Monte wrote:
TheRiov wrote:
the general statistic they give (not that I believe it) is that 60-80% of street fights end up going to the ground.
My experience meshes with that statistic. However, if there is more than one attacker, the last place on earth you want to be is the ground.
Real self defense is more about heart rate and what the body can do at different levels of elevated stress. At a certain point, complicated techniques are basically impossible. Fight or flight engages gross body movements, and it's pretty much impossible to train that instinct away. It's why real brawls look so messy to us. When you train in martial arts, learning to control your breathing and your heart rate are absolutely essential. Once you hit a certain stage, kiss all that technical expertise goodbye.
I would point out that the vast majority of techniques learned as a white belt are self-defense escapes from many different standing clinch positions, as well as variations which are essentially Judo techniques which would fall under the categorization of nage waza. This makes sense, since Helio Gracie is only once removed from Jigoro Kano through Mitsuyo Maeda. There are a number of clinch techniques that many people fail to realize exist because the implementation of BJJ in MMA results in the ne-waza aspect being the most important. However, I believe that the techniques learned make practitioners of this style prepared on how to quickly get off the ground and to control where the situation goes, in terms of clinch or ground.
Additionally, another reason (I'm sure I have stated this) that elevated intensities of randori are a critical training tool, is that they allow you to execute the techniques necessary to successfully implement the strategy theorized by the Gracies in situations of escalating duress.
But generally, I do agree. Jon Goss, the local Aikidoka, said one of the most prescient things I've ever heard about martial arts and self defense and it had nothing to do with physical technique. It was response of one of the students (maybe even Senpai?) accidentally failing to yield a path to Sensei to another student for demonstration because he was not paying attention:
Quote:
You guys need to learn respect. Respect is a behavior you must be focusing on, not only in here, but all the time. It must become a state of mind. If you don't offend, if you don't create an offense, you are much less likely to require defense.
That's not word for word, but it's very close, and that last part stuck in my mind especially. After thinking about it, everything started to make a lot of sense. It was so simple, yet so elegant in how well it put things into perspective. I would say it was one of the most prescient things I've ever heard anyone say in general, regarding any topic.