Also, it was very reassuring to see how much of what Mick teaches resonates with what we are already doing in the class.
I’ll definitely be doing more C2 training in the future!
As I see it, there are three aspects to our training that underpin the physical ability to ‘fight’. These are the ability to:
1) Efficiently deliver precise, effective, impactive strikes to the head
2) Protect the your own head from strikes (and familiarization with the sensation of receiving impacts that interfere with equilibrium)
3) Efficiently/athletically move one’s body in a way that maintains balance and stability
In other words; punching/palm striking, covering up against strikes, and footwork
Without going into vast detail about each subject, these three qualities combined give the individual the foundations of attack and defence.
Striking The Head
It has been proven time and again, that impact to the head is the most effective unarmed means of neutralizing an attacker. Indeed, punching to the head is the most common form physical violence used by street thugs, and with good reason.
When martial arts legend Geoff Thompson said many years ago “If you want to learn to defend yourself, learn to hit f*cking hard”, I admittedly thought this was a little over simplified. However, the more I’ve come to learn about - and experience first hand - the effects of being hit in the head (as both the receiver and deliverer), the more I’ve come to appreciate the truth to his words.
Here’s some interesting facts for you…
“In the United States traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a leading cause of death for persons under age 45… The force of a professional boxer's fist is equivalent to being hit with a 13 pound bowling ball travelling 20 miles per hour, about 52 g's. Plopping down into an easy chair can generate up to 10 g's” (www.braininjury.com/injured)
And according to David Kushner’s article for the American Medical Association (Mild Traumatic Brain Injury 1998), “The most common causes of TBI include violence, transportation accidents, construction, and sports”
I quote these not because I want to train my students to become killers but to underline the effectiveness of striking (often repeatedly) the head of an attacker. And these deaths aren’t just statistics on paper either; a guy I went to school with died as a result of being hit in the head in a fight (although this was with a metal pipe and not a fist) and only a couple of months ago did I attend the funeral of my friend’s mum who died as a result of hitting her head after falling in the street.
Needless to say that even if you do become proficient at punching and can make a pad-holder fly across the room or put dents into a heavy punch bag, human beings aren’t inanimate objects and (for some reason) don’t like being hit in the head. In other words, they’ll try to stop you and most likely by doing the very same thing to you. Indeed, the reason you are defending your self is very likely to be because they attempted or intended to hit you in the head in the first place!
And so for this very basic reason, defending against impacts to the head plays a huge role in our training. This doesn’t mean ‘blocking’ or evading punches like in the traditional or sport-based martial arts, but instead covering and protecting the head so as to be able to ‘take’ a hit. Without getting into the ‘why blocking doesn’t work’ lecture, if blocking punches worked against real punches mid-fight, boxers would do it, wouldn’t they?
Footwork
Fighting for your survival is never going to be an easy thing. It will be dynamic and dramatic… you will likely be pushed, pulled, and knocked about. No wonder that so many fights end up on the ground.
The remedy then, is to train in such a way so as to hone the instinctive ability to keep your feet underneath your centre of balance within the chaotic movement of combat.
Footwork can be considered the foundation of the previous two subjects too. Effective striking to an attacker’s head takes lots and lots of commitment (among other things) which essentially means throwing yourself bodily towards them while at the same time maintaining stability. And while covering the head against strikes protects from surface-level tissue damage (broken noses, cut lips etc) it in no way is an absolute defence against the shaking of the brain that results from heavy impact to the head (like a motorcycle helmet will protect from skull fracture but can only slightly reduce the concussive effects of hitting the tarmac). The point is, even if you cover up against a strike, you are likely to get a little rattled from the impact. And so, the ability to stay on your feet and not trip over yourself like a drunk is important here also.
These three qualities are like the basic components of a building; floors, walls and a ceiling. Without these there generally is no building. You’ll have no foundations to lay your wooden floorboards onto, nothing to put your double glazing into, and no need for guttering or roof tiles.
In a similar way, we want to create a default defensive response that consists of basic, generic techniques and tactics. Only if we have such a foundation should we then explore secondary, back-up techniques. And even then, those techniques must still be basic in their own right. Self protection expert Mick Coup, when describing his Core Combatives system (which shares many similarities to what we do) says “There’s basics, basics and some more f*cking basics”.
Also (borrowing some more terminology from Mick) we even want our secondary techniques to not just be ‘possible’ in their effectiveness, but PROBABLE. Bear in mind that it’s possible that a gentle Tai Chi movement could work in self defence. But it’s certainly not probable. What we’re interested in are techniques that have a high likelihood of working (based on an understanding of human physiology, physics and on what we know has worked time and again throughout the history of human unarmed combat)
That being said, I don’t believe that creativity and individuality should be completely ruled out of our training. Our class certainly doesn’t feel like a scientific experiment. The fact is human beings are not rational, logical beings, but emotional beings. And we are all different physically and emotionally.
