As the violence and brutality of the street increases and the respect for life decreases, we in the martial arts are being forced tocome to grips with this reality.

Increasingly martial arts are exploring new mindsets that adapt techniques to better meet the challenges of surviving the streets.

This new mindset is a paradigm shift from what is normally found in the martial arts school or academy. This is a necessary and logical solution to most effectively confront and deal with the many issues involving and surviving street violence. While there are many techniques and concerns that must be considered, this article will focus on four concepts that I believe are among the most important in regards to the potentially lethal mistakes street fighting experts make.

1. Using self-defense applications that cause you to become stationary, even for a split second.

2. Appling techniques that commit both hands leaving you vulnerable to a hidden weapon.

3. Understanding the reality of having a weapon discharge while executing a disarming technique

4. Deliberately applying ground techniques, which effectively eliminates your ability to defend against or escape from multiple attackers

Avoid using Techniques That Make You Stationary. While we have developed techniques allowing us to move forward and past an attacker, or use them as a shield, this article is not intended to teach techniques. Instead, we would like to encourage you to make certain that whatever action is taken keeps you moving, eliminating the possibility of becoming blindsided.

In picture #1, you will see an effective strike to the chin. While this may be a devastating technique to the attacker in front of me, in reality I have become stationary by focusing on one attacker.

Picture #2 shows the devastating consequence of ignoring the possibility of multiple attackers with weapons.

Avoid Committing Both Hands. By committing both hands to any type of self-defense application, such as a lock, any type of joint manipulation or throw, you become vulnerable to a hidden weapon if you cannot execute the technique instantly and effectively.

In picture #3, I have committed both hands to a commonly used joint lock causing me to focus on only one extremity.

In picture #4, a hidden weapon is used against me as I concentrate and struggle to apply a joint lock.

The Bullet Is Not The Only Concern In Firearm Survival When defending against firearms it is important to realize that there is more than just the bullet to consider. We have done extensive testing using real firearms and live ammunition. The results of this testing have shown us that, while the bullet is a major concern, the effects of the gasses, muzzle blast, concussion, and sound can be extremely disabling if the weapon discharges.

In picture #5, I am demonstrating a common handgun disarm by grabbing the handgun while simultaneously executing an elbow strike.

Picture #6, shows that this type of self-defense technique would likely cause the assailant to pull the trigger, resulting in a muzzle blast causing severe injury to your hearing, eyes, face and hand. By failing to consider the possible physical damage caused by a firearm discharge, there is a high probability that you may be incapacitated and your assailant could retain control of the handgun.

Avoid Going To The Ground In a street survival situation, grappling techniques should be avoided. Ground techniques force you to focus your attention on one assailant and at the same time severely reduce your mobility. By limiting your movement, you have greatly compromised your ability to escape or defend against multiple attackers. If you are taken to the ground get to your feet quickly by whatever means possible.

Picture #7, shows a fight that has gone to the ground. Consequently my focus is on controlling and striking the attacker. Because my body is in contact with the ground and my attacker and I are struggling for control, I have become virtually immobile and unaware of the dangers of other assailants.

Picture #8 shows how easy it is for another attacker to end my life.

There are many aspects to street survival that we need to consider as we try to meet the challenge of developing new strategies and techniques. This article only addressed four of the eight basic concepts I feel are important to consider as we tackle this challenge.

I cannot stress enough the paradigm shift that is needed in our thinking as we begin to deal with this problem. We as martial art professionals must realize that many of the text book techniques we teach work beautifully for a given situation but could leave you extremely vulnerable to injury or death because of the traditional mindset toward street violence.

Finally, I would like to say that I am optimistic about what I am seeing in the martial arts world. There are a great many dedicated professionals who are beginning to think outside the box, and with venues like Black Belt magazine where we can share our ideas, I am convinced we will make a difference in the future.

Sincerely,

Larry Wick

Phone 907-474-4665