What is a Street Fight?
Let's first discuss and define the meaning behind the anatomy of a street fight.
What is a street fight?
If we were to take a worldwide survey and ask, "Who is the best fighter on the planet?" it would quickly become obvious that perceptions differ.
The average American might pick their favorite heavyweight boxer, perhaps Mike Tyson (however, the question was not "who is the best boxer?").
The average Filipino might answer, "Floro Villabrille" (a legendary stick/blade master, but the question was not "who is the best weapons fighter?").
Ask the question in Brazil, and the answer might be "Rickson Gracie". However, the question was not "who is the best ground fighter?").
So, again, what exactly is a street fight?
It is any random act of violence, period!
While this definition includes kicking, punching, stick and knife fighting, and ground fighting, it also allows for situations like two-on-one, three-on-one, four-on-two, pinching, biting, eye gouging, firearms, carjackings, and full-blown riots.
It is not about tradition; it is not about styles or systems. It is not about sports, tournaments, or certainly not about rules.
The objective is to introduce the "rigid rod of reality."
Violence cannot be contained within a neat little package.
It is not to be taken lightly and certainly not to be romanticized.
MMA Tournaments are NOT Street Fights
The last twenty-five years of martial arts have seen more growth and progress than the previous fifty, due to the insurgence of MMA tournaments occurring worldwide.
These cage fighters are among the toughest, most well-conditioned athletes on the planet. We see the quality of fighters improving each year.
These fighters are becoming more complete every day.
(we are NOT talking about the local "MMA" club or "BJJ" club that is "taught" by a mug with no real rank or any real competition experience - we are talking about the Real Pro fighters we see in events such as UFC)
Punchers and kickers are learning to grapple, and grapplers are slowly learning to punch and kick.
Being well-rounded and multidimensional are no longer just trendy ideas, but necessities.
Although they may not realize it, these fighters are truly harvesting the seeds that were planted by Bruce Lee and Dan Inosanto in the 1970s.
All one has to do is pick up The Tao of Jeet Kune Do, and it becomes obvious that the principles and concepts the two discovered are being implemented to a "T."
Complicating matters further is that many of these scenarios usually end up mutating. Now things become exponentially more difficult. By mutating, we mean changing from one scenario to another within the same fight.
For example, the altercation may start off one-on-one standing up and then go to the ground. If another individual jumps in, we have a two-on-one fight. Then perhaps two more people enter the equation, giving us a three-on-two situation.
At this point, someone might grab a pipe or bat - now this has turned into a weapons fight. In retaliation, someone else may grab a blade. Now the scenario has changed to a knife fight.
These mutations could potentially be endless.
The first thing that comes to mind when talking about being a streetfighter is that one must be highly skilled not only in stand-up and ground fighting but also in mass-attack scenarios and with all types of weapons - sticks, knives, etc. (According to law enforcement statistics, eight out of ten street fights involve weapons!)
The next attribute in our quest to become a complete streetfighter is keeping a cool head while these mutations occur.
Controlling one's emotions is one of the most essential aspects of a fight. There are moments in the midst of battle where one must "turn on" their killer instinct. There are other moments when controlling emotions means relaxing and breathing. This is when you are in the moment, which we call the "Fog of War."
If one is not highly trained in all areas of combat (i.e., stick, knife, stand-up, ground), and a scenario occurs in which you have never experienced, panic occurs, and controlling your emotions becomes impossible.
Most people in martial arts are too specialized in their "way" of fighting.
For example, if a person's "way" is stick fighting, and he loses his stick, he would certainly be in trouble.
If a person's "way" is kickboxing and he ends up on the ground, he would also be in trouble.
If a person's "way" is ground fighting and he has to fight more than one person, he would also be in trouble.
This is why Bruce Lee espoused the rather esoteric axiom of "Using No Way As Way."
Some schools out there are "eclectic" in that they train in many of the mentioned areas. However, the problem is that they have a tendency to simply compartmentalize these areas.
They might have a 4 p.m. stick class, a 5 p.m. kickboxing class, a 6 p.m. ground fighting class, and so on. This sort of training does not promote flowing and adapting to the various possible mutations of a street fight. In boxing, this would be akin to having a 4 p.m. jab class, a 5 p.m. cross class, and a 6 p.m. hook class.
Having classes compartmentalized like this is not in itself a bad thing, provided you follow Bruce Lee and Dan Inosanto's methodology - have one class at your school that combines everything.
Bruce and Dan have always taught that you will train the way you fight and fight the way you train.
Attribute Training
We have already established that adapting during the many potential transitions is critical.
Therefore, to prepare yourself for the street, your training has to mimic all potential mutations that might possibly occur.
For example, we start a practice session with stick fighting, then drop the stick, pull out a blade, and continue the session with knife fighting.
Throw down the blade and continue with kickboxing;
then enter into trapping range, implementing headbutts, knees and elbows.
Next, take the fight to the ground and move into Newaza Jiu-Jitsu. Look for the appropriate time to use Kina Mutai (uninterrupted biting and eye gouging).
At this point, throw another student into the fray - instantly come to Standing and continue the fight as a mass attack.
This entire round should flow with no interruptions.
Training in this manner emphasizes some of the most vital attributes for a street fight: adapting and controlling emotions during transitions.
As for the competitors of MMA tournaments their conditioning and focus are at an uncommon level. In fact, they are so focused that this could be detrimental in an actual street fight. There are many examples out there of this
