Your Fighting Tip

[Zenjael]

Hey all, the goal of this post is to provide one suggestion, or belief as a tenant toward fighting/sparring/self-defense. If you agree with what the person provided, like it, but please try to give new insights so we may all grow from each other. I doubt anyone wants to read 30 posts which just say to keep one's hands up. Write what works for you, tell us why, if you care to.

If what a person suggests can be considered erroneous, let's be respectful, discuss it, but not de-rail the thread.

Every technique, even if from another system, has it's counter, it's time and place for use. Not every strategy works, certainly every time. By no means am I saying if you do this you will succeed forever in martial arts combat. But perhaps someone else here will offer that insight.

To start this off, here is mine;

"Never use the same technique on the same opponent more than five times. Never repeat, or aim to the same place."

to explain, my fighting style emphasizes a high low approach while attempting to avoid a definite pattern. Strike, high, low, high, low, low, high. I often emphasize not to use combinations, and to always know where to hit, how, and what the effect will be. This way, you will be as surprised as the enemy where you hit, but when you do it will always be effective. Hence why one should not repeat and create a pattern- it makes one predictable.

 

[Kung Fu Wang]

Use

- grappling to against a striker.
- striking to against a grappler.

If your entering strategy work, always use the same entering strategy for the rest of your life (until it fail).

 

[Dirty Dog]

Do use combinations, since anyone who has actually fought or sparred knows that single attacks only work in movies.
Do use patterns. Teach your opponent to respond to them. And then break the pattern.
Grab strikers.
Strike grapplers.
Keep short people at a distance.
Get inside on tall people.
Don't try to end the fight by glaring at your opponent. That only works in fantasy land.

 

[Cirdan]

Focus and adapt
Avoid the ground in self defense

 

[Zenjael]

This is mainly to Dirty Dog

So far I'm really enjoying the points. I was hoping Dirty Dog to ask you about a number of yours. Im not trying to shoot them down, just wondering if this is what you mean.

When you say use combinations, I disagree, for the same reason as the one beneath for creating a pattern. Now if I'm deliberately creating a pattern for them to follow and be fooled, then I concur. My confusion stems that combinations set one up to create a pattern which if interrupted, could jam the person. I like to use them for practice, to get students used to the idea of not resetting after they hit, but I'm dubious that set patterns are the way to go.

I tend to avoid combinations, in sparring, not practice, because I believe in instinctual reaction. Say they throw the strike, eh a jab, but it could be anything. With enough repetition and practice the body should sideline the conscious thought and automatically utilize the counter, given the context. I've heard a lot of terms bandied about, I prefer it to be instinctual counter reflex, but even that doesn't do it justice.

You can also program a person to react. Depending on the angle of the strike, you can manipulate how they will move, and set them up for the next strike. Really advanced telegraphing (im blanking on the name) sets a person up so deceptively that when they throw their strike they don't even realize it's the one their opponent wanted them to throw, as far back as several exchanges. Then WHAMO. I've heard this called 3rd stage telegraphing, but I don't believe that's its actual name.

I agree, and disagree with the tactic for short or tall people, but its really less a question of height and moreso who has better control of their reach. You're assuming the taller person, once the smaller has penetrated the guard is stuck. Having sparred a very tall African American wing chun practitioner, he's the LAST person I'd want to penetrate the guard. I have to spar him as though he were a 200+ grappler. Never go in center, always circle. It was very challenging, and enjoyable.

It's true that it's all context, and I can see every one of your points working, actually. Heck, I've used a couple of those strats. But if you're assuming you can stay out of the range of every short person, you're in for a surprise if they've seriously developed their fanshin. Heck, you get your fanshin distance to about two leg lengths, distance is irrelevant.

If I may ask though, being under 120 pounds and 5'4" myself, why grab a grappler? If you can grab, couldn't you instead strike? I've always found ground risky, not because of inexperience, but because generally grapplers are so much bigger skill seems to come less into play than physical attributes do. I dislike grabbing because it can potentially tie my hands up. Ionno, I'd like my opinion to be changed on that.

I did have a teacher too who often said the mantra, 'if they aren't knocked out from the first punch, you aren't doing enough push-ups".

Then again, he was also referring to punching to the temple. You can put someone down with one strike, but itll take decades of practice, some fortune from the heavens, and some serious force behind the blow. I say it doesnt hurt to hit with that kind of intent (one strike to negate) and then keep on going at the same pace and intensity until the threat is neutralized.

I get the feeling that how you fight is very, very coy.