This is why what I teach is not a system; ‘it’ has no name. It can be described as self protection, self defence, martial arts, unarmed combatives etc, etc (and I don’t really care what you call it). The point is, I wouldn’t want to try to make everybody do exactly the same thing in terms of how they perform a technique. The only thing I stress is that whatever you do, make sure it is likely to work and is tactically sound.
And bearing in mind that no matter how much of an individual somebody is, human beings are all generally comprised of a head, two arms and two legs. Therefore, although there is a tiny bit of room for creativity and individuality in what we do (unlike the traditional arts where it’s all art and there is very little ‘martialness’ to be found), any creativity must also be heavily coated in probability!
One of my students who comes to the class also trains in kick-boxing 3 times a week. It’s how she found the class actually; the kick-boxing takes place in the same dojo. After a few sessions, she asked if she should refer to me as ‘sensei’. This is a Japanese term which basically means ‘teacher’ and is the title they use to address the instructor of her kick-boxing class. Sensei is also a word often translated in the martial arts world as ‘master’.
After shuddering at the thought of having the guys all bow to me and call me sensei or Master Sharif, I explained my thoughts on the subject…
To refer to somebody in such a way basically implies that this person is the best at what the group are doing as a whole. And so within a sports or tradition-based martial art, this is actually quite plausible. The idea is that the person teaching could beat any of his students within the context of what they do; kick-boxing, tournament karate, muay thai, judo or whatever. This is usually provable by their background in tournament fighting which is supported by belts and trophies and the like.
This does not and can not apply to what we do, however. When you lift constricting rules and regulations that govern how one should win at a particular ‘art’ or sport, you are left with an almost unlimited amount of factors that will determine ‘who would win’. And by winning, what we are basically talking about is some form of physical domination of another person (an attacker in our case).
The only physical way to end a physically violent assault is by using a greater level of violence. And bearing in mind that there are no rules for the type of ‘fight’ that we are training for, this greater amount of violence could come in any form.
We have a guy in our class who is 6’4” and naturally as strong as an ox. I often use him as an example of how the size, weight and strength of an attacker can make the job of defending that much more difficult. I will often point out while demonstrating a particular technique that its effects may be diminished or even rendered useless by this man’s physicality alone. Simply put, I make no bones about the fact that if this student of mine one day decided he didn’t like me, there’s a good chance he could physically dominate me quite easily.
I’ve also got students who have experienced various forms of violence that I have not. After all, it’s not like I’m the ex street fighting champion of North London. And so, how could I ever seriously look these people in the eye while they bow to me or call me sensei?
The day I think of myself as a master (of anything) is the day I stop learning. And if I stop learning, I stop growing. And in nature when something is not in a state of growth, it is in fact dying.
At this point I’m a just normal person who has seen and experienced a certain amount of violence, human aggression and threat and have invested a hell of a lot of time and effort into researching and training defensive techniques, tactics and strategies based on those experiences (and the experiences of others too – instructors who have trodden this path long before I stepped onto it)
I feel this puts me in a position to teach, so long as I am always completely honest in the way that I teach and the way that I continue to learn/train myself… I’m certainly no master!
While this article as largely aimed at Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, it’s content is equally applicable to any fighting system that advocates submission grappling on the ground as a means of self defence. My reason for making reference to BJJ is simply because it is the most popular of such fighting systems.
Inevitably I will upset some people with the following article, although this is not my intention. If you read it thoroughly, you will find that I have much respect for BJJ for its various qualities and give it credit where it’s due.
I don’t claim to be a complete expert on BJJ but I feel I’ve had enough experience with it to make the claims that I do and am confident that I have simply followed commonsensical thinking to reach my conclusions.
Ultimately, the main reason for writing this is because my students ask me my opinion on the grappling arts so often. Having this all written up is just more convenient than repeating myself every week!
Gracie/Brazilian Jiu Jitsu was born on the streets of Brazil
This argument essentially states that because the late Helio Gracie tested his submission fighting skills (which were amazing by the way) on the streets, beaches and gyms of Brazil, BJJ is inherently street-oriented. What must be noted here though, is that while the environment of these fights was indeed ‘street’, the tactical dynamics of the fights themselves were still sport-based and ‘dueling’ in nature – ‘vale tudo’. That is to say; generally pre-arranged and against one opponent.
Whether it takes place in a ring, on a mat, on the street, on a beach or even the school playground… a match-fight is a match-fight. And match-fighting isn’t self defence. When two people square up to each other and battle it out, it generally means both have chosen to engage in the fight. This is far removed from being ambushed and therefore forced to fight back. Simply put, it’s not true self defence if the fight didn’t have to happen.
Most fights end up on the ground
There is a very popular quote that is often used by martial arts and self protection instructors/practitioners to justify training in ground submission fighting that goes “xx% of street fights end up on the ground”. The ‘xx’ is used in place of actual numbers because this figure changes depending on who you talk to. Apparently, it’s a ‘fact’ because some police study somewhere concluded so. Personally, I’ve never come across this often-talked-about study and certainly don’t know what the true percentage is. Either way, I will agree that MANY fights end up in clinching/grappling and often on the floor.
But what does this mean? What does one do with this information when putting together a self defence system? Consider that to become tied up with one person, whether standing or grounded leaves you incredibly vulnerable to being attacked from one of your ‘flanks’ by a second attacker. And with this in mind, the fact that most people will want to grapple with me in some way tells me that I should be training in ways to prevent this from happening, and methods of disengaging if it does happen.
Just because somebody grabs and grapples you, doesn’t mean you have to do the same back to them. When defending yourself, you are allowed to HIT people who are grappling you. I emphasize striking because it allows you to be more mobile and therefore in a better position to escape the chaos of a multiple attacker situation, whereas grappling one person (because you really can only grapple ONE person at any given moment in a fight) literally anchors you to the situation.
Submission fighting is a support system to fall back on… just in case striking fails
Having a failsafe is always a good idea, in any context. However, what you use as the failsafe has to be considered carefully.
Many public buildings have an emergency power system in the event of a power cut. Generally what happens is that as the power goes out, smaller lights (powered by a cellular power source) will automatically come on so that the building isn’t plunged into darkness. Or in some cases, the cellular power source will re-power the same lights that ‘blacked out’.
Armed operators (SWAT, special forces, close protection units etc) will often have a primary and secondary weapon. The primary will often be a rifle, carbine or submachine gun – accurate, high rate of fire, large magazine capacity and often a large caliber of ammunition. In the event that this primary weapon malfunctions or runs out of ammunition mid-fight (while still facing a threat), the operator is trained to respond by abandoning the primary weapon (rather than waste time clearing the stoppage or putting in a fresh mag) and instantly drawing their secondary weapon. This weapon will generally be a semi-auto pistol - less accurate, slower rate of fire, smaller magazine capacity and small-caliber, but… still a firearm. Similarly, the emergency lighting in buildings… are still lights!
I could of course give more examples, but the point is, if a particular strike is proving ineffective, it makes sense to simply use a different one (!) or manage the position to facilitate that strike better (note that this could mean ‘grappling’ to get a better position – but only to continue striking and NOT to ‘submit’ the attacker).
And as for the idea that striking as a tactic can completely fail and be replaced by joint-lock submissions mid-fight; I’d be very interested in being shown a human being who can receive multiple concussive blows to the head unharmed but can be incapacitated by having his extremities twisted into awkward positions.
You need to know how to grapple on the ground so you can escape the ground fight and/or prevent being taken there
Of all the arguments for BJJ being street-effective, this is the one that comes closest to something I agree with. To elaborate, ‘grappling’ can simply mean fighting for a position using pushing or pulling motions against the opponent. And within my own system, this is all grappling means. And so with this in mind I have no problem with certain drills that isolate particular positional skills. Consider the simple exercise of having two students start off from a grounded position, with one having the task of keeping the other on the floor while the student being trained tries to grapple their way to their feet or an ‘on top’ position. At a glance this looks very jiu jitsu-esque. But its sole purpose is simply to isolate the ability to gain a position from which to fire off effective strikes.
‘Submissions’ on the other hand, do not feature on my list of high-force self protection techniques. To clarify, by submissions I mean techniques that cause an opponent to give up the fight by causing pain or discomfort in a position from which they cannot escape. Followed through, the submission will result in the breaking or hyperextension of a skeletal joint or unconsciousness due to cerebral hypoxia (lack of oxygen to the brain).
Considering that submissions can only be applied by the extensive grabbing and holding-onto of an opponent, this method of fighting is instantly tactically flawed for high-risk self defence training. Putting yourself into a position from which you cannot defend against assault from secondary attackers is not something I recommend. While it is true that a highly skilled practitioner of submission fighting can apply a hold/break very quickly against an unskilled (in grappling) attacker, and can therefore in theory disengage when the need arises, this is ultimately based on a gamble. You COULD chance your hand at submitting opponent #1 on the hope that you can disengage before opponent #2 starts to seriously hurt you (good luck with that by the way) but if opponent #1 manages to resist your attempt at breaking his arm/leg etc and keeps you tied up while his buddies come to help him out… the consequences could be fatal. Striking on the other hand, doesn’t have this problem.
