Fight Fast Blog

Most fights are lost for one very simple reason, hesitation. The person being attacked either does not react fast enough or is less willing to use violent force than the attacker.

Learning self defense and street fighting skills are a huge part of ensuring that you are victorious but your attitude and mindset are even more important.

When most of us (law abiding, courteous citizens) are attacked we don’t know how to react. We don’t use violence in our daily life, it is foreign to us. In fact, most people are downright uncomfortable with violence.

This is where criminals have a huge advantage. They survive off of violence and they are very good at scaring us normal folks into giving them what they want at the threat or use of a little violence.

On top of this most of the time it is hesitation that causes someone to lose a street fight. This is even a problem for those of us who are comfortable with the thought of using violence to protect ourselves and our families.

This is why simply knowing self defense and how to use violence will not save your kiester in a real street fight.

There are really two kinds of hesitation. The first kind is simply not acting soon enough. For example the all too common “I’m not going to hit first.” Other people simply refuse to accept the fact that a fight is coming until they get hit.

Don’t be that guy (or girl). Don’t get me wrong I’m not suggesting that you turn into a loose cannon, but if you feel threatened or you get that little twinge in your stomach that is telling you “somthin’ ain’t right” you must act immediately.

Let’s take a moment and discuss a little life lesson. Patience is only a virtue when you are dealing with your spouse, your child, or the DMV. Patience which is often hesitation in disguise will not serve you well most areas of life, especially not in a fight. Taking action puts you in control of the situation. Control is good, especially when you are talking about control over your life.

Act, don’t react.

Okay enough with the philosophical stuff. Let’s get practical. If you are the first to hit you are statistically much more likely to win the fight. Enough said.

The second type of hesitation is more common for people who have martial arts or self defense training. This kind of hesitation causes people who ‘know better’ to get hurt and killed in street fights every year.

I’m talking about scale of violence. Many trained martial artists will lose street fights because they fail to bring enough violence into the fight. They know what to do but they just can’t bring themselves to do it.

They are comfortable with the thought of using vicious moves, and if you asked them if they would eye gouge someone who was threatening their life they would say ‘hell yeah.’

As with many things in life the trouble starts when they have to put that thought into action. The thought of doing an eye gouge is a lot different than the act of plunging your thumb into the eye socket of someone threatening your family.

When it comes down to it they are afraid to hurt someone who is trying to hurt them. This is the absolute worst reason to lose a fight.

If you don’t know how to fight and you get your butt kicked in a street fight you can’t really be criticized.

If you do know how to fight and you just failed to be mean and nasty enough to win you will get no sympathy from anyone who is experienced with street fighting or self defense.

The key is, once you engage a person who you know has no regard for your health and safety you must return the favor. As the old cliche goes you must fight fire with fire.

He is willing to do whatever it takes to win. The only thing that will stop him is him realizing that you are willing to do terrible things to him (stuff like snapping all the ligaments in his knee, blowing out his ear drum with an ear slap, or biting out a chunk of flesh).

Showing him that you are willing to use nasty street fighting moves will make your wallet suddenly much less valuable to him.

Criminals may be mean, cruel, and heartless but they aren’t stupid enough to lose an eye over a wallet.

It all comes back to that fight winning attitude. What are you willing to do to protect yourself? I am willing to use whatever means necessary. I hope you feel the same way.

If you do feel this way your fighting mindset should be as follows:

If someone tries to hurt me I am going to immediately use the most brutal and violent force I know to eliminate the threat to my life.

It’s as simple as that. A fighting mindset doesn’t require meditation or hours of training. It requires you making a decision and promise to yourself that you will take the necessary action to save your skin.

Stay Smart and Stay Safe,
Bob Pierce
Head Honcho, Fightfast.com

I’ve written about the “all fights go to the ground” misunderstanding before, but I’m going to do it again because this myth is so dang persistent. Recently I’ve seen it popping up all over the place.

First of all, yes, almost all fights go to the ground, seems pretty obvious to me. One guy gets his butt kicked and will end up on the ground in pain, or one guy ends up on his back while the other guy give the old ground and pounds (as you can see in the picture)

That’s exactly where this story ends. The only ground fighting most attackers are going to do is giving their victim a good kick to the ribs or head while they are on the ground.

I hate to break it to you but your mad Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu skills don’t work to well against a guy kicking you in the face once he’s thrown you to the ground.

On top of that let’s say you are a great ground fighter with tons of training. You get jumped and instantly decide to take this guy to the ground so you can make him scream like a little girl while you lock up his elbow or knee or whatever.

That works just fine until his buddy walks up and gives your dome a good boot with his size 12 Timberlane work boots.

Jiu-Jitsu is an awesome martial art and Jiu-Jitsu guys make great fighters in the ring. Unfortunately when you get jumped it won’t be in a ring. It is also very likely that there will be multiple attackers, to make matters worse the ground will be hard and probably covered with debris (think broken glass, gravel, rusty nails).

