Self Defence Training
I first became interested in Mixed Martial Arts & Brazilian Jiujitsu because I saw it as a realistic way of testing martial arts and fighting skills against a resisting opponent. I wasn’t convinced that the techniques used in my Karate point sparring would work in real life when confronted with a big angry, aggressive opponent. Especially if he isn’t familiar with the rules and formalities of traditional martial arts and just wants to beat you up. If only there was some way of testing your techniques realistically without going to jail or hospital. Luckily after I’d been doing Karate for about 3 months I saw a report on late-night TV about the new sport of UFC which was just starting in the USA (this was the build-up to UFC 3). It looked excessively violent and gruesome at the start but it seemed like a good way of finding out what would work in a real fight. Up until this point, it was commonly believed that some styles were just combat sports and others were real martial arts and therefore better for self-defense. From observing MMA events it became apparent that almost all the successful fighters came from a combat sports background (wrestling, kickboxing, Judo). The styles of martial arts that focused exclusively on self-defense and deadly killing skills had many explanations for their lack of success in the MMA arena and these reasons may also explain the effectiveness of combat sports. So what are the benefits that might make training in MMA or combat sports more suitable for self-defence? The key to making your MMA or combat sports training suitable for self-defense and avoiding unrealistic techniques is to ask – would I want to use this move or this strategy if my life depended on it?