A guide to finding reality based martial arts instruction.
Written by Guro Joel Huncar
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| Picture: (Left to Right) Guro Louie Lindo, Guro Ed Wong, Coach Vadim, and the Late Jesse Glover. |
Reality Based Training is a common catch phrase in martial
arts these days. In fact it seems to be the martial arts fad of the
twenty first century just as Ninjitsu was in the eighties and Brazilian
Jiu Jitsu was in the nineties.
There is nothing wrong with this, fads are great
for the martial arts, it gets people interested in joining a local
club and increases enrolment for the people who teach the latest
flavour of the decade. This increase in interest is great for the
reputable martial arts instructor who is offering legitimate
instruction.
There is a down side to fads in the martial arts,
unfortunately. During the heyday of ninjitsu many people who were
teaching Karate or Jiu Jitsu one week were instant ninjas the next.
When the Gracie family popularized BJJ in the nineties there were a lot
of clubs hanging a BJJ sign above their dojo doors. Some were
legitimate, many were con artists.
The only way for the serious martial artist to
avoid being conned was to question the lineage of the instructors. All
BJJ can trace their lineage back to the Gracie family just as all
Ninjitsu should be able to trace their lineage back to the Iga or Koga
region of Japan and arguably the Fajita or Hatsumi families.
Unfortunately there is no lineage for reality
based fighting. You can't simply check out an instructor’s background
and see if he comes from a legitimate reality based system. To add to
this confusion many martial arts instructors feel that what they are
teaching is indeed reality based, whether they are teaching sport jiu
jitsu or Karate. They are not trying to misrepresent themselves they
simply do not know what makes true reality based training.
To figure out a guideline for what "reality
based training" is I went to one of Canada's best sources, Guro Ed Wong
of
Urban Survival Systems in Vancouver BC. For him there are some core
ingredients that make his training reality based. Some of these
ingredients are unique to the Urban Survival Systems, but they will
give the reader a good idea of what to look for in a fighting system if
you want your training to be "reality based".
For anyone who has not heard of
Ed Wong, let me
give you some background on him. Ed has spent all of his adult life
researching combat arts to find the most effective fighting skills he
can pass on to his students. He has been teaching reality based
fighting for over fifteen years. His research has led him to train in
arts from virtually every corner of the globe. Filipino, Russian,
Chinese, Thai and Israeli martial arts are all part of the USS mix.
This art is under a continuous process of growth and change; it is an
evolving entity.
Teachers such as Sifu Jesse Glover, Coach Vadim
Slavin and Guro Louie Lindo are the main influences on Guro Ed. However
you will not learn pure Ikatan Kali, Non Classical Gung Fu or Sambo
from Ed. What you will learn is pure distilled fighting concepts that
come from these main sources and many different minor influences. What
sets USS apart from these source arts and other traditional fighting
systems is what makes it pure reality based training.
One of the most important ingredients to reality based
training is scenario based stress inoculation according to Guro Wong;
"Your brain is a big filing cabinet and every time you train you create
a file for future reference when you need it next. If you have never
trained stress drills where dialogue is used, foul language is present
and attacks on the mind are present, and then on the street you are in
for a rude awakening-as you will be creating that file on the spot.
This can lead to you being beaten or being reactive (instead of pro
active). If you’re not in control (of your emotions), than (the fight
will be) out of control.”
“Just as a fireman trains to fight fire, we to must train
how most street altercation start. Before you spar add some dialogue so
you learn not to be intimidated by an aggressor’s verbal abusiveness.
By doing this you will learn how to manage the stress of verbal
confrontation. Once it’s in control you can start to use adrenaline as
fuel for fighting, as oppose to something that can hinder you."
This type of psychological training has been used
by law enforcement and security personal for decades. This is one of
the most important ways for students to prepare for the reality of
violence. By role playing various scenarios a student becomes
acclimated to prefight aggression and posturing. This will help you
survive a real situation as you will act instead of freezing up during
the pre fight phase of an engagement.
Controlled aggression according to Ed is another important
training key for the street. "Most fights are lost due to not lack of
technique and skill, but of lackluster resolve to finish the enemy".
"When confronted with violence and
the option of "avoidance and awareness" are exhausted,
ruthlessness and aggression are the key to winning or surviving a
street assault. You always want to start off with the highest level of
force and dwindle down, as oppose to starting with the lowest force.
If you start off with light attacks you could be (giving your enemy the
advantage, as he is not going to be taking it easy on you). Going
forward with the highest level of aggression ensures you get the enemy
to react so he follows your every step putting him behind the power
curve".
"Please note controlled aggression is not being
reckless. Being reckless just leaves opening for your enemy and side
tracks you mentally."
What Guro Wong is saying is that the key is to
act and make your enemy react. This is where many systems fail, in that
they rely on you reacting to an enemy’s aggression instead of
initiating and making him react to you. If you wait for an attacker to
act while you react you will be "behind the eight ball". While you are
mentally and physically trying to catch up, your enemy will be
overwhelming you with a tidal wave of violence. He will not be probing
you with half ass feints and light jabs to get your fighting measure,
that is sport fighting. On the street it is more likely to be pure
focussed aggression. You should be the wave, not the boat that is about
to be swamped!