All this is just making the point that in a street fight situation the last place you want to be is on the ground.

Still skeptical? Want to talk about statistics? How about this one: the average street fight lasts between 3 and 8 seconds This is 3 to 8 seconds of on your feet fighting usually ending with 1 guy in the ground. (Based on police reports, FBI reports, underground fight videos, security camera footage, and the first hand experience of dozens of fighters who have together been in over 1000 street fights).

Don’t get me wrong I’m not saying you shouldn’t learn any ground fighting skills. I know that statistically speaking if a fight last for 12 or more seconds it WILL go to the ground (both guys this time).

My point is that you should focus 80% of your self defense training on stand up fighting. Spend the remaining time on ground fighting. You definitely don’t want to be caught in a ground fight without knowing any ground fighting moves.

The thing to keep in mind is that you should never have the desire to take a street fight to the ground. That would be a seriously poor choice if you like the current round shape of your head, not to mention having intact front teeth.

Bottom line, the ground is where bad things happen especially if there are multiple attackers.

Being on your feet allows you to move quickly and escape. Escaping with your health is the number one goal of any street fight.

The number two goal is to eliminate the threat to yourself and others. Ground fighting is not necessary for either of these goals.

It shocks me to hear people casually throw around this fighting myth. And it not only shocks me, it also makes me really angry. This myth gets people hurt.

I know the people who spread this myth are saying it because that’s what they genuinely believe. I can’t fault them for that (there are too many ‘experts’ out there spreading this miss-information). I just want to set the record straight so that people don’t get hurt.

The growing popularity of MMA has been a big component of this myth. I love watching MMA as I’m sure you do, but you have to realize that it is a sport. It is not street fighting.

Most MMA fighters have a ton of street fighting experience. I’m not suggesting they don’t know how to street fight. What I’m saying is that if you ask them what they would do in a street fight situation I guarantee none of them would want to take the fight to the ground if they could avoid it.

How do I know this? I’ve been working with the most feared underground street fighters for over 20 years and I haven’t met one yet whose main strategy was ground fighting.

So the next time you hear someone throw this myth around set ‘em straight for me. You could be saving their life (or at least their teeth).

Stay Smart and Stay Safe,
Bob Pierce
Head Honcho
FightFast.com

When it comes to self defense you don’t have time for hesitation. That’s why you need to develop a hair trigger to protecting yourself and your family. This doesn’t mean you have to become a loose cannon…it simply means you know where the proverbial “line in the sand” is drawn, and will not hesitate once someone has crossed it.

For most situations in life it’s a good idea to take your time when making a big decisions. Self defense is not one of those situations. Unfortunately hundreds if not thousands of people get hurt every year because they acted too late in a dangerous situation.

The biggest problem is not that people aren’t aware of their surroundings. Most people are aware that something is wrong long before they are attacked. I’m sure you have experienced this uneasy feeling at some point in your life, we all have.

Humans are really good at picking up on the body language of others or just plain recognizing that something around us is wrong. We are biologically programmed to be good at self defense, it’s our mind that gets in the way.

Most people do no not react when they get that ‘somethin ain’t right’ feeling. They ignore it, repress it telling themselves everything is okay, or worst of all just plain have no idea what to do. When they finally realize they must do something it’s too late.

Why do people do this? Well I’m not a psychologist but my guess is that most of us don’t like the idea of being mugged or jumped or getting into a bar room fight.

To make matters worse ignoring these signs actually increases the chance of you getting mugged or attacked.

Lucky for you I have a simple self defense strategy that can solve all of this. I call it setting your personal triggers. It’s kind of like a self defense auto pilot system you plant in your brain so you don’t have to think much in the heat of the moment.

What is a personal trigger? It is nothing more than a decision you make today that changes how you act in a self defense situation tomorrow.

Let me give you an example. Let’s say you are walking back to your car after a late movie. Your wife or girlfriend is with you, the poorly lit parking lot is almost empty. You notice a guy walking towards you from a nearby alley way. There is no other car around yours, what could he be possibly walking towards you for?

He’s about 100 ft away, now you are getting a bit amped up (this is your body telling you something ain’t right). He keeps walking, only 50 ft away now. Another few seconds pass, he is only 30 ft away…

What do you do?

Most people would do nothing until this guy was 5 or 10 feet away. Close enough to be a real threat to you and your loved ones.

The average person too busy thinking about what they should do, what they should say, or trying to decide if this guy looks like a threat. This is bad news. Letting a potential attacker get that close is a big no, no if you want to prevent a violent conflict.

Any self defense instructor, cop, or soldier will tell you that 5-10 ft is well within striking distance. To make matters worse if this guy is a predator he came prepared, probably with a knife or a gun. You went out expecting to see a movie, he went out expecting to mug someone.

