Interesting atricles on street fighting

[CKD]

I just thought these articles were interesting approach to street fighting.

http://www.americansambo.com/articles/article.php3?id=8

http://www.americansambo.com/articles/article.php3?id=7 Anyone mind posting them?

[CKD]

Here is the first part of the article.

Is Your Sambo Ready for the Streets?
by Dr. Brett Jacques
The advent of popular "no-hold barred" fighting contests has lead to a resurgent interest in the grappling arts including Sambo. While strength, skill and fitness are aptly demonstrated in a majority of these events, is the approach advocated by the majority of the successful competitors realistic for what happens on the streets? The answer is yes and no. The training and skill development of many grappling arts can benefit you in self-defense situations. However, too many submission style proponents have not considered many of the dangers that occur in real world encounters, consequently many of the techniques are inappropriate. Modifications in your approach and techniques can make a world of difference if you have hopes of using your sambo techniques for self-defense. This article will focus on developing correct awareness for the real world.

Military Objective
Combat Sambo is a military martial art but we are using applications specifically related to civilian self-defense issues. Military-like planning is necessary. What is your primary mission? It is to return home safely to your family or to protect your family when you are together. What is your area of operation? Know the areas and terrain in which you travel whether it's to work, shopping, your sambo school or your home. Find out what type of people you are likely to encounter. Finally, have a number of contingency plans. Make sure your family knows how to respond if you have to defend them, where they will go and what to do when it happens. Learning to be aware and be prepared are simple steps to take to ensure the safety of you and your family.

The Ultimate Awareness
The ultimate awareness is the highest art available. It is part training, part experience and part intuition. The ultimate awareness is to see, hear and feel something start to happen but you are able to exit the area before you become involved or prevent the situation from becoming a full-blown incident. An example is if you see a couple of gangbangers up ahead visually interviewing candidates for a little fun and you cross the street to avoid any contact. Sure you had to walk a little extra distance but didn't have to deal with any problems. To cultivate this ability there are two things you can do. Talk to street cops, they have a wealth of knowledge and know the signs and sounds of trouble. The second thing is to people watch. You'll be amazed if you sit in one place where there are lots people milling about, what can occur. The next area of development is verbal and non-verbal skills.

Verbal and Non-Verbal skills
Many potential encounters have been avoided by verbal and non-verbal attributes. Several books have been written about these subjects. I'll condense them for you. Non-verbal skills for the street have two components, body language and your eyes. Body language must demonstrate a purpose and confidence. Street thugs watch for signs of weakness like any predator and if your body posture and projection do not reflect purpose and confidence, you are considered prey. Your eyes must have hardness; many people refer to this as the middle distance stare. You don't stare at anything in particular, just somewhere in the middle distance between where you are and where you are going. Verbal skills are used to de-escalate situations. You should project a strong confident voice that doesn't acquiesce or agitate but allows the defusion of tension. You must decide for yourself whether you want your verbal skills to take you into the fray or far away, however, if they fail, keep in mind the following ideas.

Four Primary Corollaries of Combat Sambo
The four primary corollaries of combat sambo represent ideas that you must be aware of before taking a potential self-defense situation to the next level. 1. Always assume that your opponent has more than one concealed weapon. 2. Always assume that your opponent has friends who are only too willing to join in. 3. Always assume that there is a witness. This should prompt you to be the first to call the police if you have had to defend yourself. 4. Always assume that your opponent is stronger, faster and has good fighting skills. These four primary corollaries are not meant to scare you. They are meant to infuse a sense of reality to your training. What if a small, wiry drug addict accosts you and you underestimate him because of his size. You failed to notice that you could not see his palms. As you go to push him away, he shanks you. This was a violation of the first corollary. What if you unavoidably become involved in an altercation and you dominate him with a takedown then put in the hooks (or grapevines for you wrestlers). You got him now 'cause he can't move, however, you lose! Why? You can't extract yourself to avoid the on rush of his Division I varsity football frat brothers. You are dragged off and pounded into oblivion. What if you are mugged and you are able to successfully defend yourself. You are happy to be alive, thinking you've accomplished your primary mission. Wrong, you failed to notify the authorities in a timely manner. There was a witness but all she saw was you smashing someone against a brick wall. Now the higher office hungry DA is looking to bring you up on charges. What if you're hanging out at the beach and this little guy, really tan, starts giving you a hard time to impress his girlfriend? You think that this little guy with the funny accent and the Speedo's is gotta' be out of his mind to tangle with you. He pushes you and you underestimate him. Your half-hearted, feeble takedown attempt lands you face down in the sand with the little guy vining around you. You wake up ten minutes later, having urinated in your bathing suit with the little Brazilian Jiu-jitsu guy kicking sand on you, laughing and calling you names. You were choked out because you underestimated your opponent. These are some examples of failure to understand and apply the four primary corollaries of combat sambo.

