For far too long, you bottoms have sat back laughing at so-called “fanciful ballet martial arts” when you nincompoops haven’t been in the gritty yourselves (a MMM match with a mat and rules, preceded by jerking off to Ken Shamrock, doesn’t count either).
For far too long you dummies sit of fucking message boards critisizing trained professionals who fight to defend their own lives and the lives of others for a living.
You guys live in comfortable homes, in nice neighbourhoods. The roughest time you ever had was fighting off some bully in high school, or imitating rappers slap-boxing in your goth rave parties. You sit online or in your clubs ranting over the best arm lock
Wow, “systema is shit”? Funny, the elite special forces of the Russian military (Spetsnaz) and the former KGB don’t seem to agree.
Wow, the grappling techniques of Army Rangers is ineffective? Really? So I suppose all those dangerous missions when they had to defend themselves against the most dangerous enemies on this earth were just made up, huh?
Oh wow, those “ancient martial arts” were pretty crappy huh? I’m sure they were, because it would be SO PRACTICAL to develop such wimpy tactics in warring eras when armed soldiers are constantly invading, attempting to trample your fields, burn your house, kill you and rape your wife and daughters.
RIGHT?
Most of you probably think you could run up against Jet Li and Tony Jaa, because when they see you coming, they are going to adopt a fancy Wing Chun stance while you slide to the floor ready to apply your “reality based grapling technique” (lol they’d murder you punks).
What a bunch of disrespectful, moronic lowlifes. Before I further own you morons, who hide on the internet and actually think your shitty “reality based” style would work in on the streets of Kingston Jamaica or the Jungle in LA, the special operations arena or hellholes like Haiti, Lebanon etc, here’s some words from a REAL pro at the real thing. Too be fair, he barbaques the sacred cows of both traditional and reality based martial arts. Listen up, you strung out extreme sports junkies.
http://www.bullshido.comstreetfighting.html
Marc “Animal” Young
The behavior on internet forums these “glass screen warriors” display (while thinking it shows how “tough they are”) would get them stomped in biker bars, honky tonks and dive bars. The very places where the mythical “streetfighter’s” that they are always training to beat tend to congregate. Places, incidentally, that these cyber-bad asses regularly avoid. In otherwords, they never learn how truly dangerous people really behave.
But oh can they tell you all about how bad guys operate and how easy they are to defeat. Never been there themselves, but they can tell you all about what it takes.
Unfortunately, too many cyberstuds and internet street fighters think they have stacked the deck in their favor by learning some kind of “reality based fighting system” or an ultimate martial art. They feel that because they have this under their belt, that’s all they need. With that attitude they go swaggering around telling themselves what dangerous street fighters they are and just aching for a chance to unleash their deadly skills on some criminal trash.
Sure, what the self-proclaimed bad asses have up their sleeve will cause serious damage if it lands…the problem is ain’t no streetrat going to give them a chance to use it.
Not to rain on anybody’s parade here, but before you hurt yourself patting yourself on the back about how smart you are for stacking the deck in your favor, recognize that ain’t no streetrat out there who hasn’t stacked the deck in his favor too. He’s got a host of nasty, sneaky tricks that he hasn’t just practiced, but used to survive out there. It’s easy to win a game of poker when you are the only one who is cheating. It’s a whole lot rougher when everyone else is cheating too. I have a bit of bad news for folks who think that they have stacked the deck having trained in WWII combatives, reality based fighting, extreme fighting or the ultimate fighting system . That is: Violence in the street is that game of poker where everyone is cheating, the winner is going to be the guy who is better at it. Not the better fighter, but the guy who can neutralize all those ways that his opponent is thinking will stack the deck in his favor.
Putting it bluntly, he ain’t going to give you a chance to use all your uber-bad ass street fighting moves. When he drops this bomb on your head, it’s going to be his timing, not yours. Because getting the first shot off is a major component of who wins the streets. If you don’t know what these things look like being developed, then they are going to nail you before you have a chance to bring out your ultimate streetfighting shit. Unless you have the experience, cunning, skill or just dumb luck to spot how the guy is going to “cheat” (or what he is relying on to carry the day for him), then. the odds are, it will get a serious piece out of you. Now the really bad news, those people get real inventive in all the ways they come up with to cheat.
