Folks,
On the surface this may seem like the lecture your mom gave you about food. Do you remember that? " You will eat what I cook!! There are starving kids in ( insert country) that would love to have this." Good thing my mom is a great cook. Anyhow, I am talking about something different. Royce Gracie once told me that he never beat anyone. He said that they beat themselves. Rickson Gracie kind of said that same thing with his famous "Go with the flow." interview.
What I am talking about goes along those lines, but with a twist. Now in a fight, you are obviously looking to land a definitive blow to the face or body of your opponent to end the confrontation. This is the ideal situation if you have to resort to violence. Or, if you are the student of the grappling arts, you are looking to secure a solid clinch, perhaps a takedown, and a hold that will render your opponent powerless.
What I am talking about is the microseconds in between the openings that will allow you to finish the fight. As a born striker, I am usually looking to knock my opponent down or out to finish a confrontation. But if you opportunity to land a telling blow to the face or body is not evident, I always have a plan "B" It is unlikely, but entirely possible, that you are facing another skilled combatant. I know it sounds weird, but it is possible. Dont think that just because a person does not have formal martial arts training, that they are without skills. In my lifetime, I have come across many a streetfighter with whom I was NOT inclined to tangle with. But I digress. If a man is covering their face and body well, I will look to strike their defenses. What do I mean? I mean that if a man is covering his face with his arms, I will punch his arms as hard as I can.
In the old days, toughening the bones and knuckes was a part of every class. From folks with bones hard enough to smash ice and bricks, a punch to the body was devastating. Even punching your opponent is the arms is enough to end a confrontation. I say, you hit what you can. I have spent a lot of years toughening my knuckles for just such an impact. When you can punch into ( and sometimes through) the defense of your opponent, you find your self with a lot more options.
If your opponent squares off in a standard boxing stance, punch him in the forearms. After a few hard shots into his not conditoned forearm bones, you will notice him lower his hands just a taste. That makes the punch to the chin, jaw or temple a lot easier to land. Believe me, it works, I have done it. If you have never seen it done, watch boxing on the classic channels. George Foreman would punch people in the arms until they would lower them. Then he would hit them with one of his haymaker right hands, and that was all she wrote. And that was WITH boxing gloves mind you.
Former boxing kingpin Julio Cesar Chavez was a master at body punching. He would lower your guard by way of body punching until he found your jaw. Considering how many people Chavez has kayoed, the jaw discovery was not a nice one.
Now believe me when I tell you, this concept is NOT a new one. In the Pilipino martial arts they have a concept in their weapons training called "Defanging the Snake." It means that intead of aiming their knives, swords. canes and sticks at their opponent, they would aim for the hands, arms and fingers. The idea being, if an opponent cannot wield their weapon, they are as harmless as a snake with not fangs. It is a lot easier( and likely, less legally problematic) to strike the hands of an opponent, than to bash them in the head with a weapon.
But the concept does not stop there. For all of you kickers out there, the concept of a perfect side kick to the rib-cage or roundhouse kick to the temple probably makes you tingle with anticipation. But the Muay Thai stylists,Pradal Serey ( Look it up) stylists and others have made habits out of kicking the legs. I like it. As I have said a zillion times, you are likely not going to be able to throw any kicks above your waist with jeans on anyhow. But aside from kicking the thighs, there are other delicious options. How about a roundhouse kick to the opponents calf? Or maybe kicking them in the hands? Not only does it do significant damage, it strikes people in areas that they are not used to protecting. It keeps you off balance big time, if you literally dont know what your opponent is going to try to hit.
I have something for your grapplers as well. As a born striker who learned to grapple, I have seen a number of ways that the non traditional application of techniques can lead to positional control and/or a submission hold. But before I get into how, let me give a little background on why I think the way I do.......................Because Im crazy. There I'm done with that :)
But seriously, let us have a quick look at the major grappling disciplines. There is Judo, Jujitsu, Wrestling, Sambo, Mongolian Wrestling, Kalarippayatu, Catch as Catch Can, Aikido, and likely as not about a zillion other styles I dont even know about. If I am not mistaken, the majority of these styles stress controlling the body of your opponent until a finishing hold can be applied.
