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Day 1 of 5 Day Fighting Course

This course begins with important stuff you need to know right now to win a fight.

If you get jumped today — not that I would ever wish this on you — but if you do, I want you to have some tools and understanding right now that would help you “take care of business.”

So I’m going to begin your 5 Day Fighting Course with the things I think you need to know the most.

As you can see I’ve included videos of simple, but highly effective, moves you can learn and use today (The videos are interspersed in the text so make sure you scroll down to view them all).

And if you are serious about learning how to win any fight there are also some combat principles which, if you read them, will make you a much better fighter.


The “Four D’s” of Personal Combat:

Understanding the Four D’s of Personal Combat will help you understand how to win again even larger and more aggressive opponents. It’s crucial that you begin to understand and incorporate these tactics.

The Four D’s are:

1) Deception 2) Distraction 3) Disruption 4) Destruction

First off know this. Unlike “sport fighting,” winning a street fight has little to do with size, strength, and physical skill. The Four D’s are the great equalizers of those factors.

1. Deception

Deception is key to fighting, games and even wars! General Eisenhower used deception against Hitler to pull off D-Day and you too can use deception to gain the advantage over an opponent. The basic concept is to make your adversary think one thing while you turn the tables on him. The result is confusion, hesitation, and panic.

Deception can be verbal, physical or tactical. Tell him you don’t want any trouble while you’re discovering your targets.

Raise your hands up in a manner of submission so that they are ready and in front of your shoulders and face… AND HIS! He’ll believe that you’re in a “surrender” position, but truthfully your hands will be in what is called a “forward boundary” ready for action.

About the same time you’re looking him in the eye stating, “I don’t want any trouble” should be about the time you unleash on him and take the offensive.

Striking first is critical. It may not be politically correct, but it will be necessary to be effective.

2. Distraction

There’s a quirk in the human brain that makes it difficult to focus on more than one thing at a time.

The good news is that you can take advantage of this human limitation by redirecting or “distracting” your opponent’s attention away from you so you can catch him off-guard. The bad news is that distractions are often only effective for a split second or so, which means that you must have an immediate follow-up plan.

A few examples of simple distractions are flipping a cigarette in their face, dropping loose change from your pocket on the ground (they’ll almost always look), spitting or spilling your drink in their face, appear to adjust your glasses and throw them in their face.

Be quick and be prepared to act the instant you gain a distraction.

3. Disruption

Disrupt his plan. He began his attack thinking he could dominate, control and humiliate you. Show him quickly and decisively that this could end very badly for him. Get him thinking about his own well-being.

Tom Cruse (fighter not actor) fights by this rule: “display a complete and total disregard for your opponent’s well-being”. You also need to be unpredictable.

Some tactics…

  1. Hit First (That’s right… we’re not in grade school anymore. Start it and finish it with the first strike advantage.)
  2. Close the distance (unless he has a knife… in which case run! You will get seriously hurt even if you win) take the fight to him and quickly inflict damage and pain! Do not hesitate to begin attacking targets. This tactic takes away his plan and forces him to start internally thinking about a new plan.
  3. Forward Pressure (Continue the Attack) with a relentless assault without pause. Get him back pedaling. It’s not time to be Mr. Nice Guy. Beat this guy down into both physical and mental humiliation.

4. Destruction

I just touched on some of this because the simple lesson is “kick his ass.” You didn’t sign up here for lessons on the obvious though. So, here’s the skinny on effective destruction.

Think targets and what to strike them with. For a true hand-to-hand fight with no improvised weapons, knives or guns… typically a soft target gets hit with a hard body part (i.e. closed fist to the gut) while a hard target gets hit by soft tool (i.e. an ear slap with an open cupped palm. (You learned this in today’s video clip.)

Attack high value targets. Get this guy to understand that he picked on the wrong person and you intend to hurt him badly. Start “laying the hate” without relenting and make him succumb to the “Surprise & Shock” factor of messing with you.

You had better answer a question for yourself in advance. Are you willing to hurt a person who’s attacking you. Seems like a no-brainer huh? It’s not. You can’t afford a hesitation in the 3 to 5 seconds that this all takes place. Hesitate and you’ll pay a dear price.

Last two questions that should be running through your mind…

“What’s my target?” & “What’s my next target?”