Figure the guy you will be facing has experience using it, it isn’t a matter of training with him, it’s a matter of doing. You’re the virgin in this situation. He knows it is a winning strategy because he has used it on other suckers before. It doesn’t matter how “tough” you think you are or what ultimate fighting style you’ve trained in, survival against professionally and habitually violent people (streetfighters) has less to do with physical prowess or weapons, than knowing how to spot when someone is trying to set you up. Because once he gets that advantage, he will never let up to allow you use all those killer kung fu commando moves that you paid so much to learn.
Bottomline: Nobody ‘owns’ the TRUTH™ about martial arts and self-defense. Nobody can teach you the “true” version of a martial art. Nor can they teach you about self-defense without including a wide variety of topics other than just physical. If they say they can, they are lying…usually to get your money. No “traditional” art from a distant and exotic place, no matter how physically effective, can teach you about the modern cultural, legal and pragmatic standards of fighting in your country. These little issues seriously affect “real fighting.”
By the end of this page, you will know what I think about people claiming to be able to teach you “how to fight” and fixating on that aspect only. To tell you honestly, the only “truth” I ever learned about “real” fighting – from a lifetime of doing it – is that it is both painful and an outrageously stupid waste of time. As such selling you training in the ultimate fighting system is pretty damn silly – and don’t even get me started on the hucksters who claim to be able to make you a master streetfighter. There ain’t no such thing, except in the heads of people who have paid a whole lot of money for that fantasy.
However, as the old saw goes “There wouldn’t be prostitutes if there weren’t customers willing to pay for it.”
Now I want to turn my attention to the fixation on “fighting” that so plagues the MA/SD world. And that means I want to hold the same mirror for people who are going on and on and on about “reality fighting” and the “In a real fight, I’d…” crowd. Bottomline, their spaceship of what reality is disintegrates when entering the atmosphere of reality. I’m not even talking about “down-to-earth, nuts-and-bolts” reality yet, I’m still talking general ideas and basics. These are not vague, mythical ideals, I am talking about a “bigger picture” realities. And like it or not, the bigger picture always includes realities that we don’t want it to. Things that are conveniently cropped out of the smaller, more specialized, picture.
The problem is that many of so-called “reality based” people are never getting to that twenty-one stage where they are seeing that the world is more complex than what they think it is at “fourteen.” In other words, they never see “how much dad learned in those seven years.” As such they go on endlessly about "how this teacher doesn’t know what he is talking about, " how ineffective “traditional” martial arts are for fighting or “how in a “real fight” you have to…” etc., etc., ad nauseum.
Funny thing is most of them have no experience with violence outside being harassed and bullied when they were younger. They have fixated on this concept and in their obsession on “real” fighting without a clue of all that reality contains. It appears, in their way of thinking at least, that the ultimate “streetfight” resembles an "uber-version of a high school fight – where they slug it out with an “uber-bully.” And that is what their training focuses on, full blast, one-on-one fighting… The idea that a truly violent and dangerous “streetfighter” would walk up behind them and just shoot them in the back doesn’t seem to enter their heads. They fixate on and train for their fantasies about violence, not how it really happens.
From all apparent evidence, these kind of people are trying to “rewrite history” (as it is know in psychological circles). If they train hard enough in this ultimate system they will be able fight off the next wave of uzi wielding ninjas that are lurking around the corner waiting to pounce on them (and never addressing what behaviors they were engaging in that would have instigated such a response).We refer to this as the “27 ninjas” or when it comes to women’s self-defense, the “Never Again crowd” as there is a distinct “flavor” to people who are training in hopes of rewriting history. Odd thing is, most of these people live otherwise stable lives with very little actual violence in them save for their fixation and training. But, by insisting on their fixation, they ignore all the other values of these systems.
People talk about this training being about “self-defense,” but they have no idea about the difference between self-defense and fighting.
Unfortunately, most people I know who go on and on about traditional MA not being good for fighting remind me of yappy dogs who bark at bigger dogs from the safety of the porch. Technically, they are correct, traditional MA are not good for fighting… However, these guys in their pursuit of the “Ultimate fighting art” are playing at being fighters. They aren’t out in the shit, slamming and jamming or doing high-risk jobs. But “oh boy are they asskickers” because of what great “fighting system” they know.
This is where the yappy dog analogy comes in: They are fascinated and fixated on violence, and they play with it constantly, but they don’t go out there and get into it. So they train and train and train for the day that they dream of… the day that they find themselves in a situation where they can give themselves permission to go off and unleash their deadly fighting art.
