I often see this question posted on martial arts forums by someone who is interested in starting martial arts training.

Do Martial Arts Actually Work? 

Theoretically all martial arts work very well.  In the real world people who have been, “studying,” a martial art, even for years, would rarely even be able to pull anything off that looks like, kung fu, karate, or even bbj, in a real street fight.

I’ve been studying various martial arts for over fifteen years, and even been in a few street fights, not all of which ended well for me.

The one common thread regardless of style that I see in most every school is that most of the students, even if they hold black belts, have never been in a fight and have no clue what one is like. You would think training in a martial art would be prepatory for that.

Ahhhh, but here in lies the problem.  Most schools don’t train or drill techniques for an actual situation.  If they do drill techniques it’s often one step sparring with little to no contact.  Not that you have to beat each other, but if a technique calls for a hard block against and incoming punch and then a throw, the person punching should have some bruises on his arm after practice if it is a hard block, and be thrown with control.

I’ve literally seen TKD black-belts at tests block punches that would never even connect and then not even make the lightest contact with strikes.

You may argue, but we free spar with pads. Sorry, that’s nothing like a fight and is glorified match of tag.  No one calls break in a fight.

The fact of the matter is that most stand-up martial arts, that is, striking as opposed to grappleing are little more than dance classes.

Does your martial arts class consist almost wholly of doing katas in the air, performing techniques on a mirror or against a wooden dummy, or having someone tell you the attack they are about to throw so you can do the technique that is supposed to work for it?

Congratulations you are in dance class.

All of the above should only be done when: instructing, first learning a move, practicing a move for form and or muscle memory.  All of the above does next to nothing for being in a fight.

If instructors forced students to train in a way that was realistic and would reasonably prepare them for a fight, most would leave after the first training session and never come back. 

Because really training for a fight is somewhat painful, leaves bruises, and destroys paper tiger egos, or childish fantasies of pulling off flowery techniques in a fight.

A real fight is brutal.  Once the adrenaline hits most people who are not trained for the stess of it either freeze up or lose most of their coordination, due to the sudden adrenaline dump.

Free sparring can help with this, but only with the adrenaline part after the fight has actually started.  The point before the actual physical part of the fight is where most average people will freeze up, because they don’t know how to negotiate what proceeds a fight.

 Which brings me to a very crucial point.

I’ve yet to go to a school that talks about how fights actually start, and how a student can identify if a situation is likely to escalate to a fight.  Martial arts classes go straight to the action part of it. This is very bad because most fights are won or lost before the physical part starts.

By escalation, I mean what led to the fight?   

Unless you were in a kung fu movie have you ever seen a fight that started with two guys standing across from each other and bowing and then each going into a stance?  Of course not.

There are two main types of escalations.  The bully, and the mugger.

The bully is the big drunk at the bar, or the guy that has a bug up his ass for some reason, or thinks because you are smaller it would be fun to pick on you.

Bullies usually start out with looks, then some slander, and finally pokeing or pushing.  

See the escalation?

What the bully is doing is two fold. First he is building up his own steam and getting ready to fire.  Secondly he is testing the waters to see just how far he can push you.

If you know to give a hard look back to a hard look, a bully may not go any further.  Of course some guys are looking for a fight and will progress to an argument.

At the argument/ name calling phase you have two choices.  Bark louder and hope you are threatening enough to let him know you are going to fight hard and he won’t have an easy time of it, or you tell him to leave you the hell alone, call the cops ect.

Once it gets past that point to the pointing finger/ shoveing match phase you need to make a desicions right there quickly.  You either leave and get away from the guy, or you perform a preemptive strike.

A preemptive strike will usually win a fight if you have a solid punch and know where to land it.  Just continue up with a 3-5 more to make sure and finish the job.

As soon as an attacker starts pushing shoving you need to attack or leave quickly.  Don’t ever wait for the guy to throw the first punch if you know that you are going to be in a fight.

Myself I even go one further than this, I don’t even wait for a guy to point at me or push me.  If he’s mouthing off to me and comes within arms reach it’s better to hit first.

After the fight is over, get the hell out of their.  In fights the police put both parties in jail.  And witnesses may not see things your way.

But, back to escalation.  When you are at the point in an argument where someone is pushing you, what they are really doing is testing the waters again.  The bully wants to see just how far he can mess with you and how hard of a target you are.  The more repeated pushing pointing the more he’s trying to build up his own courage and test you.

He may very well just want to make you back down and humiliate you in front of whoever is there.  If your personal beliefs are not to fight, then you should just leave and put as much distance as you can between the two of you.  And of course, if the guy is some huge tank that would twist you into a pretzel it’s probably a good idea to leave rather than to test your karate skills.

However, if you are not the type to back down then be aware that the next thing that is coming is a physical attack. 

So, somewhere before the shouting/pushing/ pointing escalates into punching, you should make the choice to leave or perform a preemptive strike.

Preemptive strikes often conflict with what it taught in martial arts classes.  Although you are taught attacks, most techniques in martial arts classes call for someone to attack you first.  Some may even argue that it’s wrong to attack first.

The fact is that in a street fight the person who lands the first really good blow is usually the victor.  Waiting for someone to attack you before you defend yourself, when you know it’s coming, is just stupid.

With a preemptive strike you can usually shock the attacker and then follow up with a few more attacks and finish him off, or be ready for his two buddies,  (bullies are rarely alone they like an audience)   and then get away before the police show up.

The next type of physical escalation is the mugger.  This type can be more dangerous because it’s usually a complete surprise.  Muggers want some THING from you.  They don’t care about humiliating you in front of people.  They just want your wallet/purse/car/jewelery.

Muggers are opportunists looking for targets that are perceived as weak or easy.  They don’t really want a fight.

So, the first thing you can do is to not look like a target. Wherever you are appear alert and like you know where you are going, not like you are lost and in the wrong neighborhood.

Pay close attention to the alert part.  Muggers watch for people who are preoccupied and oblivious to others around them.   That way, however they mug you, has a lot of shock effect.

You should be very conscious of people who pass you by while walking on the street and anyone walking close to you.   A common ploy for a mugger is to size someone who is oblivious up by passing them a few times, and then striking.

Most muggers will let you alone if you do not allow yourself to be perceived as an easy target and you let them know that you know they are there with a simple look.

Your eyes should be up not looking into  a purse or off in space while you talk on a cell phone.

A good exercise while about in public is to constantly imagine a 50′ zone around you.  Anyone that comes within that should get your attention.  The closer someone come to you the more attention they should get.

If however someone does mug you and demands something of yours simply give it to them as quickly as possible. Try to keep as much distance between you and them if you are cornered, especially if they are armed.

At this point you may be thinking, but  what about the martial arts couldn’t I use that?  Sure, but remember muggers don’t want a fight.  They want something from you.  If you decide to fight/scare the guy off, you are taking a chance and escalating the situation further.  Most muggers are armed as well.

As this point it’s  a judgement call.  Are you more likely to be injured by fighting or giving up your wallet?

The whole point of martial arts is self defense, right?  

If you get into a situation like this.  This is not the time to, “test,” your martial arts skills. If you are not confident that you can deal with a mugging should it escalate to a phsyical confrontation, then you should give up what is demanded, or at the very least run and scream, “police,” at the top of your lungs.

Now if we move past a mugging to something more complicated like someone who wants to abduct you, then you should resist and scream as much as you can.  In other words do everything in your power to not be taken by this person to a secondary scene. 

Most police reports show that the secondary crime scene, after an abduction, is where most victims are found dead.

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