Minimum requirement for self-defense (physical side of it)

Nothing wrong with a bit of pedantry

How about this:

Just because there are MMA fighters who are hard-as-nails, that does not make everyone who ever stepped into an MMA gym hard-as-nails.

 

This is probably about the 4th time I've posted this on MAP, but it is such a good example of context and specialisation dictating outcomes that I'm going to post it again.

These guys train pretty much the same basic fundamentals, but their training objectives and experiences are very different.

Watch from 4 minutes in if you don't want the preamble, and note that one of the UFC fighters said he was "rattled" by it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RPiA27uC8A

In a cage-fighting context, these UFC fighters would destroy the marines. In the marine's world, it is a different story.

 

Works for me!

Its become a rite of passage for the young lower classes in many areas, which has hence lowered the standards, and provided a gap In the market for "white collar mma" events, which is ironic on so many levels.

 

The context of that entire period of time is quite interesting, (baring in mind I agree with a lot of it)

The US armed forces sponsored a few UFC events, and had pro army/marine etc advertising embedded in the shows.

so whilst what you see is definitely true, it is definitely also a pile of marketing schtick.

 

Oh yeah, there's definitely a pro-military propaganda element to it, but I really don't think the UFC fighters were trying to lose, or that it was entirely scripted and staged.

You see very common and natural things in it for people who haven't had to consider weapons or multiple opponents before - tunnel vision, fixation on the weapon they are holding to the detriment of their own protection, and a complete lack of awareness when it comes to "zoning" and how to move amongst more than one attacker.

That shouldn't take anything away from their skill at doing their job - being a sport fighter, but no-one should expect to be good at something they've not trained for (which was what I read as being VZ's point).

 

It's pretty simple really. To learn how to do the thing you want to do you need to do it in the context you need to do it, as many times as possible.
It's the same for any skill.
Knowing what's meant to be done and having a skilled teacher show you doesn't mean anything if you don't experience it for yourself to know what you can do and cannot do through your own eyes and brain within your own time frames with your own body. No one else matters. It's individual. A person needs to find out for themselves. Build on individual experience. ( could be learning to drive, cook, swim, walk, fight....anything)

The way to do this other than to go out and get into full on situations is to compete at some level as often as possible or as a person can or bring themselves too. It's might not be easy and might be scary but it's an experience that's worth it and great goal to aim for. It's the most uncontrolled environment there is to safely experience and practice and prove or disprove and experiment in.
It is not perfect or totally correct, but on a physical level, there's nothing closer to do other than go out and get into situations somehow.

 

Totally on-board with this. Spot-on.

Not so sure about this. You've got a valid point in that fighting competitions are a legal way to try and batter a stranger, but that experience is not useful if it does not fulfil your training objectives or relate to the contexts in which you wish to function.

 

The delivery system is always the same, tactics change upon circumstance, but root body mechanics and the ability to read movement trancend location.

 

Of course, but applying that in an optimum manner differs depending on the context.

I'm not saying that skills don't transfer, what I'm saying is that how you apply those skills in one context may be detrimental in another.

 

that would be tactics....

 

Yes, that would.

But when you say "tactics" it can give the impression that you can change tactics on a whim, when actually tactics are part of your conditioning through training and experience and can be very hard to reprogram.

You still have to train for those different contexts to have a reliable skill set.

 

That's just simply not true.
What's closer is to actually try and replicate how fights and self defence situations occur, the pre-amble, the verbal, the differing success criteria (escape, win, avoid, deter, loophole, charm), the range, the environment, the aggressive language, the unexpected kicking off, etc etc etc.

Now don't get me wrong. I'm a big fan of sport martial arts and what they can give a person. They can undoubtedly bring out many useful qualities for self defence. But saying they are, basically, the only thing you need to "operate" in the street isn't covering the full picture. And that also doesn't mean that sport fighters aren't hard huggers that can motor on the street.

 

This is just about the physical side of things.
Those are psychological ,environmental,attitude, social and other big to medium sized word type things.
Once is goes physical , for whatever reason, it's all about functioning and movement during an emergency.

 

Those who can operate under medium pressure are more likily to be able to operate under high pressure then those who have never experienced low pressure.

 

More pressure is better than no pressure, but specific pressure is better than unspecific pressure.

 

If we take the average muay thai class, and the average Krav class, I'd take choose the Thai fighter over the krav fighter every time.

However I do agree with your statement.

 

Krav do NOT train for ANY specific pressure as a rule, despite claims to the contrary

 

Please elaborate.

 

The closer you can replicate in training the stresses you will encounter in the real world, the more you become desensitized to those stresses and are better able to operate under them. So while something like boxing will provide a stress, something like John Titchen's sim days provide specific stress for self defence. The boxing provides specific stress for boxing. Because while the intensity level matters, replicating in training what you want to do in the real world matters a hell of a lot too. That's why we put our soldiers in full kit, firing at human shaped targets, with rounds or blanks fired overhead. Replicate it, do it a lot, and you get far better at operating under those conditions.

As my father always put it, "You practice the way you play and you play the way you practice."