To the person who recommended striking a grappler, and vice versa. That's a real smart idea, I think. I'm going to have us give it a whirl today with our aikido member.

 

[Buka]

Keep your hands up.

 

[Gnarlie]

Don't fight. Execute. Don't expect fairness and don't be fair. Act without hesitation as soon as the need to act is clear.

Gnarlie

 

[francium]

Always watch the target- never look down, never look away
Never get static- there is a difference between quietly waiting and calculating, and being stuck in stasis.

 

[Bill Mattocks]

For sparring:

If you throw a technique, throw another. Work in combinations, leveraging your opponent's defenses. Always look at a thrown technique as an opportunity to get the opponent to react the way you want him to in order to throw the second or third technique in such a way as he can't react to it.

If you retreat, retreat on an angle, never straight back. He can move forward in a straight line faster than you can retreat on a straight line.

Practice getting offline and do not fight in a linear fashion. This is the most obvious at every karate tournament I have been to. Underbelts run at each other in a straight line. Get offline and your opponent may not be able to respond to your attacks that come from other angles than head-on.

With experience, practice inviting the technique you want the opponent to throw, and be ready to counter it and throw your own pre-planned technique when it does. An example; an exposed belly invites the roundhouse kick. Receive it in a way that shows the judges you were not kicked, but intercepted the kick (so they don't give your opponent the point) and lock the leg; your opponent is now yours to do as you wish with.

Make all techniques obvious to the corner judges. Hidden, subtle, or inside techniques do not work if the judges cannot see them. Consider delivering a loud kiai when you strike so they know you have delivered your technique.

Watch your opponent's midsection, not his eyes. All movement is preceded by body weight shifting, so they must telegraph their movements to you before attacking.

Keep moving.

For self-defense:

End the fight as quickly as possible, disengage if you safely can. Every moment spent fighting raises your chances of becoming injured or killed.

Angry people respond to pain stimulation. Drunk or drugged people respond to joint destruction.

A person who cannot walk, cannot fight.

Keep an eye on your six. Drunken fighting idiots have friends who don't like it when you clobber their buddy.

Once you commit to fighting in self-defense, do not stop until the threat is completely ended or you can safely disengage. Avoid fighting, but once it's on, it's on. If you stop before they do, you lose.

 

[Cyriacus]

Sure.

Tip 1/1:
Incapacitate the other person, forcefully.

Seriously, why overcomplicate it. Its a fight, not a dance scene. Training is training, but a singular tip has to be simple enough to absorb right away, and use on its own merit. And just getting in, and laying in, is all you need to know in that regard, since you only get one tip. Dont try and be all footworky or strategic.

See, moving between high and low works until you go low, and get punched in the head for trying to be all method using and stuff. And if you hit something once, unless you softly nudged it, you probably have plenty of chance as of that moment to hit it again, and again.

And last i checked, when you get into a fight, you dont say "Hey, wait a sec. Are you a striker, or a grappler? I need to know so i can do the opposite, dude."
This is one tip. Not training.

 

[WC_lun]

No offense to anyone, but i see a lot of advice good for sparring or tournament fighting, that is bad advice for actual fighting. For instance, in the OP, "Never use the same technique on the same opponent more than five times. Never repeat, or aim to the same place." Fine advice for sport or playing a game. Not so much for a real fight. If you are in a fight and it last long enough to use the same technique five times, you haven't done your job. In a real fight you strike or grapple to an open target. If an attacker can't protect something, you attack it, regarldless if the same spot or not. Your job is to end the fight, not dance or get style points.

My advice for fighters is simple, but takes a lot of practice to do it consistantly. At the first contact, you put your opponent in recovery mode then do not let him recover. Otherwise you aren't doing something correctly.

Sometimes the best advice is really simple. Buka's advice of "keep your hands up," is the best, in my opinion.

 

[mook jong man]

Know your exact range , have patience and don't launch your attack until the target is within that range.

Once the decision is made go through them like a laser beam.

If there is heavy resistance when trying to penetrate the opponents guard , commence attacking with arms and legs simultaneously.

 

[lklawson]

Movement is movement. A person moves forward into an attack either for grappling, with empty hands, or with a weapon. First, learn how the human body moves and then adapt and adjust the the timing and distances (tempo and measure) for the type of weapon (or none) being employed.

Peace favor your sword,
Kirk

 

[bluewaveschool]

Keep your hands up.

Beat me to it.