Six High Value Targets:

  • Eyes: The eyes are extremely vulnerable to attack. Dirt in the eyes or a simple flick or jab can be a great equalizer to a larger more aggressive opponent.
  • Throat – A hard punch to the throat can be “game over.” This is better done with a blade hand (form a C with your fingers and thumb and strike with either side.) Warning: A strike to this target can be fatal.
  • Solar Plexus: The soft spot just below the “breast bone”. If you surprise attack him with a first strike shot here you’ll likely knock the wind out of him. This is an uncomfortable experience for anyone. While he’s still talking crap surprise attack him here and you may not only gain the surprise, it may be instantly over. Don’t bank on it though , strike your next target.
  • Neck: The side of the neck has a bundle of nerves and the carotid artery flowing through it. A good shock can mean “lights out.” The shoulder and head offer a good funnel system to guide your edge hand in to the right target are too. This is a high % shot.
  • Groin: You’d be surprised how many guys don’t immediately think something is coming here. Target this a number of ways. Kick it with the shin. If you can get your foot in between his legs on the way up his own thighs will direct the attack on the target. You could also “Slap Grab and Twist” as our instructor James Painter will show you in the video clip for Day 3 of this course. Tomorrow you’ll see one taught by instructor Kathy Long that adds a destructive take down with it as well.
  • Inside Knee: The knees are delicate. Look how many 300 lbs. football players go down each year to knee injuries. From the outside in, or the inside out a good stomp or sweep kick to the knee joint with bring him down like a giant redwood tree. This takes his mobility. (FYI: It works best if his foot is planted on the ground and the leg straight.) If you manage a stomp kick directly to the front, it does the most damage but it isn’t a high percentage shot.
  • Outside Thigh: Muay Thai fighters are trained relentlessly to target the large nerve that runs on the outside of the thigh. You’ve likely had a charlie horse before… they are pain rich and a very effective in reducing the opponents mobility.

Dealing with Fear: External Traction

Fear of fighting is more common than you’d think – even among experienced fighters. Only a stone-cold sociopath has no fear in a confrontation. So don’t plan on not experiencing or feeling fear. It’s going to happen.

The key is to know how to deal with it.

I’ve interviewed hundreds of hardcore combat soldiers and seasoned streetfighters and found that nearly every one of them admitted to being fearful in every single fight. Surprised? Well don’t be, because these guys understood that they could easily be killed. So, they felt fear – sometimes extreme fear — in every confrontation.

The bottom line here is to understand a couple of things:

  • 1. Fear will be present and your internal voice will begin talking “what ifs.”
  • 2. You must gain External Traction.

External traction is the combination of having a plan and taking action to execute the plan when something happens…especially when the inner voice of fear starts on the “what ifs”.

The simple key to gaining External Traction is to move your thoughts to potential targets to attack him and towards and escape route.

You must initiate Target Awareness.

Seeking out and gathering “target acquisition” info almost instantly begins to focus and channel your internal dialogue. Start asking questions like:
“He’s approaching me — is he in range?”…
“Is there anything in his hands?”…
“What targets are open?”…
“Are there any friends around?”…
“Now… what targets are open?”…
“Is anyone behind me?”…

Hopefully you’ve noted the need to continually evaluate which targets are open. A common rookie mistake is to focus in on one target and then try to “wait” for it to open up or even strike at it when it’s not open. This is called Target Focus and it’s the wrong way to choose targets.

Keep in mind the “high value” targets — the side of the neck, throat, eyes, inside thigh, outside thigh, groin, and the angle of the chin. Always, always, maintain target awareness during a fight.

Here’s another coaching point…

Do not pay attention to the yelling and verbal threats. Do not look into his eyes. This only distracts you from your target awareness. A good streetfighter wants you to “buy into” his distractions. Mad-dog staring… insults… yelling… the whole works. It’s doubtful he knows the science of internal dialogue, but he does understand that it’s easier to win after he “gets into your head.”

I can’t stress this external target awareness enough. It’s a simple solution to a big problem. This is why so many martial artists — even accomplished black belts — have their asses handed to them in a real street fight.

They wake up wondering what the hell happened. Well, in the well-lit dojo they’ve trained with plenty of room on padded floors and their opponents comes at him in a predictable manner.

Later on, in the tiny dimly-lit bathroom at the local mini-mart, this same martial artist is suddenly confronted by some big dude screaming threats, insults and foul language about taking his parking space. Confusion hits, the “internal dialogue” goes berserk, and all that cozy training flushes right down the toilet.

Now don’t get me wrong, studying martial arts is better than spending your time on the couch, but these classes won’t teach you how to get around this internal dialogue or how to use fear to your advantage.

That’s why you’re here. You’re getting stuff that really works – in the “real world”.

Fear is an emotion and you cannot control your emotions. Don’t try to. You’re not a wuss, wimp or anything else because you feel fear. Courage and fear aren’t opposites. Courage is acting and/or doing the right thing in presence of fear!

Congratulations! You made it through day 1 of your fight training course. I know it’s a lot of information so take your time with it. I’ve tried to condense it down, but this stuff is just too important to cut out. This stuff can save your life. Take it seriously.

Interested in learning “dirty fight tricks” right now?
Click here to find out how!

Check your inbox tomorrow for more videos and fight principles in Day 2.

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