Dear Friend:
Here's some more fight statistics that I know you'll find facinating. Once again, I am simply setting up the "foundation" -- the groundwork -- so that you understand exactly what you're up against in a fight. Because poor information is the biggest reason for screw-ups -- so I'm giving you nothing but the best.
I left off at fight stat #3, here's #4...
4.) One, Two, Three You’re Out. The average fight is just 3 to 8 seconds long. I know I already mentioned this, but I just want to continue to impress you with this.
I personally was shocked to discover this as – after watching many John Wayne movies in my youth -- I was convinced most fist fights raged on for hours. Nope... it’s more like, wham... bam... boom... fight over. Once you realize how fast it’ll be over, you’ll be far less likely to politely allow your adversary to “hit first” – which is a bad strategy my friend.
5.) Ground Fighting. I want to further clarify of one of my previous “fight myths” which states that most fights do not go to the ground. While it is indeed true -- most street fights do NOT go to the ground – that’s only true for fights lasting less than 12 seconds. And most fights last only 3-8 seconds (remember wham... bam... boom?). So my research shows that at second number 13 there’s a high probability the fight will end up on ground.
What does this means for you? Well... it couldn’t hurt to have a few ground fighting tricks up your sleeve.
6.) Getting Hurt. The longer the fight, the higher the chances of serious injury or death. Yep, the longer it takes you to end it, the better chance of you getting really hurt or killed.
Unfortunately many martial artists make the mistake of “displaying” their skills. I mean... sure... they paid good money to learn those fancy moves. They’ve even got a pretty belt to prove it. So please, could everyone form a little circle to watch some cool reverse roundhouse kicking skills.
Meanwhile, his adversary moves in and lands a couple simple well placed shots and suddenly this “martial artist” is on the ground unconscious. His opponent’s technique may not have required a lot of skill, and were not very “pretty”, but that doesn’t matter. At this point he can only hope that his adversary and his buddies don’t decide to start stomping on his head. Because lying on the ground unconscious does not necessarily mean your opponent is done with you.
So get this idea in your skull – end the fight as quickly as possible for your own good.
7.) The Melon Shot. Most of the time your adversary will be a “head hunter” – meaning that he will almost exclusively be targeting your head. Now I’m not suggesting that the head is not a good target, but for Pete’s sake it isn’t the only target.
What’s more is that the head is often the best defended target, which means you should look for numerous other targets around the body (target awareness). The smart fighter will typically attack open “high value” targets, like the groin, inside knee, neck, outside thigh, etc. I’ll cover some more targets later on, but my point is that your opponent will most likely be head-hunting and that you should consider many other targets.
8.) The Classic Shove. Important to know this. A shove is typically an initiation for an attack This is extremely common for the “Emotionally Hijacked” or the “Bully” and its purpose is to build up his confidence and ego to just before striking.
It’s rare that a “Predator” will use this, as he’s very careful not to announce his intentions (“hello... I’m going to rob you... but I’ll start it out with this little shove.”). No. A predator’s main strategy is surprise.
Anyway, if an adversary shoves you, look out! Statistics show that it is highly probable his next move will be a strike -- and typically that strike happens within a second or two after the shove.
Now a common question that I receive is: “so what should I do if someone shoves me?” Okay... let me be clear about this. You’ve got some solid info on your side – namely that you’re probably about a second or two away from getting hit. You don’t have to be a seasoned cage fighter to figure out that standing there and doing nothing is not your best course of action – unless of course getting hit upside the head with a haymaker is your idea of a viable strategy. You’ve got other options -- and believe it or not, simply running is one of those options.
Regardless of the option you choose, you must use the shove as a “trigger” to prompt immediate and decisive action.
9.) Admiring Your Work. Here’s another stunning fight fact. MOST rookie fighters will suddenly stop their attack to “assess” the damage – especially if they are winning the fight.
Bad move.
It’s a big-time rookie mistake and it often plays out something like this: an Emotionally Hijacked person shoves you. You wisely recognize that you’re about to be hit, so you strike first with a forearm shot to the side of the neck (nice choice) – then you stand back and wait for this bum to crumble into a heap -- calling you “master” and begging for mercy.
Don’t count on it!... more Hollywood baloney!
Stats prove that, given the chance, an opponent will often quickly recover from his initial shock and dismay -- then start to return fire. That’s bad news for you because by stopping and “accessing” the damage, you’ve literally given away a couple of your most important tools for winning this fight – surprise and continual pressure.
So here’s a piece of advice. Once the fight is on, do NOT stop until the threat is removed -- whether that threat is removed because you’ve escaped... because your adversary is on the ground writhing in pain... or because he’s unconscious. No matter, you’ll want to get out of there as quickly as possible. Do NOT wait for him to recover... do NOT wait for his buddies to show up... and do NOT wait for emotionally “pumped up” bystanders to attack you. Do what you gotta do, then leave the area as quickly as possible.
