Let me again remind you that the system I teach in my club is Reality Based Urban Defence. We train for go, not show. No sport, just street. Since becoming a certified Instructor in the Real Combat System of self-defence several years ago, I have sought out as much training from people I believed could help me as I could get hold of. I have cross trained in pretty much every style that was feasibly within traveling distance. If someone was too far away, or had retired, I still contacted them in hopes of picking their brains. The amazing, unparalleled Dave Turton (10th Dan in two styles) still sends me materials and is as great an instructor as anyone could hope for when it comes to what will actually work in a real fight. He was stripping down and piecing together long before Bruce Lee had thought of Jeet Kune Do (that’s right, come at me internet 😊)
A lot of what I have learned from these systems has, for my own ends, had to be discarded for lack of realism. What I have kept is still taught because I’ve used it or my compatriots and teachers with real-world experience have had success with it.
Techniques: How much experience do you have of real violence? How well prepared are you for it? Have you seriously thought about whether or not the techniques you’re training will actually work?
I’m sure we’ve all heard or read that you should keep kicks low, at least below the belt line (which you should; head kicks take longer to reach the target allowing for more time to avoid, defend, or rush in, and it’s a longer time you’re balancing on one foot). Have you spent much time on the art and science of shin/calf kicking? Not so much as we see in MMA, but the classic ‘Purring’ system that works wonders in the street (especially if you’re wearing heavy-duty work boots) when in a clinch?
But what about other techniques?
Before looking at techniques, you need to be aware of a few things. The first is that few if any fights, from a self-defence point of view, start with two people thirty feet apart, hands raised (even fewer are going to start on our knees with a hand-slap, fist-bump). This is a match fight, not self-defence (more on the difference in another article). Most fights, not including an ambush where you won’t know it’s happening until you’re in it, will start at about 18-inches to two-feet. Two people, facing each other, usually one yelling all the threats and obscenities they can.
It’s also worth noting that a great many fights start because of the inclusion of alcohol (or other mind-altering chemical concoctions). With that in mind, we must think about the last time we were at a crowded bar, or waiting in line for the burger van after leaving a night club. How much space did we have? Did we have the space to throw an insult, let alone a spinning kick? Chances are you didn’t. Also of note here is this; the majority of people will have to move furniture (be it a coffee table or rug, or large arm chair and couch) in their own living room before engaging in a keep-fit video. If you don’t have the space in your own home, why should you believe you’ll have the space anywhere?
So, if we are truly training for reality, and knowing that in reality most fights, in terms of self-defence, will start at about a foot-and-a-half distance, then I would strongly suggest you look into Geoff Thompson’s Fence, and get bloody good with your hands. If the fight is going to start at punching range, then I’d advise you learn two very strong punches (a strong rear-cross and lead-hook).
It is important to get comfortable with the uncomfortable. Hands, quite frankly, in this situation are king. For a long while now I’ve told people who are short on time or money that if they are just looking for the basics in self-defence then they need to be in a Boxing club twice a week and a Judo club once a week.
Have a look at the millions of clips available on the video sharing sites of actual, real-life fights (not combat sports or demonstrations). Have a look at fights erupting outside a night club, or in a store’s aisles on Black Friday. Have a look at them and be totally honest with yourself, would your favourite techniques work in that situation? If the answer ‘No,’ and you‘ll know the answer as soon as you watch because your gut will not lie to you about this, then you have to ask yourself why you’re bothering to train it if your goal is training for reality.
Fine motor movements I’d do away with because, under the pressure of a real encounter, with adrenaline pumping, you won’t have the dexterity to pull them off, so wrist locks, nerve holds, anything overly-complicated and ‘twisty’ is right out.
What will work is the big, gross motor movements, the scruffy-looking stuff.
Where possible, you need to avoid the ground. I will teach ground work, but in terms of self-defence the ground game needs to be focused on getting out from under the opponent and back up to our feet. Yes, I enjoy submission wrestling a lot, but the objective of self-defence is to escape the danger, which is hard for me to do if I’m holding onto my attacker. An arm lock or leg lock is not always a fight stopper, as the attacker may have a high threshold of pain, or of course be on a cocktail of drugs where they don’t feel anything anyway.
When working your grappling techniques with a focus on self-defence, are you keeping in mind that you can be eye-gouged and bitten. I once saw two men get into a tie-up, a loose over-under-hook attempt that they’d both clearly seen on TV but had never trained (which is alarming, because if you see it once, it’s pretty easy to get right), and as they were both stood, not doing much of anything, one man leant his head down and started to bite at the other man’s neck and shoulder (luckily this was early November and the layers of clothing prevented any real damage, but what if had a been a lazy, drunken summer afternoon?). When you’re in your grappling stance, how open to groin shots and chin/jawline shots are you?
There is a tendency in each style to train to defend that same style. This is inviting trouble. The great thing about cross-training in different styles isn’t just that you can finish the fight in different ranges, but also that you can more accurately defend those different ranges. I have commented online on an Aikido instructional clip, where the Aikido instructor was demonstrating how to stop a boxer in a street fight. The problem was that said boxer was actually an Aikido man, who has spent his entire training career in an art that doesn’t have punches. To learn how to defend a punch, get to a boxing club. To learn how to stop a throw, get to a Judo club. If taking Aikido skills into a street fight, how open is your head to a punch? When taking your wrestling into a street fight, how open is your face to a knee to the jaw? When in your boxer’s stance how vulnerable is that lead leg to a good kick or a Judo sweep/trip?
“He’s not allowed to do that, that’s against the rules in our style.” Well, unfortunately buddy, this isn’t a (your style here) club meet. This is an all-out fight-for-survival scrap on the street, with no rules, or bells and whistles, no shackles of good sportsmanship of spirit of Budo.
Get real, get honest with yourself.
Train hard, train smart, stay safe.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Did you enjoy Martial Journal contributor James McCann’s take on self defense techniques? Be sure to also check out part 1 (On Aggression) and part 2 (on the impact of your clothing choices)!
He can be contacted at rbud.co.uk
- Training for Reality Part 5: Games - May 14, 2021
- Training for Reality Part 4: Numbers - May 13, 2021
- Training for Reality Part 1: Aggression - May 12, 2021
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