Reality Martial Arts

(Note: Many of the videos I link to in this post depict real violence and also use a lot of profanity. If that kind of thing bothers you then please don’t watch them.)

The title of this post is probably a misnomer. Regardless, I’ve been meaning to post videos of martial arts being used in “street” situations for a few months now. At the end of the day most folks who get into the martial arts do so for some sort of practical self-defense application. Lets see if we can learn anything from these selected videos.

From 1995 until 1999 I worked in two prisons. Consequently I’ve seen my share of beat downs. I’d have to say that 70% of what I saw stayed upright. The reason being is it’s death to end up on the ground where you can get swarmed. The other thing is saw was a lot of wild punches and the use of improvised weapons. Very few “street fighters” are trained martial artists. You are lucky if you find someone who had boxing or wrestling lessons. Past that there’s always that street fighter with natural talent. Anyhow, the first two videos do a fair job of capturing the wild puncher or someone with a *little* training.

• Knows enough to get himself hurt
• Mostly wild swinging street fighters

The first video has a “natural” and someone with some boxing training. Not too pretty and I bet there’s many martial artists from various styles (stand-up and ground) that could make short work of both these guys.

The second video show mostly brawlers. The advantage they have is being unpredictable. However, if you can keep a cool head it’s easy to seize on the many mistakes that they make. Or if you are in law enforcement or corrections overwhelm them with numbers!

Next lets look at various martial arts styles when they have to defend against street fighters.

Strikers:

• Karate or Taekwondo vs. street fighter
• Boxer vs. street fighter
• Kung Fu vs. street fighter
• Wing Chun vs. street fighter
• Karate vs. pimp

I’m guessing that the first martial artist is trained in taekwondo or karate. He relies on two kicks and one hand technique. However, he does pull off kicks off (in street shoes no less!) in a street setting.

The boxer is one of my favorites. He does an excellent job of sticking and moving against a mob. It’s multiple opponent fighting 101 and he does really well.

The traditional Kung Fu guy is also fun to watch. Granted, that classical stance might get him in trouble with an MMA fighter. Still, against someone with no training he does pretty good.

Wing Chun guy is pretty cool too. Notice he’s up against someone who’s much bigger? Also note that he knows how to deal with in-fighting and gets the guy on the ground.

Finally, Karate guy vs. pimp is nice and simple. One well-placed backfist and it’s game over for the street thug!

Grapplers:

I had a very hard time finding examples of grappling in street fights. My personal opinion is that’s it’s just too risky to go to the ground for any length of time. I did find what’s billed as Ralek Gracie in a street fight. While he does make short work of his opponent consider this: What would he have done if one or two of blondy’s pals had decided to put the boots to him while he was on the ground? At least one person thinks BJJ is overrated for street use. I won’t go that far but the critic does have a point. If anything critic’s video is worth watching for the last part where you can see more brawls, not sporting matches! (try going to the ground when someone swings a pool stick at you!) Anyhow, here’s Gracie:

• Gracie vs. blond kid

I also found a staged video that illustrates Aikido with a little Judo and Jujitsu thrown in for good measure. Despite being staged I have to say that I do like what I see. Given that Aikido mostly trains to stay upright and and tries to get the assailant prone I really have to reconsider it (again). He also does a good job against staged punches so based on four years of wrestling with knuckleheads I have a feeling it might work against inmates, too.

• Staged Aikido

Way back in the prison days I had to annually certify in PPCT. While it ain’t pretty it did cover all ranges of fighting. It’s flaw is that it relies on a use-of-force continuum so basically the bad guy can play dirty while you HAVE to play by the rules. That having been noted, after reviewing the above videos I have to say it did a fair job of teaching untrained officers how to deal with street fighters. Still, a combat or reality system like Krav Maga would be much more effective in my opinion.

Other:

I did not know where to put Capoeira. It probably goes in striking but it also has some ground take-downs. Anyhow, a reader sent me the first video and asked that I post it.

• Capoeira training for the street

Some of the techniques look plausible and I’d be curious to see how Capoeirea would hold against a street thug. This leads me to re-post a video of Capoeira vs. Muay Thai. It’s really not a street fighter per se. However, it shows you that simple and effective techniques usually win out over flash. That’s a good lesson for any style.

I also have to say that if you are confined to the sport side of martial arts your best bet is probably MMA. Now I don’t mean pure Brazilian Jujitsu here. What I mean is a good combination of striking and grappling. Say what you will about the sport of MMA but against most street fighters it gives you the best of both worlds (ground and striking).

On that note I found an 11 part series titled Bas Rutten’s Street Fighting. I like this series so much that I think it’s worth embedding. If you get a chance I’d encourage you to at least view it from YouTube. If you do you can see the other 10 parts in the “related videos” section.

I have to admit that I’m a Bas Rutten fan. He has a background in traditional arts and while his lack of a ground game impacted his early MMA career, he soon caught up!

Sebastiaan “Bas” Rutten (born February 24, 1965) is a Dutch mixed martial arts fighter and color commentator. He was a three time King of Pancrase, former Ultimate Fighting Championship Heavyweight Champion, and is a certified MTBN Thai Boxing instructor, Pancrase instructor, and has a 5th Degree Black Belt in Kyokushin karate and a 2nd Degree Black Belt in Tae Kwon Do.

Mr. Rutten was also a bouncer and has a lot of practical experience dealing with street fighters. One thing that really stood out in part one of his video was something inmates were very good at: Improvisation. What most lacked in fighting skill they’d make up for in creative uses of every day objects as weapons. Judging by part one of his DVD, Mr. Rutten has seen the same thing as a bar bouncer.

So what can we conclude? Here’s my thoughts…

1. Most classical martial arts will give you skills to deal with garden variety street thugs.
2. You should be afforded the opportunity to train against multiple attackers who swing wild.
3. Hopefully you’ll have some basic training against weapons including firearms.
4. Pure grappling seems to be a risky proposition on the street. I base this part on my experience and part of the lack of videos I could find. While I did find one example of BJJ in a street fight that same video illustrates a huge weakness: You can’t try to choke someone out while fending off multiple opponents. Don’t believe me? Consider a tale from the joint: We had a guard who weighed in about at 250 lbs, stood 6′ 3″, was a weight lifter, and had an amateur boxing and wrestling background. This guy got jumped by three 145 lb Hispanic gang members. He took it to them and put one in the hospital. However, not before ending up with a ruptured testicle and separated shoulder. Just as soon as he got one on the ground and starting beating the other two would put the boots to him. In fact, he later admitted that he was about done for. The only thing that saved him was hitting his tactical alert button. Luckily we found him despite being in an area where the cameras did not cover him!
5. If you are a total striker you better get some grappling 101. In many of the above videos the fighters either fell or went to the ground. They did get back up but still, you are setting yourself up for failure if you don’t know basics.
6. If you are a total grappler you had better learn how to strike and also learn how to deal with multiple opponents.

Finally, something one of the PPCT trainers said every year: The best block is a city block. I’m betting 80% of the above street fights are due to people being in the wrong environment. So simply avoid those places where common thugs tend to hang out!

Addendum: I had one reader e-mail me and bemoan the fact that I did not post more grappling on the street. Honestly, I searched for videos and even get paid in the real world to “find stuff” (although a subject of great debate, some people think I actually know what I’m doing). However,  I had very little success. That having been noted if I missed a video by all means send it to me. If it’s worth including I probably will!

~BCP