So, what is the best martial art for a street fight? Well, there has always been considerable debate about this topic, so let me throw in my two cents. First of all, what needs to be considered are the key principles to winning a street fight, which are... Hit first Hit hard Attachment and control Continuous [...]
In the world of self defense and combatives, after the principle of hitting first, hitting hard is the most important principle for winning a street fight. However, since most street fight and bar brawls begin with the combatants in relatively close quarters, 18 to 24 inches, it takes a good bit of skill to hit hard [...]
In my life I have always tried to learn from people who are smarter than me, or at least have more experience than I do. This is very true in martial arts and combatives. When I studied Kung Fu years ago, my teacher often brought in other martial artists with more experience so that he could [...]
As I've suggested a number of times, traditional martial arts training is deeply flawed when it comes to preparing you for dealing with a real life street encounter. The fact is, many of these instructors have never been involved in a real fight. What they've practiced for years is to prepare themselves for sport fighting. Watch [...]
A great way to develop leg strength and stamina, which will allow you to strike with more power, is to perform a variety of kung fu stances. You develop strength and stamina in your legs by holding these stances as low as you can go, with proper form, and for as long as you can hold [...]
The Vital Pyramid A proper self defense game plan starts with a few basic principles. Once you understand these basic principles, you'll be ahead of 95% of the population when it comes to self protection. From here on out, it's important that we use the term self protection, rather than self defense. The fact [...]
One of the most basic tools in our hard skills arsenal is the front snap kick, which will most commonly used to kick to the groin. This kick can work well in many situations, particularly when there is a significant size disparity between you and your assailant, and you are seeking to simply escape. It can [...]
If you want to have the ability to strike with power, you will need to have enough strength, since technique will only take you so far. With that in mind, I thought I'd share a few exercises to help you increase your striking power. You can see these in the video below.
One of the important principles in combatives and self protection is you need to learn how to hit hard. The quickest way to end an assault is to knock out your assailant. Most people think the best way to do this is with their fists. Generally, this is correct. Striking your opponents jaw, or other vulnerable [...]
In sports, particularly in American football, we often hear the adage "the best defense is a good offense." This basically means that, if you have a good offense, you are keeping your own defense off the field. If you are on defense, you are defending, and that effectively means you are losing. Remember how the Nazis [...]