There was a time when the haymaker was the most advanced technique you were likely to encounter in a typical sidewalk scrap. Sadly, those salad days of classical fisticuffs are over.
Now, thanks to an abundance of cage-fighting videos that are available for viewing on any computer or mobile device, a generation of street thugs is pounding the pavement armed with moves they’ve lifted from the playbook of professional MMA.
Just don’t expect to find a referee standing at the ready to officiate when you’re jumped in a dark alley. If you’re on the receiving end of a rear-naked choke executed by an attacker who learned it on YouTube, odds are your tapout will go unacknowledged as you fade into a lengthy, if not permanent, nap.
“When you watch a sanctioned fight in the cage, there’s a level of safety and control because the referee has the responsibility to ensure that the fighters don’t get permanently injured,” says Bart Vale, a shootfighting and MMA pioneer, as well as a longtime kenpo black belt. “But on the street, things are different. There’s no one to stop the fight if your life is in danger.”
NEW NORMAL
Vale warns that traditional martial artists should take action now to update their self-defense techniques so they can contend with this new breed of street fighter, people who learned their moves on television or online.
While you can safely assume that web surfing alone won't produce a technically proficient fighter, especially in comparison to one who engages in formal training, Vale says the difference in quality doesn't matter to people who are focused only on fighting shortcuts to victory.
“Fighting someone with poor technique doesn’t necessarily reduce the threat that the [person] poses to you,” Vale says. “Anything can happen in a fight.”
These days, that “anything” he’s referring to often stems from a crash course in MMA. “The martial arts world continues to evolve,” he adds. “In the old days, the average person really didn’t know how to fight as well as they do now. Today, everyone thinks they’re a cage fighter.”
WHEN HALF-SECONDS COUNT
“A lot of the karate techniques that are drilled as the standard set of self-defense responses probably aren’t going to work against a do-it-yourself MMA fighter because the speed of the action used against you is usually quicker than your ability to react,” Vale says. “Imagine that you’re facing someone who is naturally good in a grappling situation. He could have watched videos of pro cage fights and learned how to shoot in and take you down. [That person] could have the ability to get you to the ground before you could step back to perform your techniques.”
In all likelihood, a street tough who’s self-taught in MMA would have the same advantage. “The bad guy is going to shoot in, and you may try to punch him or knee him — you might get him or you won’t,” Vale says. “You would already have to be moving defensively by the time he is moving offensively on you. Even if you do connect with your technique, it could happen that way because of luck or a collision due to the fact that you’re both moving.”
The window of opportunity to defend yourself lasts about half a second after the attacker engages with you, Vale says. “If he successfully grabs you in something like a rear-naked choke, you’re going to be out quickly. So you really have only a half-second to [avoid] ending up in the hold.
“Now, if you are able to step back and react to stop him, that’s great, but realistically, that won’t always happen. It’s why I also train my students to respond to the second after it happens — when the bad guy already has you in the choke and you are on the ground.”
When you practice self-defense, do everything possible to prepare for such contingencies, Vale advises. “Don’t limit yourself by always starting on your feet from the first moment of the attack. You also should have techniques that will work in the short amount of time that you’ll have when you start the drill from your back with the choke already locked on.”
OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS
If the formula for victory is combining preparation with opportunity, seizing opportunity on its own could be the home-brew that lets the do-it-yourself MMA fighter steal a win on the street.
“I can remember years ago [when] Mr. Ed Parker met a jujitsu or judo guy — I can’t remember who it was,” Vale says. “This guy came up to Mr. Parker and said, ‘I have a hold that no one can get out of.’ So he put Mr. Parker in the hold and told him to get out of it. When Mr. Parker said, ‘I can’t,’ the guy jumped up, threw his hands in the air and said, ‘I beat Mr. Parker!’
“Mr. Parker said, ‘Wait a minute. You didn’t beat me. I let you put me in the hold. Let’s try it again.’
“So the guy reached in to grab him again, and Mr. Parker instantly hit him in the neck, preventing the hold. The guy complained, ‘Wait, you can’t do that! I didn’t get you in the hold yet.’
“Mr. Parker pointed out that if you are willing to let the guy get the hold, you are giving him the opportunity, and by playing along with your opponent’s choreography, of course, the hold will work against you. But in a real situation, if you are trained to respond in fractions of a second, the timing of your reaction could very well be the thing that denies your opponent the opportunity to get the hold.”
The lesson applies as much to a modern MMA-based assault as it does to the kenpo-vs.-grappling demo that Parker gave.
WHEN IN ROME
For martial artists who wish to fine-tune their skills for defense against self-taught MMA, Bart Vale has a message: causing up with your computer, zoning out on cage fighting videos, is no substitute for time on the mat with a qualified instructor.
But trained traditionalists can benefit from a little TV time every now and then.
“You need to see what the bad guys are watching and recognize the kinds of techniques they're going to use against you,” he says. “They'll lift the most common techniques that I see over and over again in different fights — things like the takedowns and the rear-naked choke.”
“Another thing you'll learn after watching the fights is how there are times when the better fighter ends up losing because anything can happen. A mistake could cost you the win, so you can try to learn how to avoid mistakes by watching the finishes and by listening closely to the commentators when they explain why the fight ended the way it did. There are some very good commentators calling these fights, and you can learn from them.”
All this information and more is easy to access on the web, so you might as well use it, Vale says.
“The bad guys with no training are trying to gain an advantage over you, but if you are a trained fighter, you should be able to effectively use the same information to turn the tables on them.”
“Remember the saying from Sun Tzu: ‘Know your enemy.’ It's as true now as it's always been.”
Photography by Rick Hustead
Author Patrick Bamburak is a professional musician, recording artist, and martial artist who studies combat Isshin-ryu under Black Belt Hall of Famer Gary Alexander. Bart Vale’s website is shootfighting.com.