Bottom line: if you let an attacker who wants something you have get to close you are going to get a little bit banged up, even if you win the fight. Definitely not my idea of a nice night out.

Luckily this will never happen to you because you are about to learn exactly how to prevent this type of predator from getting anywhere near you, and if he ever does you’ll become the predator and he will be the victem.

This is where the personal triggers come in. You get to decide exactly how close you let someone get to you before you engage them. You own the space around you, nobody gets in without your consent.

This distance will vary by the location, time of day, and other factors, but you need to decide ahead of time what those factors are and how close you let someone get in each of those scenarios.

For the scene I described above I would suggest that 50 ft is pushing the limit. Cops consider a man with a knife to be a lethal threat within 30 feet, you should too (since knives are extremely easy to conceal you have to assume any threatening person may have one).

The best part is that all you need to do in this situation is tell the person to stop and ask them what they want.

Pretty simple right?

You have every right to ask someone to stop, because they are entering your personal space and threatening your safety.

Telling them to stop and asking what they want does two things. First if this guy is harmless he will stop and say something like “sorry for startling you” or tell you what he wants.

If he is a predator he won’t stop coming towards you, but you will now have time to rush to your car, or tell your girlfriend or wife to run the other way and get help while you ‘take care of business.’

Lastly, engaging a potential predator while he is far away tells him that you are not a good target and that you are willing to put up a fight. Not only that, you can escalate you aggression to the point that you become the predator and he becomes the victim. When most predators realize that you are fully prepared and willing to hurt them they will leave you alone.

Setting personal triggers is one of the most effective self defense techniques I know of. This is life saving stuff (and you usually don’t even have to throw a punch).

This technique will not only prevent 9 out of 10 conflicts, (remember criminal are opportunistic, they don’t want a challenge), it will also take away the element of surprise and put the ball in your court if you cannot avoid the fight.

Stay Smart and Stay Safe,
Bob Pierce
Head Honcho FightFast.com

Nearly all of us have been in a situation where a guy has grabbed our upper arm to try to gain control of you or show his dominance. Grabbing the arm is a common way for someone to escalate a conflict without throwing a punch.

Because this is so common any self defense system is not complete without having a way to deal with this kind of attack.

Most of the time when a guy is grabbing your arm this way a fight is eminent. The last thing you want is to start the fight with the attacker already in control of you.

A grab like this is also a common way for multiple attackers to work. One guy grabs and restrains you while another guy starts laying on a beat down. Not a good place to be.

Fortunately there is a really easy way to take down a guy who has grabbed your arm, even if he is larger and stronger than you. This technique relies on a thumb lock that the attacker is literally handing you when he grabs hold of your arm.

Check out this video to see exactly how this is done.

As you can see in the video this technique doesn’t rely on size or strength. Like any good self defense move it relies on you being smart and using any advantage you have.

The great thing about this move is that when you drop your weight you will be able to take down guys who are way heavier than you are (even if you are only 150 pounds). Also this self defense move actually works better if you are shorter than your attacker, because when you drop down to your knees you will be pulling him further off balance.

Go ahead and practice this move with a training partner or friend. As you can see in the video you should train this with floor pads so you can really practice taking the attacker down to the ground.

Be careful this thumb lock can break the thumb so be smart when you practice it.

This is just one more great self defense tool to add to your arsenal.

For more great combat instruction from Special Forces soldier Jack Stone check out his American Samurai package.

Stay Smart and Stay Safe,
Bob Pierce
Head Honcho, Fightfast.com

Happy Veteran’s Day everybody! I hope you have fun plans for the long weekend. But before you go out and do whatever it is you have planned take a moment to reflect on what this holiday represents.

Chances are each and every one of you knows a veteran. Take a moment this morning and send them your thanks. It only takes a moment and I know it will mean a lot to those you thank.

It is easy to take all our freedoms and rights and opportunities for granted, especially if you have lived in the U.S. your entire life. We are so used to all these rights we easily forget that there are billions of people living today who don’t have those freedoms and rights.

And we didn’t come by these rights easily. It wasn’t luck or chance that gave us freedom. It took the blood of brave men and women to ensure that we can enjoy the rights many of us have come to take for granted.

According to Wikipedia 1,343,812 soldiers have died in all the wars and other deployments in our countries short history.

That is a startling number and a huge sacrifice for our freedom for which we should all be thankful.

It’s hard to put into words the gratitude I feel for our soldiers which is why this post is a little short.

The only thing any of us can really do to thank the veterans of this country is extend a heartfelt thank you and support those who are in need.

I hope you all have a great weekend. God Bless all the brave men and women who have served this country and God bless the USA.

Stay Smart and Stay Safe,
Bob Pierce
Head Honcho, Fightfast.com