But since I cant speak for all of them, I am going to start on some basic things that I have seen in the grappling world. BJJ guys have spoken out long and hard about how their style is all about technique and not strength. They look to Helio, Royler and Royce Gracie as examples of physically non threatening people as an example as to the effectiveness of their style. The fact of the matter is, that their success speaks for itself.
I have also studied and trained with some Catch Wrestlers who talk about how technical THEY are. The difference as I see it is that they are a LOT more likely to be physically fit, and to possess that intangible trait of "toughness." I would go as far as to say that they are just as technical as their BJJ counterparts. But their approach to grappling is very different.
Let me give you an illustration. BJJ is all about positional dominance before the submission. They stress that a person should not attempt a submission unless they have control of the limb that they are attacking. Their assault is often patient, methodical and often times, lethal.
Catch Wrestlers often stress the idea that the entire body is a submission hold just waiting to happen. They will often attempt a submission hold from any position that they happen to be in. If you need an illustration, check out Kazushi Sakuraba, Josh Barnett, or either Ken or Frank Shamrock. Less known but equally valuable as examples are Minoru Suzuki, Bas Rutten and Masutatsu Funaki.
Anyhow, BJJ guys dont often train using face locks, neck cranks or spinal manipulation. In the words of a BJJ stylist I know, those holds are just "glorified noogies." But as I said before, a lot of people say that when something that they arent prepared for forces them to submit. I think that it might be a little bit of hater-ism spreading around. I remember that pre 2001 or so, BJJ guys said that leg locks were cheap submission holds. Was it because leg locks require all strength and no finesse? NOPE! It is because BJJ guys were having their guard passed and they were being submitted with moves that they dont practice. So let us get beyond that "Mine is better than yours crap" and make with the examples.
When a BJJ stylist is in the kesa gatame or side mount postion, there are a LOT of possibilities. Most often, they will attack the arm in a Kimura, or Americana ( also called the Chicken Wing and Double Wrist lock) type of attack. To expedite the process, they will use leverage to hold you still while you can secure the successful hold. It is a good plan, as far as plans go.
Now a Catch Wrestler or Samboist may use the same position to hunt for a similar type submission. I think that the difference is that a Catch Wrestler will not spend undo energy trying to immobilize their opponent. Often times they will use a pain compliance type situation in order to facilitate movement. That "movement" usually ends up with the opponent "moving" right INTO the submission hold.
In this case, while the opponent is immobilized, the Catch Wrestler will often grind his forearm into the face of his opponent. Or maybe stick the point of the elbow into the eye socket. I have had both done to me, and oddly enough, I moved right into the submission :) I contend that the submission way is a lot more rough and tumble. I think that it is almost like they forced the issue. BJJ guys will say that in a "REAL" fight that they would use those techniques. I contend that they wont even remember to use them, because they dont practice them. They love to poop on traditional artists for not practicing realistically, then in the same breath talk about what they wont do in practice. HYPOCRISY FOLKS!!
In Judo, I see a LOT of opportunitues that people dont take. If you are a judoka in a combative situation, you know that a solid grip on your opponents shirt or jacket can limit their mobility big time. So rather than grabbing your opponent in the fight, PUNCH into your grip. By that I mean, punch your opponent in the chest, stomach or rib cage before securing an effective grip. It is bad enough to be thrown in such a way as to have the wind ( and maybe your consciousness) knocked out of you with a throw. It is an entire different thing, when a punch takes the wind out of your BEFORE you are launched into the stratosphere ogoshi style.
I could go on, but I am kinda tired. Remember the best way is your way. Do what works. Dont be afraid to punch, kick, give noogies, wedgies and anything that works.......Be good to each other people!!