This is why, so often, when I talk about avoidance and running like hell, I hear people respond with a “But what if I can’t run?”
They don’t want to hear about “getting the hell out of Dodge.” They mentally/emotionally want to paint themselves into a corner so they can give themselves permission to fight.
I cannot tell you how often I encounter this mentality. And not just in one place, but around the world! They don’t want the “realities” of violence, street-life and crime, they want to learn how to defeat those “27 Ninjas”. The problem is if the shit is that extreme, they’re gonna get torn up…maybe killed.
As someone who has been in “real” fights, I can tell you that the “secret” of fighting is real simple. Be a total fucking asshole. I was, that is why I got involved in so many fights. I refused to put a filter on my mouth or curb my actions – no matter how much it pissed off, hurt or offended other people. My head was so far up my ass as to why “I was right and the world was wrong” that I had people just lining up to fight me. To absolutely guarantee that I found myself in fights all the time I did all sorts of rude and obnoxious things. Selfish and hurtful things that guaranteed that even the most mild-mannered person would feel compelled to stand up and get in my face about what I had done. Is it any wonder that the shit really got ugly when equally selfish and violent people took umbrage at my words and actions – and took extreme measures to show me how much they disapproved of my conduct?
Getting in fights all the time is easy, just walk around with a chip on your shoulder all the time. And don’t do it in a nice safe places while holding down a nice office job. I mean live in shitty neighborhoods, go out to dive bars and work a blue collar job. Don’t just visit…live there. Do and say whatever you please and don’t give a damn about other people’s feelings. Don’t respect them, their boundaries, their property or any relationships that they have. Fuck people’s wives/girlfriends, rip them off in drug deals and don’t give a shit about anybody else. Make it all about you and what you want.
In other words, have no courtesy, respect, manners, self-discipline, be bullying, obnoxious, self-righteous, rude selfish, verbally, emotionally and physically violent – and do it in places where there are lots of like- minded people around. Not in some safe middle class neighborhood or dojo/academy You’ll get more violence than you could possibly dream of coming your way.
I want you to look at what these idiots preach about “traditional martial arts not being good for fighting” this perspective.
They’re right, it’s not. While traditional MA could be used for self-defense, they definitely suck for fighting – because they instill self-discipline! The very thing that will keep you out of a “fight.”
The question isn’t if the traditional MA work or don’t work for fighting, but rather is it more along the lines of: Are the people who reject them, rejecting the traditional art’s teachings of self-control, courtesy, self-discipline and – dare I say it – self-respect?
The whole argument takes on a new perspective when looked at from that point doesn’t it?
I want you to think about the internet trolls, the flame wars, the “My guru is god” arguments and all the badmouthing, ‘dissin’ and such things that you have encountered. And then ask yourself: Is this how someone with self-discipline and courtesy acts? Or is it more how a bully who is looking to start a fight acts? And in a place where he knows his ass won’t have to cover checks his mouth writes?
In other words, in a place where he knows he is safe?
“Traditional” martial arts vs. “REAL” fighting
I have a real problem with the argument over "traditional martial arts vs. “real” fighting. It’s subset of “what works in a real street fight?” Be warned, this page BBQs the “sacred cows” of both camps.
Is (Fill in ultimate fighting style) good for self-defense?
Before you even ask this question you had better know some realities about the bullshit terms and ideas that are being peddled out there regarding fighting. And what kind of trouble all these “ultimate fighting systems” will get you into if you don’t use your head for something other than a punching bag. If you don’t know a few fundamental differences you’ll end up dead, crippled, sued or in prison. Brutal reality vs. macho myth
Start by accepting the fact, that at least 50 percent of the people who engage in fighting lose. The savage truth is that you are not going to be fighting someone who will fold in shock and pain from your super-secret-kung-fu -dim-mak-death strike. He’s been hit and hurt before and knows how to still keep on functioning. What’s more, you’ll be fighting someone with something up his sleeve that will cause you serious damage if he uses it and he does know how to use it.
Return to top of page
Do I have what it takes?
While there is always the concern: Do I have what it takes? That is absolutely the last question where you want to find out that the answer is no.
Fantasy self-defense
There is a great tendency for instructors of the martial arts to promote themselves as competent to teach self-defense. Find out why that is not necessarily true and why you are risking your life if you accept what they are saying without carefully looking into the subject beyond their simplistic fantasies about self-defense.