Hitting targets, such as Thai pads and focus mitts full
power with a high heart rate is also very important for reality based
training. A high heart rate and breathlessness simulates the effects
of stress. By hitting targets in this state it will be very obvious why
most reality based systems use strikes that rely on gross muscle
movement and natural instinctive striking patters. Simplicity is the
key for survival.
When you are sparring you cannot go full power
with a training partner, you have to hold back out of respect and care
for your sparring partner. This is why pad training is so important,
because you don’t have to hold back. You can go full out. Because of
this pad training is arguably a more important training drill then
sparring. In fact many reality based instructors believe that too much
sparring leads to bad habits and a "sport mentality" that has no place
in reality based training.
As I said, the striking patterns that you
practice should be simple and instinctive strike patters. Watch what
people do under stress in real confrontations and improve on what is
instinctive. Instead of training the body to do movements and patterns
that are counter intuitive, take what your body does naturally and
improve on it through training. By following instinctive patterns your
mind will not become overloaded and freeze up when you need to act.
This is very important and something to consider if you are training
for the street. Functionality is what separates the martial art from
reality based fighting.
Before all you martial artists get mad at this
statement keep in mind that you, like me, probably keep a set of
techniques that are good for the street and a set that are simply fun
to learn. These things we do to keep our training challenging, to give
respect to the culture these arts come from and to keep us training for
years to come. Some phenomenal martial artists will be able to knock
someone out on the street with a flashy tornado kick or take a knife
away with a picture perfect knife disarm, but for the average person
this type of technique requires far too much coordination and skilful
movement to do under stress.
For the street, simple ballistic strike patterns
and low kicks are the key. If you are looking for reality based
training techniques keep in mind that they should be made for the
average Joe to be able to achieve not the martial arts phenomenon.
While Ed Wong's Urban Survival Systems places a
lot of focus on instinctive striking it is not just a striking art.
Like any reality based system USS teaches its students to be able to
fight in all ranges, striking, clinching and ground fighting are all
covered. It is important that when you are looking into a reality
based fighting system that it will give you skills that you will be
able to use in whatever fighting environment you may have to defend
yourself in. After all no matter how well trained you are
you can never predict what will happen in a fight.
Dirty tactics such as eye gouging, digit breaking
and biting are also part of the USS curriculum. It is important that
you embrace an attitude of ruthlessness when you train for the street.
Training to do whatever it takes to survive is what reality based
training is all about. There are no unfair moves on the street.
Developing a tool user’s attitude is another
aspect that should be taught in reality based fighting. Ed Wong teaches
edged weapons, blunt impact, and improvised weapons. You should be
willing to use whatever tool you have at your disposal to help you
survive. Even if you are not willing to carry a knife or other weapon
you should know how to use them. You may disarm an opponent or have to
use an improvised weapon in a confrontation. Remember at the end of
the day it is your survival that matters when it comes to reality based
training, not some outdated ideal of what is right and wrong in a
fight.
Even if you live in a country or state where the
carry of firearms is prohibited the use of firearms should also be
taught. You may manage to take a gun away from an attacker and need to
turn it on him or his companions. Without some rudimentary firearms
skill you may not be able to do this.
However none of these physical skills matter one
bit if you do not train the mental skills of awareness and avoidance.
You must learn how to spot danger before it happens. This is perhaps
one of the most important aspects of reality base training. Guro Wong
suggest reading books such as Gavin De Becker's "The gift of fear" and
to try thinking like a predator. Thinking like a predator develops
awareness of where and when a predator might strike.
This along with understanding crime statistics and local
culture allows the student to be truly aware of his surroundings when
he is out and about. To facilitate this, a program such as the one Ed
offers will also bring guest speakers in from various law enforcement
organisations. This is another ingredient that makes a program reality
based and not just another martial arts class. You need to get your
information from professionals otherwise it is just theoretical. What
comes to real violence you need to base your training on what will work
not on what might work.
Also using outdated techniques or sporting theory
does not really fit in the arena of Street self defence. Standing
stances like a boxer or a karate man just gives away the fact that you
are ready to fight. This also gives your attacker the knowledge that
you are a trained fighter. You should be able to defend from positions
that are non aggressive and don't look like martial arts stances. This
is one of the reasons Guro Wong stresses using de escalation
techniques and a non aggressive stance if you are not sure the
confrontation is going to get physical. Not only does it make you look
non aggressive but also it may appease an aggressor and stop the fight
before it starts. However when the time comes to get physical he
stresses it is best to act first, act fast and act ruthlessly.
I hope this helps give the reader a basic
guideline of what to look for in reality base fighting. There is a
couple of things I want to stress, if the class you are looking into
does not teach simple, aggressive techniques that put you in the
driver’s seat in a confrontation then it probably should not claim to
be reality base training. If it does not teach multiple ranges of
combat, including the ground, it will definitely not be giving you a
good base to help you survive the many variables of combat. If there
is no focus on dirty tactics, weapons use and employing whatever
ruthless method necessary to gain the upper hand then that art and that
instructor has no right to claim to be teaching reality based
techniques. Remember the old adage of buyer beware, make sure that you
do your research and check out any class carefully before you sign a
contract and join up.
Guro Joel Huncar
Huncar Applied Natural Defence Systems
Cranbrook BC Canada
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