Blitz - June-July 2017

FEATURE STORY |ƫ333ċ(%06)#ċ*!0ƫđƫ^41

TO

FROM

CAGE

STREET

Using MMA’s building

blocks in self-defence

Part One

STORY & INSTRUCTION BY JOHN WILL | IMAGES BY CHARLIE SURIANO

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T

he advent and

development of MMA

as a holistic approach

to one-on-one

unarmed combat has created a

new paradigm on the martial

arts landscape.

Twenty-five years ago, the

idea of cross-training in the

martial arts environment was

commonly frowned upon. My

own experience in taking a

Mixed Martial Arts approach

to training was often met with

ridicule in the early 1990s. ‘You

can’t mix your martial arts’...

‘Pick a style and stick with

it’... ‘You don’t know what you

want’...were all things I heard

back then. Of course, after three

or four UFC events had been

televised, some people began

to adjust their thinking and

begrudgingly accept that cross-

training might be advantageous,

especially for those wanting to

truly pressure-test their abilities,

ensure a well-rounded skill set

and develop that ever-handy

trait of adaptability.

Fast-forward to today

and the MMA approach to

training is not only accepted,

in many circles it is lauded

as the most practical way

forward for someone wishing

to develop useable and practical

combative skills.

We do need to keep in mind,

that although the techniques and

training strategies employed by

reputable MMA coaches are very

effective, MMA competition

itself is still a sport; there are still

many rules in place, a referee,

time limits and so forth.

The sport of MMA is all

about combat between two

people only; there are few

environmental considerations

besides the cage fence (no cars,

windows, walls, weapons, etc.)

and there are many, many things

the fighters are not allowed to

do (biting, eye-gouging, groin

attacks, finger manipulation, and

so on and so forth).

Now — and this is important

— just because we cannot use

illegal techniques like biting,

eye-gouging, etc. in MMA,

does not mean that if they were

allowed, that the non-MMA

fighter would prevail against

the MMA fighter. In fact, if the

MMA trained fighter was also

allowed to bite, eye-gouge and so

on, he would very likely prevail

in even shorter order, due to

the fact that these techniques

would only add to his already

formidable arsenal, much of

which falls in the ‘gross motor’

movement category favoured by

reality-based trainers (because

it’s what we default to under high

adrenal stress).

However, those

considerations aside, it is worth

taking a good look at a handful

of core or foundational MMA

techniques that can be readily

brought to bear in a street

confrontation.