While grappling arts are as overrated now as they were underrated a few years ago, grappling should be taught as part of a comprehensive curriculum. Combat Sambo, if properly applied, allows you to handle self-defense encounters without causing undo damage to you or your assailant. This approach can only be accomplished by developing the proper awareness using concepts from this article and other resources. In a future article, I will detail guidelines for evaluating your techniques to determine if they are street-worthy.

Brett Jacques ND is the author of STREET SAMBO Practical Grappling Skills for Self-Defense. In this groundbreaking 3-tape video series, Dr. Jacques teaches you how to use this explosive blend of striking, throwing and grappling to defeat dozens of common street attacks. You will also learn principles and concepts to make grappling work on the street. He also reveals the secrets of Sambo's dynamic groundfighting techniques, approx. 75 min. per tape, VHS only. These tapes are available for $74.95 post paid send a check or money order to:

Brett Jacques
1715 E. Wilshire #715
Santa Ana, CA 92705

[CKD]

and here is the second part of the article. Its very interesting.

Is Your Sambo Ready for the Street? Part 2
by Dr. Brett Jacques
In the last issue, we explored various concepts important for making sure your approach to Combat Sambo was grounded in the reality of the street. The basic ideas presented should have provided you with a foundation to examine your methods. In this article, I'll provide additional concepts that should help you evaluate your moves and your training.

When facing a possible unavoidable encounter, always remember that your attacker may have multiple weapons, friends who would love to join in, and significant fighting experience. These concepts must be kept in mind to evaluate your technique. Let's start with the example of a shoulder throw where your opponent's arm is draped over your shoulder. You then squat, bend forward, pull down on his arm and launch him over your body. Now did you consider when using this technique that he had multiple weapons? Probably not, because you turned your back on him and only had control of one arm. Look at the multiple assailant possibility. Could this technique have prevented you from leaving the area? No, done correctly, the shoulder throw creates enough distance so that you can decide the next course of action. Would the shoulder throw have prevented you from addressing others who may have just started entering the fray? Too many variables to decide, but you could use the move to your advantage in mass attack. Can you get this move on an experienced fighter? Only if you are Oleg Tarktarov and the move is a planned sequence in an upcoming action film. To get a clean shoulder throw on an experienced striker or grappler is extremely difficult. There are ways, but you must change your thinking from the traditional methods taught in order to obtain success with the shoulder throw in a fight. Overall rating of the shoulder throw in a self-defense situation would be poor. Is there value to learning and or training the shoulder throw? Absolutely, because there are self defense situations where the mechanics of a shoulder throw could come in handy. An example would be a rear choke.

Hopefully, you're getting the feel of what we're trying to accomplish. Let's move on to another takedown example. We've picked on the jacket grapplers now let use an example from wrestling. In the double leg takedown, you dive toward your opponent's legs, wrap them up and either lift him up or drive/trip him backward. This technique is a common wrestling move, used by rough and tumble fighters and prevalent in Sambo. Did you account for multiple weapons? No, none of his arms are monitored to determine if a weapon is being brought into play. Can you escape and evade so that his buddies don't ruck and maul you? Maybe if you were able to lift him up, slam him and takeoff. If you had tripped him, he might have held on to you with his arms and legs knowing full well his compadres are on their way. Can you get this on a seasoned fighter? Yes, not always but it can be a high percentage takedown. What would you rate this move? I give it a poor to approaching fair. This brings us to our first physiology lesson, the knowledge and use of the righting reflex. Your body always seeks to orient itself with the horizon. Your balance depends on the righting reflex, keeping the eyes level with the horizon. When the righting reflex is dynamically disrupted by a high amplitude throw, your natural instinct is to protect yourself and reorient to the horizon. This can allow you a bit of compromise when evaluating your techniques. If you can disrupt the righting reflex that it becomes almost impossible for your opponent to draw and use a weapon.

The ground game presents interesting challenges also. While I disagree with the popular notion that 90% of all fights end up on the ground, it occurs with a high enough frequency that ground fighting is important. I will discuss two common submission techniques to stimulate your thinking and evaluating skills. The straight elbow lock where your opponent is on his back and you also are on your back with your legs across his head and torso. This is a very popular and common lock. Does is stop the deployment of a weapon? Maybe if his weapon is on the right side and you have locked his right arm but many typical weapons storage sites on the body are accessible by both limbs. Can you avoid the hassle of a meet and greet with his angry friends by exiting the A.O. (area of operation)? Are you in the optimal position for defending against the impending Nazi boot party on your head? Not really the best position to defend yourself. Are you able to get this on the experienced fighter? Probably but the greater experience with grappling one has the easier it is to defend this type of arm lock. A pro not bound by any rules could make you regret using this technique. Guess what I rate this technique? Yup, you're right, I rate it as poor. The rear naked choke with both hooks in is also a very common technique. Your opponent has been knocked down on his hands and knees. You vine your legs in on his legs while straddling his back. You exert downward and outward pressure to collapse him to his stomach however; you can also choke him without collapsing him. To perform the choke, encircle his neck and grabs the bicep of your other hand that should be pressing the back of your opponent's head. The submission once on is devastating and quick but not quick enough to prevent a weapon from being used against you. Being all wrapped up will certainly prevent you from running away and no matter what your final position with the submission, his partners will crush you. However, it has a better than average percentage of employment against the good fighters. I still rate this as a poor move. This brings us to our next physiology lesson. Pain and pain compliance is something that is important to understand. There are many variables to consider when deciding if your submission technique is appropriate including where the pain is applied and the determination of your opponent. I have conducted research into what type and location of submissions will or won't prevent a weapon draw on an experienced and determined opponent. I rate a lot of the frequently taught pain compliance holds as poor. Many law enforcement officers have had success with techniques that I rate as poor but what if there is a better hold that might prevent your wife from becoming a widow, would you use it?

Approach your training with the same attitude as evaluating your moves. Practice against someone who has concealed multiple training weapons on his body. Spar and grapple to help you get familiar with scenarios you are likely to encounter. Do the same with multiple opponents. Sparring is important whether you put on gloves and headgear or throw down on the mat. Surely this is not combat but a game, sport if you will. Sport within the contexts of the rules of a game allows you to train with full force, go to work the next day (usually) and let you know if your stuff really works. I don't buy the argument that your technique is too deadly that you can't spar. Without the adrenaline rush of sparring, you will never know if you can hit someone until it's too late. If you don't practice under the stressful situations with the right kind of atmosphere, the adrenaline rush will be too much for you which may cause you to freeze up and where will your deadly technique be then? In the grave, probably right next to you. Adrenaline rushes can cause funny things to happen that is why I also do not recommend relying on pressure points techniques. Adrenaline is an excellent painkiller. Sparring may be artificial but it gets you used to the adrenaline rush. Sparring outside your paradigm is extremely important and that means working out with Brazilian jiu-jitsu guys, Tae Kwon Do fighters etc. People all move differently and this allows you to develop the ability to adapt to overcoming various fighting styles. Contact training is also critical. Practice against the mad rush, the sucker puncher and other attacks such as those in unfavorable positions. However it all begins with drilling. Someone throws a punch and you react. To develop speed, start slow and work up in pace when your motor skills develop, go fast. One of the mistakes I see a lot of people make in practicing, is the concept of honest technique. Keep your technique honest is typical mantra but what does that really mean? When you are initially learning a move you are expected to deal with a committed punch or kick to develop the skill but to stay in this mode is unrealistic. On the street as in the ring, feints and fakes are common, so are jabs and probing kicks. Drilling these techniques is very appropriate and honest. Don't get stuck in your paradigm because not every punch is designed to be a knockout.

I have attempted to provide you with the means to improve your martial arts. These concepts will should aide you in your quest to determine if your Sambo is ready for the street. Remember to inspect what you expect and be honest in your evaluations.

[cboog]

Here's a underground streetfight

Here's a underground streetfight

http://www.sublimedirectory.com/basement/media/kimbo.wmv