 

[Zenjael]

No offense to anyone, but i see a lot of advice good for sparring or tournament fighting, that is bad advice for actual fighting. For instance, in the OP, "Never use the same technique on the same opponent more than five times. Never repeat, or aim to the same place." Fine advice for sport or playing a game. Not so much for a real fight. If you are in a fight and it last long enough to use the same technique five times, you haven't done your job. In a real fight you strike or grapple to an open target. If an attacker can't protect something, you attack it, regarldless if the same spot or not. Your job is to end the fight, not dance or get style points.

My advice for fighters is simple, but takes a lot of practice to do it consistantly. At the first contact, you put your opponent in recovery mode then do not let him recover. Otherwise you aren't doing something correctly.

Sometimes the best advice is really simple. Buka's advice of "keep your hands up," is the best, in my opinion.

That's fair game. Fighting is just sport, so if we want to look at this in terms of survival oriented 'fighting', I am in agreement, it's a different game.

Here are a few survival techniques I could use;

-Aim for inner thigh, groin, temple, sternum.
-If a punch is coming toward you, use your elbow to spike the fingers to break them.
-Kick out their knee.
-Never let them take you to the ground. If they sweep, stomp on their leg below the knee. If they try to charge and tackle, back up and stomp on them as they miss. You can also side-step and elbow to the temple. If they do get you on the ground, get up, and stomp on them as hard as possible.

The list can go on, I was just hoping to create an example which offered a format for any advice, be it sport or survival.

How about we mention one so basic we all neglect how important it is; "Breathe."

 

[jks9199]

Self defense is not fighting. Fighting is not sparring. If you don't know the difference -- the rest is meaningless.

 

[Touch Of Death]

Give them the Charlie Manson eyes. You have no idea how many fights I have avoided with my sick smile. If you do end up fighting and they put up their guard, attack their guard.

Sean

 

[Cyriacus]

-Aim for inner thigh, groin, temple, sternum.
-If a punch is coming toward you, use your elbow to spike the fingers to break them.
-Kick out their knee.
-Never let them take you to the ground. If they sweep, stomp on their leg below the knee. If they try to charge and tackle, back up and stomp on them as they miss. You can also side-step and elbow to the temple. If they do get you on the ground, get up, and stomp on them as hard as possible.

Aim? Have you ever aimed for more than a general area in a fight?

Using the elbow to break the fingers only works if you see the punch coming fast enough to bring the arm up at the correct angle faster than the punch can reach you. The action is sound, but expecting it to break fingers isnt.

Kicking out a knee only works if they stand still and dont punch you in the face while you stand there and kick them in the knee. It works at the end of a combination to set it up, or after theyre already hurt. Or if it is not a committed attack.

If they sweep, stomp on their leg?
Sorry, what? You realise sweeps are done chest to chest, right?
Or is this a different type of sweep to what im thinking of?

If they try to tackle you, stomp them as they miss? Why bother, since apparently theyre headbutting the floor.
If someones trying to tackle you, they can adjust as you sidestep. Its only a small adjustment.
And how far away do you expect someone to attack you from?

If you go to the ground, get up, and stomp on them?
Again, what? You go to the ground, so you just get up? What are they doing, laying next to you and admiring the clouds? And then continuing to lay on the floor while you stomp on them?

Also, if my questioning sounds aggressive, it isnt meant to. Im aiming more for direct.

 

[Bill Mattocks]

Aim? Have you ever aimed for more than a general area in a fight?

Keep in mind who you're dealing with here.

 

[Touch Of Death]

Aim? Have you ever aimed for more than a general area in a fight?

Using the elbow to break the fingers only works if you see the punch coming fast enough to bring the arm up at the correct angle faster than the punch can reach you. The action is sound, but expecting it to break fingers isnt.

Kicking out a knee only works if they stand still and dont punch you in the face while you stand there and kick them in the knee. It works at the end of a combination to set it up, or after theyre already hurt. Or if it is not a committed attack.

If they sweep, stomp on their leg?
Sorry, what? You realise sweeps are done chest to chest, right?
Or is this a different type of sweep to what im thinking of?

If they try to tackle you, stomp them as they miss? Why bother, since apparently theyre headbutting the floor.
If someones trying to tackle you, they can adjust as you sidestep. Its only a small adjustment.
And how far away do you expect someone to attack you from?

If you go to the ground, get up, and stomp on them?
Again, what? You go to the ground, so you just get up? What are they doing, laying next to you and admiring the clouds? And then continuing to lay on the floor while you stomp on them?

Also, if my questioning sounds aggressive, it isnt meant to. Im aiming more for direct.

Yes aim. Geez!