Ground Fighting

[Daniel]

Sounds like you know Daniel Ryu anyway. Keep on fighting dirty - when you have too.

Well, I guess that is true. Daniel Ryu is the way of avoiding a fight whenever possible. I've been lucky in that I have been able to deescalate most situations where someone was interested in fighting me.

The whole point with this drunk was that I didn't want to fight the guy in the first place. Sticking my thumb in his eye was just to get him to let go. Once he let go I stepped away from him and let him (everyone else in the room) know that I wasn't interested in fighting him. He got in my face and was all pissed off about the gouge, but unless he tried to attack me again I wasn't going to react.

The best way to win a fight is to not get in one.

[funfetus]

Mary, I'm really sorry to hear about your experience. It's so awesome that you fought back and gave that bastard what he deserved. I wish every woman would/could do that. My girlfriend volunteers as a rape counselor, and listening to her stories is heartbreaking.

It's interesting that this came up in a thread about ground-fighting, though. I remember reading an interview with one of the Gracies (Rickson or Royler, I think) who said that he teaches a women's self-defense BJJ class. Considering how likely it is that a woman who's the target of a rape attempt will end up in the guard position, this seems perfect. Imagine some asshole trying to rape a woman, and he ends up getting arm-barred.

[prenna]

It's interesting that this came up in a thread about ground-fighting, though. I remember reading an interview with one of the Gracies (Rickson or Royler, I think) who said that he teaches a women's self-defense BJJ class. Considering how likely it is that a woman who's the target of a rape attempt will end up in the guard position, this seems perfect. Imagine some asshole trying to rape a woman, and he ends up getting arm-barred.

The only problem is if the woman (or man for that matter) faces multiple attackers she/he is putting herself in real danger if all she has learned is BJJ. The majority of BJJ will get you seriously injured or worse when faced with either multiple attackers or an attacker who is armed. It is also a completely different matter when you try BJJ on concrete.

[Mary]

Well, when I have ended up on the ground in a field or woodland the damage isn't too bad. (While sabbing for example.) However, when this bloke jumped me from behind, the wind went out of me, and the concrete punched me all over. That is what it felt like anyway.

If I had known some ground fighting techniques though I wouldn't have been in such a bad way when I had finished. Headbutting and twisting somebody's nose at the same time doesn't have much to recommend it as far as your neck is concerned. On the other hand, he wasn't expecting it. (That'll teach him to try and kiss me.)

Nowadays he would never have got me on the floor in the first place.

I go along with Daniels philosophy though. Never start a fight. Diffuse it if you can. If you can't, finish it as fast as possible, and get out of it asap.

[sushi_rat]

Judo & wrestling are properly the best for ground work.

[PaHulkster]

There is no such thing as fighting dirty when you're on the street. The gym is a different deal. When it's live or die in real life you better believe that I'm going to fight dirty. I've been jumped and attacked just walking down the street a few times before. I've gotten hurt, but I also left them lying broken and unconscious on the street. I hope each one of them died. Unreasonable force doesn't exist when you're dealing with somebody who is out there to hurt you.

[tylerm]

Note to self: do not jump PaHulkster

[PaHulkster]

Haha. I'm actually a really nice guy. I just react very violently when threatened.

[wannalift]

the hulkster is right. the fact is you can have your life ended with one strike whether it was intentional or not. this has happened so many times that it is worth considering when in a confrontation. or you could be getting the best of an opponent and think the fight is over, but then you turn to walk away and end up with a knife or bullet in your back. i guess my point is that if someone attacks you, punish them for having the audacity of doing so and do it without mercy. if you're not prepared to defend your life, you should be prepared to lose it.
-david

[Prodigy]

Ideally, a combination of wrestling (for the take downs and control) and BJJ (for the submissions). The mixed martial arts scene has proven these the superior ground fighting techniques. Look at the success of Nogueira, the Gracie's, and Bustamante (from BJJ) and Coleman, Kerr, and Couture (from wrestling).

If you had to choose only one though, I would go BJJ. In a dangerous street situation, your aim would be to submit rather than control.

[Prodigy]

Speaking of adding a new martial art, the gym I have just joined does Thai Kick Boxing, and I can have a free lesson a week. Now I love the idea, but will it mess up my karate? Cause, frankly, I have watched some of these guys, and I could (to sound American ) whale on most of them. They look like they are having great fun though, and the instructor looks a lot better than most of the class. And another possibility is boxing. Taught by a vegan of thirteen years standing, with all the other students big blokes (a lot of them bouncers.) Wouldn't it do me a lot of good to train with men? (I do anyway, but these guys are more likely to be street in their style, and don't look like they pull their punches.) Again, would it mess up my karate?

It is just, it is down the road, free, and I love fighting. That makes me sound so thuggish. But you know what I mean. But I really want to keep my karate as clean and smart as possible.

Whilst your Karate might not be as pure after training in other styles, you will definitely become a more well-rounded and effective fighter. Indeed you will find more of the worlds top fighters have a Thai Boxing (eg: many of the Dutch "Golden Glory" team) than a Karate background (eg: can't think of any!) Depends what your after...

PS - Don't worry about sounding thuggish The real thugs are those who consider fox-hunting and bird-shooting a "sport"

[sensless]

Street fighting is inherently dirty fighting.

Mary, I'm glad to hear that you were able to fight back and deliver an appropriate consequence to that chump. When I was in college I was jumped a few times by groups of people, and the police always reacted the same way towards me as they did to you. Saying I used excessive force, etc. I never understood that, am I supposed to pull my punches when being confronted by a group of people that aren't pulling theirs?


Regards,

John Jr.

[Mary]

Hi Sushi rat.

Your avatar comes across as completely black. Is that deliberate, or is my computer playing up?

Do you do judo yourself then?