Winning a street fight has nothing to do with knowing any fancy Kung Fu or Brazilian jiu jitsu moves. Not to take anything away from training in those arts…having those skills is clearly beneficial, if you know how to use them.
However, winning a street fight boils down to a few key principles.
Hit First
Damian Ross of SDC Striking first
If you want to dramatically increase the probability that you will win a street fight, hit first.
Every single self defense instructor worth his or her salt will tell you this… hitting first is the best thing you can do to win a street fight. They know this because they’ve tested this principle in real life.
With that said, there is a legal aspect to consider here. You can’t just haul off on someone, just because. However, this does not mean you have to wait until their fist is flying at your head before you strike.
Therefore, as part of our training, we look for cues that someone is about to attempt violence on us.
For example, if we are walking down the street, and someone approaches us, gets in our face, and impedes our movement if we try to move around them, then you can hit…they’ve clearly demonstrated bad intent.
Another clear sign is if someone is standing in front of you, giving you a hard time, and then suddenly reaches for something in their back pocket…it could be a weapon.
Waiting for them to display the weapon increases you chances of getting injured or killed. This type of movement is a clear sign of bad intent and potential access of a weapon, so you not only should hit first, you MUST hit first.
Hit Hard
One thing I see out of many martial arts instructors in their videos on how to fight is a lot of throwing of jabs or quick kicks. Sure, that’s fine in an MMA match, but a ridiculous concept for street fighting.
When it comes to street fighting, you need to ALWAYS assume that your opponent is armed, and has a partner or two.
Getting into a boxing or MMA match with a street thug is a recipe for disaster. You want to end any confrontation as quickly as possible.
Therefore, I teach my students how to HIT HARD. This goes even for petite female students. A small person who knows how to strike and kick hard can at least get an assailant to see some stars so they have the opportunity to escape.
Having the ability to hit hard means you can potentially knock someone out with one strike. That’s a skill that comes in handy when faced with an armed criminal, or one that has a buddy or two.
Therefore, when you are looking to hit, especially if you are looking to hit first, hit hard!
Attachment and Control
Quite often, when someone tries to punch you, they will try to grab you first. This allows them to gain a little bit of control as they attack.
You should put this principle to work as well.
One concept I teach is this… after you get that first shot in, you should try to grab onto your assailant with the other hand. This attachment has two purposes.
First, if you have delivered a knockout blow, it allows you to help control their descent to the ground. Many times, people die from a street fight because their head hits the pavement, or a curb. They don’t usually die from the punch itself.
This also helps you legally. If you knock someone out with a strike, and then control their descent, you can explain that in court to be viewed more favorably.
However, if that first shot doesn’t knock them out, you still have control. If you feel them struggle, you know you must continue you with your offense in order to end the fight.
Remember, you aren’t out of danger until your assailant no longer poses a threat. This brings me to the next principle…
Continuous Assault
Street fights are not an exercise in choreography like those brawls we see in the movies. There is a winner and a loser, and the winner is the one who goes on the offensive and stays on the offensive.
This is why real self defense instructors hate the term “self defense.” If you are on defense, you are losing. We prefer the term “self protection.” But, I digress.
To win a fight, you need to be on offense, and you must continue to stay on offense until the threat is ended.
This means you don’t stop with your assault until then. Whatever your preferred striking technique, you keep using it until your opponent is on the ground and either unconscious or no longer a threat (which is why we teach to stomp the ankle if we got them on the ground, but they are not unconsious).
Keep in mind though, you’ve got to stop with the assault when the assailant is out… stomping on their head or kicking them as they lie unconscious is grounds to throw you in jail.
Low-high and high-low
Lee Morrison of Urban Combatives
This principle refers to using multiple tools to subdue your assailant.
If you have enough room and you notice an assailant with bad intent coming toward you, a kick to the groin might be a good starting blow. If you deliver the shot well, perhaps you can then just escape.
If not, then you can follow up with a strike to the head to finish them off.
Perhaps your assailant is already in your face, then a knee to the groin followed up strikes to the head may be the sequence to follow.
Or, you can get that first strike to the head, attach, and follow up with a knee strike, then another strike to the head. Circumstances will dictate your response. Therefore, it’s a good idea to train a variety of sequences, and then you will ultimately learn which ones come most naturally to you.
Move Forward, Take Ground
The last principle for winning a street fight is that you should always be moving forward. If you are moving backward, you are on the defensive, and that means you are losing.
Putting pressure on your opponent by moving forward and taking ground means they can’t retaliate with force….they simply don’t have the leverage.
Therefore, with every strike and kick, you move into the space they once occupied. If they are a tough opponent, eventually, this pressure will wear them down, and you’ll be able to deliver that final knockout shot.
Final Thoughts
As you may have noticed, I didn’t describe any fancy techniques whatsoever.
The reality is, the best way to win a street fight is to avoid it altogether. Be aware of your surroundings and check your ego at the door. Most of the time, you can avoid a fight.
With that said, if you find yourself in circumstances where the fight can’t be avoided, these principles will guide you through. However, to make them really effective, you need to train.
Now, get to work!
