Go into a martial arts school and you will see pictures of the master meditating, stretching, doing forms and winning medals. However, should you one day leave the school and be attacked, the only thing in the world important to you will be your ability to fight like a street fighter. Being a good street fighter is what it takes to survive street attacks.
So, who is really qualified to teach you to fight like a street fighter? A martial artist who has never been in a fight in his life or someone who has gone out of his way to get a job that basically consists of him getting involved in fights that other people start?
I would say that the best instructors are either bouncers, some police or some military guys, but the most qualified to teach self defense to civilians are the bouncers. Here's why:
1. Bouncers have the same (lack of) equipment as civilians--Attack a cop or soldier with a knife or gun and he will do his best to shoot you. Attack a bouncer with a weapon and he will be in exactly the same situation you would be in on the street. Some bouncers carry lead gloves, retractable batons or pepper spray, but most don't and even those weapons are things that any civilian could obtain and carry. What a bouncer does when faced with armed and / or multiple attackers will also work for you because the circumstances are the same.
2. Bouncers are constantly fighting--Street fights and attacks are over so fast that, if someone is attacked and another person calls the police immediately, they can't possibly arrive before the fight is over. Bouncers are there from beginning to end. True, some bouncers work for years in a high-class disco and never have to do anything to get their hands dirty. A good trainer would have experience in a place like I work in. Last week I was in three serious fights in one night. Ask your strip-mall karate master if he was in three fights in his entire life.
3. Bouncers have to rely on themselves--There are no SWAT teams or quick reaction forces for bouncers to call when they are outnumbered or in trouble. A bouncer can never back down from a fight. If he gets hurt, he has to ignore the pain and do the best he can. There is no referee to stop the match if he cannot defend himself. Exactly the same situation as you will be in if someone would try to mug or rape you in the real world.
4. Bouncers haven't been there and seen that, they've been everywhere and seen everything--Most bouncers have martial arts or sport fighting training. Most bouncers don't train in sports or arts anymore. The best ones have taken what they have learned in the gym, tested it on the street and combined it with the rough and tumble street fighting techniques that they have seen work, time and time again. This is the proving ground that has produced my concepts of street fighting based self defense.
5. Bouncers are masters of the mental aspects of self defense--Situational awareness, fear management, killer instinct, pain tolerance. The mental aspects of self defense are the most important by far and exactly these aspects are missing from the repertoire of 99.9 % of the strip mall martial arts masters or self-proclaimed self defense instructors out there, whereas 99.9 % of the real bouncers out there have mastered all of these areas. Some bouncers are fat, others skinny, many smoke, but they are still capable of constantly surviving every violent encounter they might face. How can that be? Well, without the mental edge, a bouncer has a very short career.
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You do make a few excellent points about how many martial arts instructors lack certain "experience" to be able to teach good self defense. However you make it seem as though only someone who has been a bouncer is qualified to teach self defense and I do not agree with that. I have been in the martial arts for just over 20 years. I have also been a bouncer. Prior to working as a bouncer I had several occasions when I was in a bar or club where I happened to know the bouncers and fights broke out and I ended up helping take care of the situation. I used the training I had gained through my martial arts training and it worked just fine. I think it depends on how someone trains in the martial arts as to whether they learn or teach true self defense. So I don't know if I agree that bouncers make the best self defense instructors.
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, thanks for your comment--I'm always open to respectful disagreement upon certain points.
ReplyDeleteSecond, I didn't say that bouncers were "the only" qualified instructors, rather that they were those with experience that is most useful for a private citizen who wants to learn to protect himself in real life.
What I really meant with this post is that there is only so much that you can learn from theory and, the farther we are removed from practice, the less-applicable our lessens are.
A doctor, for instance "knows" everything that he will need in order to heal a person, but still needs to intern and get experience while working alongside doctors who have "been there and done that" before he is released upon the world.
In the martial arts world, there are people teaching martial arts who have never even seen street violence, whose teachers and teachers'-teachers, teachers'-teachers'-teachers and so on have never even seen a real fight and themselves may very well freeze-up or be suprised if suddenly confronted with street violence who are preparing others to survive street attacks without having a very clear idea of what is involved.
Like I've said before, if someone comes to me and tells me that he wants to learn a sport to compete in or an ancient art, I will send him away because I respect those who are qualified to teach what I am not.
All that I ask is, should a martial arts or Tae Kwon Do instructor be approached by someone who fears for his safety and that of his family and who wants to learn a handfull of down-and-dirty tricks to smash a person who would attack him, the martial artist should have the same amount of respect for experienced dirtbags like me and admit that streetfighting is not his area of expertise.
First of all, it is all going to come down to one thing,,,you have to get over the fact that you might have to hurt, mime or even kill the individual attacking you. Next you have to get the word defend out of your thinking. It mat be offensive to some, but one does have to think offensively, don't block - strike first and never stop until they are down, out or if it comes to it dead. These words may be hard to shallow but we no longer live in a world were the laws work for us. And last but not least, attack, attack and attack some more, when the going gets going, fancy spinning kicks, grappling or jumping in the air to smash in his face is not the key, it is about survival and not being a victim, living to tell the tale in your own words, helps when the police arrive (remember response time is anywere from 3 min, to 45 min.and that is am eternity) We all have the ability to do what needs to be done, one just have to look deep inside and know it is your right to live, and no one should be in your face to tell you other wise, especially if your minding your own business. There is a difference between soical and Asocial violence. One last word and remember it well - a thumb in the eye is a mans best friend. "Be and live fearless", it is you life, live in it's best.
ReplyDeleteExperience is a huge factor. I always prefer training with those that have been there and done that. Especially some of the old timers that, even if they never bounced, have had to deal with many situations due to the times.
ReplyDeleteI worked 10 years in security at low income housing then worked 10 years as a bouncer (worst was the last 5 in a gentlemen's club). Although the first job had the most potential for life threatening situations, bouncing, by far, had more physical confrontations (had to fight my first day and lost count after that). Learned a lot and have been passing it down to the students I teach.
I must also add that my, what many would call traditional training, was a huge asset. But, I was trained by those in the know, vs those out for trophies. So there is a difference.
I think no body knows how it is to be involved in a street fight until you are there, and every fight is different to the next, sometimes it last just a few seconds, some time a little more, and the scenario, the street obstacles, everytime are differents, so I think the best teacher is that one who has been involved in several street fights but not only has been involved, has won the most of them... by the way, I am a former Special Forces Soldier, actually working as a bodyguard... and the best are the headbounds, bites, knees, elbows, thomb in the eyes...
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