Which will Help You Better 'Survive' if You were Attacked?

The ULTIMATE QUESTION:

Is fighting in the ring or cage or on the mats, or in any other sport/competitor setting a 'true' representation of what it is 'really' like to defend yourself when you are attacked in real life?

In short, which will give you the greater chance of 'survival' - Combat Sport or Reality Based Street Defence?

Let's see?

1. Do fights on the street have the same emotions as those in the ring/cage? NO.

2. Do fights on the street start in the same way? NO.

3. Do you even have the luxury to plan and prepare for a street fight like you do for a fight in the ring/cage? NO.

4. Do fights on the street only have one opponent? NO.

5. Do fights in the ring/cage include weapons? NO.

6. Do fights on the street have any rules? NO.

7. Are the dangers and concerns involved in a street fight i.e. protecting yourself against harm and even possibly having to protect a loved one, the same as having to simply win the fight in a ring/cage? NO.

8. In a street fight, could you possibly end up in jail, hospital or the morgue? YES.

9. The object of Combat Sport is to 'WIN' whilst the object of Self Defence is to 'SURVIVE' at any cost. Are these the same? NO.

Clearly the 'street' is a completely DIFFERENT beast to the ring/cage in SO many ways.

Yet it never ceases to amaze how so many people still cannot see these very clear differences.

What's even more sad to see is the 'incredible' arrogance and bullyish behaviour, which you would normally expect from only school brats, coming predominantly from the MMA / BJJ /Muay Thai community...... a community from which I myself come from, having previously (and proudly) trained 11 years in Muay Thai under the British Champion at the time, Sol Raja, who now runs a fantastic gym in Aldershot called Maida Gym, as well as a professional fight team called Prize Fighters. He and his brother Osman were some of the pioneers of MMA within the UK and they even trained with Alex Reid. I myself have also trained and sparred with Alex. We're going back a few years but they were great days.

But back then, there was honour and mutual respect. The very idea of looking down upon and ridiculing another was unheard of.

With such clear differences between fighting on the street verses fighting in the ring/cage, it is obviously essential that a different approach is required. I myself was able to see this, like so many other DL Instructors who also come from similar backgrounds.

It's all about what you want to train for and what is important to you? I always tell people that if you want to compete then go and learn Combat Sport. But if you want to understand street violence and maximise 'your chances of survival', the you need to learn DL.

Ultimately you need to train for the 'specific' scenario intended and if anyone still insists that both scenarios are similar in anyway, especially after having already highlighted 'some' of the main differences above, then it is clear that you are dealing with a person who is not yet capable or mature enough to understand reality. It's like arguing with an 8 year old that watching too much TV is not good for them. So the best course of action is to try and educate but if there is no success then simply to move on.

Defence Lab is the study of real life street violence, multiple attacker scenarios and how this violence 'actually' plays out in reality..... which simply CANNOT be imitated in the cage/ring/on the mats because these systems are just not designed for such scenarios.

Now, does Combat Sport give someone fantastic 'attributes' for reality based self defence. Absolutely.

Can someone with Combat Sport skills knock out or seriously damage someone. Absolutely.

Should practitioners of Combat Sport be highly respected. Absolutely.

This is exactly why we also at Defence Lab continue to train and learn various aspects of Combat Sport to build and maintain those key attributes BUT we tailor the training according to the 'intended scenario'...... which again IS the street and NOT the ring/cage.

Therefore calling something BS without proper understanding only throws that BS right back at you.

To call something BS just because you don't get it or can't be bothered to investigate it first is both arrogant and ignorant.

A great example is when people mock and laugh at videos of DL practitioners punching the knee or leg of an opponent. "Who are hell would punch a knee or leg?" they shout.

What they fail to see or understand is that DL is ultimately a 'weapons based' system! We're not punching the attacker in the knee or the leg..... we're actually stabbing or slicing them with whatever we can find to use as a weapon at that moment in time. And if we don't find a weapon then we can still attack the knee joints to damage the leg OR attack the leg in a certain way to create a desired reaction from the attacker.

But of course these people mocking don't see or understand these things because all they see is us punching the knee or the leg and in their own 'limited' world, such intentional strikes simply do not exist.

Hence one of our mottos - "Seeing the Unseen."

So the next time you see us punching the knee or the leg, try if you can, imagining a weapon in our hand also, rather than a boxing glove which you are used too.

"But why on earth would you even want to go down to strike the knee or the leg?" I hear them asking.

In a street fight, you may not have a choice as you trip during the fight and fall on your knees or backside OR you are being pushed or pulled to the floor by multiple attackers OR whilst they are all trying to punch you in the head, it makes sense to evade by dropping your head and in the process, striking their legs to cause them imbalance and limb destruction, only to then re-appear back up high to strike them in the face too. This is all part of our Defence and Attack approach.

I have only given two simple examples which should give some understanding but there is SO much more. Unfortunately, many do not make the effort to try and understand and are very quick to judge based on their own very limited understanding and experience.

Such narrow mindedness and ego goes against the very core values of mixed martial arts itself.

I humbly ask everyone to act more maturely as expected from true martial artist. To drop the bratish and bullyish behaviour and to be more open to new ideas.

Only the wise and mature will know the fact that ALL new ideas encounter resistance in the beginning, until a reasonable following is achieved for then the rest of the population to 'follow'.

However, you cannot compare those who embraced the new idea in the beginning to those who followed once it was widely accepted. The two are very different people indeed.

To answer the question of - Does it work in real life? The answer is YES. It has proven to work many times but due to the nature of such a fight, people don't go around bragging or filming their encounters. Such encounters by the very definition of 'Self Defence' happen completely unexpected and one doesn't stick around afterwards to take selfies.

But yes we do have DL practitioners who have successfuly used their skills in real life to survive an attack.

However if you still have any reservations then the true way is to 'seek answers'.

Investigate yourself and then make your OWN mind up. And even then if you are still not satisfied then this is fine too. But at least you can say that you tried it yourself before making your judgement.

Hopefully this long answer will help to create a better understanding.

I know that even so, some will still choose to simply laugh at what I have wrote. To them I say that laughing, ridiculing and mocking ONLY shows that you have no 'intellectual' response to offer. It is literally the 'dumb' way out. So if you want to prove my point, then be my guest. I am hoping for some great intellectual conversation.

Remember - investigating and seeking knowledge is what makes us human and has proven to be our greatest strength during our existence on this planet.

If you wish to investigate further, then feel free to look at any one of the following two options:

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Book your 'free' taster session today at anyone of our venues by visiting - https://www.defencelabtraining.co.uk/free-trial/.

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