Martial Art for the Creative Artist
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Every fighter has a story. Every fight has a purpose.
Fighters in different stages of their careers with very different things to prove to themselves entered the cage Saturday night for Icon Productions’ Evolution Mixed Martial Arts show at Five Flags Center.
Some found glory. Some found heartbreak. A few found themselves needing stitches post-fight.
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In a real life situation, one of the worst things you can do is end up on the ground! There is absolutely no reason to be on the ground in order to defend yourself. Of course, you need to know what you are doing. Good martial arts training is necessary for your safety and confidence just like Law School is necessary to be an attorney or Medical School to be an MD. Let’s find out why being on the ground is a huge disadvantage:
On a physical level, your movements and therefore your ability to defend yourself is very limited. You would have to rely on your muscle strength and I can almost guarantee that your attacker will be stronger than you are. Keep in mind there is only one weight class on the street. No matter how good and strong you are, your attacker will most likely be twice as heavy as you are. So, you already lost this round!
On a psychological level, this is even worse. You are putting yourself immediately in the victim position. The person standing always dominates the person that is on the ground. Throughout centuries, people drop on their knees to show respect. When you are in church and pray you are on your knees, aren’t you? When your dog is not listening to your commands you pin him to the ground (on his back) to demonstrate that you are the master. Do you see a pattern here? Do not go to the ground and expect to be safe!
There are five possible fighting distances:
1. Kicking distance
2. Punching distance
3. Knee and Elbow distance
4. Wrestling/Grappling distance
5. Fight on the ground
As you can see, the ground fight happens to be the last distance, not the first. Should you find yourself on the ground with the attacker sitting on top of you, you’ve missed the previous four distances to defend yourself. You are out of luck and not much can help you now because the attacker is physically stronger and he has you where he wants you to be.
Of course, a BJJ enthusiast will try to convince you that wrestling is great for self-defense. That may be as long as you are stronger than your attacker. But in reality your attacker is always stronger! And what if the attacker does not go to the ground? What if he stands on his feet and punches you, chokes you or pulls you in an alley? Only people without experience think a fight ends on the ground.
Realistic and effective self-defense training like Revat teaches you how not to go to the ground. It shows you how to control the attacker especially when he is stronger and taller.
Cheers,
Ingo Weigel
Sifu