Fighters who “strike and assess” can (and do) end up hurt or dead.
10.) Beginner’s Can’t Hurt You. As I’ve already suggested, most adversaries you’ll face will NOT be well-trained fighters. This is good news, because it means that having some fundamental fight knowledge (like you’re learning here), will put you one or two steps ahead of your opponent. And the over 70 DVD training courses I’ve got available will really secure your position.
Of course this doesn’t mean you can’t be hurt by an untrained fighter.
One “Fight-Fast” instructor -- Mark Hatmaker (also known as the “Professor Of Grappling”) -- points out that he’s witnessed complete rookies (with no fight experience at all), worm their way out of “impossible” Brazilian ground fighting holds.
“The Professor” suggests that even highly experienced fighters should always avoid trouble if they can – even against an inexperienced fighter – as there is simply no guarantee of the final outcome. Understand that ALL personal combat is a desperate life-and-death struggle where anything can happen.
So you have to assume that your opponent will fight for his life, just as YOU should fight for yours. There is no such thing as a “casual” ass-kicking. It’s an all out fight or nothing -- and the end result can mean serious permanent injury or death.
11.) The Stomp. One of the latest dancing crazes is called the “head-stomp”. As you’ve probably guessed, it’s a dance on your head. Because research shows that if you get knocked down to the ground -- especially against multiple attackers -- your head is likely to be viewed as a rugby ball in open field.
Experienced street fighters know to stay off the ground and on their feet – or else!
Of course ground fighting can and does happen, which means here at Fight-Fast Inc. we’ve created instructional material to deal with it. One of the most effective packages is “Street Safe III”. It focuses on a number of ugly techniques designed to get an opponent off of you quickly so that you can get back onto your feet.
In fact, since being on the ground is so serious, (it often means getting kicked unconscious in a matter of seconds), the techniques demonstrated in “Street Safe III” are some of the most vicious and brutal you’ll learn anywhere. As a result, I won’t release “Street Safe III” without a signed “waiver”. Yeah... it’s that nasty!
12.) The Block-head. If you’re busy blocking incoming blows, you’re in a bad position. Because that’s the exact opposite position you want to be in. You want your opponent to be attempting to block – not yourself.
Having a mindset of blocking punches and kicks means that you are on the defensive... reacting rather than acting... pedaling backwards... off balance... and not able to effectively counter attack.
Now with all due respect, I’ve seen a LOT of martial artists endlessly practicing parries (which is the redirection of incoming shots), and blocks. That’s all well and good... but it’s kinda like a NASCAR driver concentrating his valuable training on building an extra-durable roll cage. As he careens 180 mph out of control off that first turn, it suddenly dawns on him that maybe he should have practiced driving.
It’s the same with fighting. Experienced street fighters rarely concentrate their efforts on “blocks and parries” but instead defend their soft targets with space or the proper execution of an offensive attack.
Now, I’m not suggesting you make no effort to block, because there IS value in it. But, you won’t win a fight with blocking and parrying alone, and, if you find yourself doing this, it usually indicates you’re in big trouble.
13.) You Will Get Cut. Almost any street fighter worth his salt will advise you to run like hell in the face of a knife (with a gun you sometimes want to actually close the distance).
Understandably, there are times when you can’t simply run away. You’ve got your family, or girlfriend, or other loved ones with you.
But know this: If you’re forced to fight a man armed with a blade, you WILL be cut. It’s that simple.
“Street Safe I” instructor Paul Vunak, (a world expert on knife disarming), proved this point by wiping red paint on a training knife blade. Even with his astonishing disarming skills, he was rarely able to disarm a determined fighter without getting red paint on himself.
His advice is this: Don’t waste your time trying to avoid getting cut but rather use it to concentrate on eliminating the threat. And the threat is NOT the knife but the person holding it.
Okay, that's it for the fight stats. You should be a LOT more informed now -- more than most guys on the streets today. But there's a lot more information to come, so keep your eyes peeled.
“Don’t hit at all if it is honorably possible to avoid hitting; but never hit soft.”
– Theodore Roosevelt
Til next time...
Bob Pierce
Head Honcho, TRS/FightFast
P.S. Here's something else you'll want to check out. Larry Wick is a true master in the martial arts, logging over 30 years experience of mixing it up in the street. But - in a sudden flash of insight - he realized that every single part of his black belt training had gaping holes that could get him killed. Holes that any street punk could break through. Sometimes by luck, sometimes by superior skill. Sometimes just by ganging up on him.
And that just got him fired up. So Wick spent years developing a new way
of fighting.
Check it out now at: