The Science Behind Effective Street Combat
There are thousands of different martial art styles. Regardless of your particular discipline every human being must adhere to the same fundamental roots of martial science to maximize effectiveness. When you are attacked on the street where “anything goes” there is little margin for error. You must know how to handle a single attacker, multiple attackers, and even multiple attackers with weapons.
Undoubtedly, excellent footwork is the foundation of any effective martial art system. If you look at the most dominant boxers, the greatest football players, or the most exceptional dancers, they all have phenomenal footwork. Developing good footwork with your martial art will allow you to deftly evade lethal knives and larger stronger attackers who may outnumber you. If your footwork is weak not only will your evasion and survival skills fall apart, but your punches, kicks, joint locks, chokes, and throws will suffer greatly as well.
It is imperative that your martial art training focuses on strengthening your awareness. If your awareness is high it is much harder for an attacker to creep up on you and catch you off guard. If your mind is trained properly you can learn to spot trouble long before it begins. You can learn to remove yourself from situations before they escalate to a physical level.
Peripheral vision or wide-angle vision must be utilized for street combat. It can empower you to see multiple opponents at the same time and enable you to use your surroundings such as stairs, chairs, or rocks as potential martial art weapons. If you train properly peripheral vision can even allow you to see your opponents moving in slow motion.
It is important to learn to recognize the nine angles of attack. Many martial art schools over complicate their teachings by having their students memorize hundreds of random techniques. If you can learn to spot the nine angles it makes no difference if an assailant comes at you with his right or left hand, a kick, a charge, a bat, a knife, a crowbar, or a machete. There are only nine angles that you may be attacked on and if you learn to recognize them you will always have an answer for surviving an encounter.
It is crucial that you learn to be a creative and adaptive martial artist. If you only memorize techniques what will happen when someone attacks you in an unfamiliar way with a weapon that you never trained against? You can learn to nurture your mind’s creative eye and your ability to instantly adapt to any situation once you learn to spot the underlying principles of martial science. Once you learn to see principles you will be able to create in the midst of combat by inventing your own techniques and counters.
It is critical that you learn to defend yourself from all possible scenarios. The majority of martial artists learn common techniques against strikes and grabs while standing or on the ground. What about learning to defend yourself while sitting in a chair or car, standing in a phone booth, elevator, or stairwell, or defending yourself while both your arms are held or bound? In the street there are no worst-case scenarios just realistic scenarios and you better be prepared.
Sensei David Weinberg is a 3rd Degree Black Belt and Instructor of Freedman’s Method Ketsugo Jujutsu, a Reiki Master, a Certified Personal Trainer, and an Integrative Flexibility Specialist. To learn more about Freedman’s Method, visit the official jujitsu nh site or the official jujutsu nh blog.
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