Return to top of page
Legal realities
Contrary to what many ultra-studly martial artists tell you, a fight doesn’t end when the body hits the floor. That isn’t true with self-defense, and it definitely isn’t true if you were involved in starting the fight in the first place. You will be facing police, legal repercussions and probably jail.
Being tough = having leprosy
Contrary to what many young and inexperienced people might think – being “tough” doesn’t solve your self-confidence problems, make you feel better about yourself, impress people, make you more popular, prevent you from being picked on or get you laid more often. In fact, it tends to do just the opposite. Instead of lessening your problems, it makes them worse. It makes you more of a social outcast. And on top of that, you also have people trying to kill you.
Return to top of page
Realities of streetfighting
It isn’t glamorous. It isn’t fun. And if you put yourself into situations where you are having to face real streetfighters, it means you are being an asshole yourself. That’s right – to be a streetfighter, you have to become the very thing you hate.
So you still want to be a streetfighter?
Ted Truscott, “The Fighting Old Man,” has an excellent Web page about some of the other “realities.” This is especially important for anybody who still thinks that being wild child or a streetfighter is a good idea.
Return to top of page
Teach you to be tough?
Unfortunately, there are many martial artists who – for lots of money – claim to be able to teach you how to be an undefeatable, toughman, streetfighter. The simple truth is most of these programs are just glorified martial sports programs. That is if they aren’t a cult.
What does it mean to be tough?
The idea that the martial arts can make you tough is erroneous. Being tough isn’t about fighting. It is about being able to handle whatever life throws at you and keep on going. And what life is going to throw at you will be far worse than an imagined bad guy.
Return to top of page
Pirates and self-defense training
Unfortunately much of the information that you will receive from most people claiming to be able to teach you how to streetfight, has been pirated. That is to say it has been lifted from somewhere else, not entirely understood and then repackaged and sold to you as the TRUTH™ about streetfighting. It will get you killed. Learn how to spot pirates before you become a victim of them.
What do you want from this training?
If you have a hole inside of yourself, this kind of training won’t fill it. If you are thinking that by learning how to be an ultimate bad ass street fighter will cure you of low self-esteem, fear or the belief of your cowardice you’re not only going to be sorely disappointed, but you’re going to waste a lot of money too. Let’s take a look at what this kind of training doesn’t solve.
Reality Based Combat Cults
Although cults in the martial art world are bad, they abound among the streetfighting crowd. These cults offer the promise of the ultimate fighting system, training you to be a street warrior, WWII Close Quarter Combat secrets to use in the street and countless other fantasies to entrance the dissatisfied spirit into their grasp. Cults have some very specific ways of doing business. Compare a group’s behavior against these danger signs.
Technique
It’s time to take a long hard look at what you think a technique is. What does a technique do, what doesn’t it do? And what do you need to be focusing on when you teach a technique?
Why I don’t teach street fighting
Many people think that by attending one of my seminars I will teach them how to be a streetfighter. I don’t teach people how to be a streetfighter, I teach them how to survive against one.
You punks are just as bad (or even worse) than some of the traditional martial artists who don’t adapt their style to the modern world. Why? Cause most likely, it’s YOU who have had ZERO experience fighting in dangerous situations. And no I’m not talking about the time some dude palmed your girlfriend’s ass, so you decide to show off your Ken Shamrock impression on him. Having read your circle jerk fests, I’m quite sure that more than 99% of you would get STOMPED IN THE REAL WORLD. Michelle Khan would probably make you wannabe jocks piss your pants if she pulled out a kitchen knife. You are morons walking around, unable to keep your tongue making promises that you can’t keep. So shut the fuck up about Jackie Chan’s “lame technique” when you’ve never had to deal with fucking YAKUZA kidnapping you. Shut the fuck up about “systema” when it has kept the elite Russian military special ops guys safe. Shut the fuck up about “wow Ken Shamrock is so unbeatable cause he uses real techniques” when I know pesonally certain dudes in Queens that would MURDER HIS ASS RED on the fucking street. Bring that “OMG MMA PWNS EVERYTHING” outside of the fucking mat and see what happens to you. Show some fucking respect for folks who either grew up rough, are in the gritty due to their profession, train professionally in martial arts, etc. SHUT THE FUCK UP.