Bear in mind that just because an attacker appears to be by himself, doesn’t mean that he is. And besides, it’s really not uncommon to see complete strangers try to get some kicks in when two people are fighting on the ground. Crazy, I know, but it happens quite a lot (especially when all parties involved are drunk).
If a BJJ guy gets you in a triangle choke / kimura / arm-bar… you’re finished.
A strange thing often happens when you ask some grapplers if their art is indeed good for self defence training; they may respond with an answer to a completely different question. By this I mean that some people often get confused between an individual’s ability and a martial art system’s applicability to realistic self defence.
The difference between having no skill/familiarity with fighting on the ground and having only a few months of high quality training in BJJ is immense. This cannot be argued. Therefore a good BJJ white belt will have little trouble submitting an untrained person on the ground; even a slightly bigger/stronger opponent (providing he doesn’t have his friends with him). However, this should not be used to answer the question “Is BJJ training good for street self defence?” – the answer to which is ultimately ‘no’. Why not? Consider the following aspects of classic BJJ training:
Soft mats covering the floor
Barefoot training
Uniforms that provide grabbing points that are not always present on modern clothing
No incentive to get back to your feet when sparring on the ground
A guarantee of only having one opponent to fight
Rounds that last for several minutes
I feel these points generally speak for themselves and so will not elaborate on each of them. The general conclusion is however, that the training environment and training model do not lend themselves well to real life-and-death violence.
One point, however….
While it could be argued that the BJJ guy will of course get back to his feet ASAP when in a ‘live’ situation, it must be understood that he will generally do in spite of his training and not because of it. BJJ and related arts certainly do have techniques for getting back to one’s feet – but they aren’t stressed when sparring/under pressure (when it counts). And so it is in fact the situation that FORCES the practitioner to get back up; because a second attacker is running at him for example.
The attraction
Undeniably, BJJ is hugely popular in the martial arts and self defence world. And there is no smoke without fire, so to speak, so it must have qualities that people like. At this point, haters of BJJ will often attempt to degrade it by arguing that if any art received the amount of publicity BJJ has had, it too would be equally as popular. Personally I disagree and attribute BJJ’s success in this ‘business’ to very real qualities that the art itself possesses. These qualities however, do not make it self defence!
The student’s progress in skill is very measurable – they can tell by how often they are able to submit an opponent vs. how often they are ‘tapped out’ and the grading system is based on real ability and is unforgiving towards those who cannot meet the challenge. For competitive people, BJJ is a dream come true. There is no theory in how good somebody is – everything can be verified by rolling with a challenger.
It sort of looks and feels like real fighting – except that the risk of serious injury or death is very, very small. Compare this to the training we do in my own class – there is no way to TRULY test your skills in a true reality-based fighting system (unless all parties agree that they may get seriously banged up). For many people, knowing that they are increasing their survivability of a serious assault is far less satisfying than knowing they can tap out Jonny the purple-belt. It’s simply not as tangible.
It’s a great workout! Simple as that. Without going into the specifics of what athletic attributes BJJ produces, it certainly ticks quite a few boxes with regards to all round fitness. But not all boxes, it should be noted, especially with regards to getting fit for unarmed combat. And the Gracie family, specifically, certainly seems to be very clued up about healthy living and regularly share this info with their students. I personally used a baby yoga method on my daughter that I picked up from a video of Rorion Gracie.
It’s fun. If the instructor is good and has his ego in check, the type of students he will attract will generally be the same, making for a very fun and friendly atmosphere to train in.
It makes for an effective – if over-elaborate – low force system. Think of those scenarios where a physical response may be required but not one that causes serious injury. If Uncle Jim has had too much to drink at the family reunion and starts getting out of hand, having a means of subduing him without hurting him is a good thing. I should state however that this is more of a byproduct of BJJ training, and I don’t feel that you need an extensive range of submission techniques for this purpose.
So to conclude, while I certainly see merit in training in BJJ for several reasons, becoming combat-ready for real violence on the street is not one of them. And I think it’s about time this myth was dispelled. And to clarify my main points:
- Submissions are not necessary for - and indeed dilute the effectiveness of - self defence training
- Match fighting / dueling is not self defence
Lastly, I’d like to point out that I’ve been an informal student/dabbler in BJJ for several years and will be for the foreseeable future – if only for the exercise and for fun. I’m the proud owner of a gi and I’m perfectly happy with the white belt that came with it staying that colour! I have trouble submitting anybody but the complete beginners, but that’s fine.
You’ll notice that I’ve made several references to ‘good’ BJJ throughout this article. If you’re interested in training (for the right reasons) in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu in the North London area, then I can recommend nobody as highly as Eddie Kone at the ultimate fitness centre in Tottenham.
