In the who what, where, when, how and why in fight-life, it begs the question – “How does this fight end?” I have long listed the 3 groups of people we fight-
1) criminals,
2) enemy soldiers and,
3) your “dunk uncles.” (The uncles represent all family and friends you have to fight for a multitude of emotional reasons.)
Given the use-of-force laws of each land and military rules of engagement, how do these real fights end? (I hate to repeat the over-used, tiresome, colloquialism-term “street-fight.” Not every fight is a fight out in the street.) But finish? What do you think? How do-will yours end? Have you even REALLY thought about it? Because in so much training I usually see 2 end extremes – death endings and…nothing much endings.
1: Death endings. One extreme is you murder-kill the opponent. There are a number of programs out there where a person trains, whether thoughtlessly or thoughtfully, to quick shoot, stab-gut, split the skull, crush the throat of any unarmed opponent. This training might be okay in very early phases of introductory training where the enemy is like a…a symbolic, “wing chun dummy, even a somewhat moving wing chun dummy. Like an inanimate paper target you shoot for bullseyes at, if you will. But, guess what Shark Tank, you can’t shoot, stab and kill everyone unarmed. At some point, early I hope, some training must encourage your brains to react properly to unarmed and armed attacks. And combatives, self defense people! Self defense is a trifecta – “before, during and after.” If you rush in and gut someone with a knife (as I see in sooo many video clips, where Bob the dummy is “autopsied”( …is Bob unarmed?….) you face legal consequences later that must be explained. Articulated. At what point in Tarzan-Training do these “stay-out-of-jail” facts get entered? The system doctrine MUST include use of force as a skeleton. Or lack thereof will be presented to your jury.
2: Nothing much endings. The other extreme is you totally forget about the reality end. You never finish the real fight. Finishing the fight means ending the attack, in some manner. I want you to think about this. Experts throw people down, or joint lock people up, and the segment stops. Gun people point a rubber gun at a training partner. The end? THERE IS NO REAL ENDING TO THE REAL FIGHT here. Look at the old fad-fascination-love affair with the Japanese armbar. You whiz around and get the armbar. “OUCH!” Then…it’s over? It’s over? No, it is not. How long can you lay there in that position in the real world? Some tough guys will say, “I will break his arm, that will end it.” Then guess what Tarzan, you will probably go to jail for serious bodily injury. Every ending must be justified.
If you are just a sports-arts guy, a tap out is an end. If arts-sports are all you do? Great. Then don’t hang a self-defense shingle on your window outside, bubba, you’re not teaching fights with real endings. Look, wrapping someone up is a good idea with the drunk uncles of life sometimes. And when and if your police friends are next to you to help wrap things up. Great. Every martialist must know all the joints in the body, which ways they bend and which ways they don’t, and use that information. This does not necessitate a ten-year journey into wrestling, which could be quite brainwashing.
Since “fighting” is so over-wrapped with arts and sports, it’s subliminal reach stinks up self-defense. Perhaps it’s my decades in police work that set me worrying on this “end priority.” Police are trained, even in my cave-man days starting in the early 1970s, with the goal of seeking the best ending. Use of force. A primary ending was handcuffing the fighter. Much danger is stunted with handcuffing. There’s more to do but handcuffing is very stabilizing. Then there’s knocking someone out. And there used to be a lot of choking emphasis. Choking someone out. That’s nice – almost 100% of the time, they wake up in cuffs, maybe cough a bit and wonder what the hell just happened. That ends that. Then at the justified extreme, shooting them. Work to an ending. I know this well. When we arrest someone who is running or fighting, and you get them in Master Garcia’s JJ hold….and when you eventually HAVE to loosen it up to cuff them or move them, they
a) continue to fight, or,
b) continue to run, or just maybe,
c) give up? That happens.
That’s in police work. Every other non-police person, every other situation is different. Do you ever think about the possible, justified endings in your first or next “street fight??”
Otherwise here’s the challenge. Watch every video clip you now see and note how many there’s not a self-defense, finish-finish. Nice takedown. But no finish-finish. Nice throw. No reality finish-finish. Nice multi-step chess capture. Finish? No. Nice tap-out, but… What happens next?
How does this actually, really end? How do you end it? How does it end you?
Hock’s email is Hock@hockscqc.com
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