I'm warning you know - this is a different type of article talking about rage, anger, and fear. And thinking about how we can apply it to martial arts and fighting.

FIGHTING ATTITUDE…HOW TO ACHIEVE IT!
by Erinn Soule

In all my experiences with MMA, Grappling, Jiu-Jitsu and Couch-sitting, I have always heard the same thing over and over again…How to achieve the fighter’s attitude!  It may be asked in many different ways, such as, “perfecting your game”, “the edge” or even, “going in for the kill” but it all means the same thing, ATTITUDE!

So the next time you think you had a hard work out, think of Hirano

Our purpose was to give you real training on the real stuff. Fake certifications by mail and cute acronyms lead to a false sense of security. There’s a fine line between sense of accomplishment and real security

Mat Pull: The simple act of lying on flat on your stomach, reaching in front of you and pulling your self across the mat. This is one exercise that helps develop your muscles for grappling. We do these as a part of our warm up.

Success at home, work or on the mat is what drives all of us. Sooner or later, you’re going to want something more. It’s in our very nature to succeed. It is a primary survival instinct. The benefits of success are obvious. Sense of accomplishment, self worth and self-actualization are a few. Other, less obvious by-products are confidence and attitude.

Can Anyone Defend Themselves? Of course the answer is "Yes", but each person has different circumstances. A 300-pound football player is going to have a different skill set than a 130-pound mother of two.

The biggest misconception in the martial arts is that a technique or a strategy will work the same for everybody, every time. Unfortunately, most martial arts preach this notion. They teach the same thing to everyone with little thought as to the capability of the student. Instructors have been trying to fit the square peg in the round hole for as long as I can remember.

For example, the other day, I received a call a woman who has a 3-year-old child and was expecting another. Naturally, she was concerned about her safety a pregnant woman with children is an easy mark. Well, this woman thought she would have no problem using empty hand techniques to fend off would-be assailants. She was convinced that she could “Jackie Chan” a slew of muggers, rapists and thieves with one child in her arms and another strapped to her back!

After a few moments I told her that was all well and good, but before she unleashes her drunken monkey kung fu, she should probably take a few steps to prepare her self a lot better by decreasing her exposure. And if it came down to a physical threat, there are a few things she can do to put the odds back in her favor and increase her chances of survival.

Remember there are 3 things all criminals don’t want to happen:

Get Arrested
Get Identified
Get Injured
Keeping this in mind, the first thing I told her was the life she used to enjoy has now changed. A woman, preoccupied with the safety and care of two children, let alone one child, is a prime target for the skels who earn their living preying on the weak and the helpless. She should only go to very public, very safe places that are mother and child friendly. The days of going to malls in the evening or quickly running into the Laundromat leaving the kids in the car are over.

Another step to ensure your family’s safety is to schedule a day to run errands childfree. Or choose services that offer delivery. Now if you can’t afford certain things, well you need to do with out or get your imagination working to come up with a better solution.

Now if you are going out, you have to have a few simple items handy. They are ranked in importance form the perspective of escape and avoidance. This list considers range, commitment and lethal effects.

Personal Alarm (Training Minimal)
Pepper Spray (Training Minimal)
Edged Weapons (Training Moderate to Heavy)
Impact Weapons (Training Moderate to Heavy)
Empty Hand (Training Heavy)
*Note Firearm has been deliberately left off the list.

Both the pepper spray and personal alarm are used to cause a distraction without getting tangled up in your opponent. A hesitation in your assailant’s assault will allow you the opportunity to escape and get to safety.

Next come edged weapons (Push Daggers and Knives with Finger-Holes). They require a lot less power and are a lot more effective than impact weapons. The push daggers and finger-hole knives give you two advantages: a specific way to grab it and are extremely difficult to drop. And in the course of a fight for your life, the less you need to think about, the better. The downside of course is the close proximity you need to be to use the weapon.

Then come impact weapons. They multiply the force you can exert, but they still require more strength, power and body weight.

And of course, empty hand techniques.
Remember, technology will ALWAYS trump hand to hand methods. ALL HAND-TO-HAND is a tactical last resort.

However training in empty hand techniques should be pursued vigorously. There is a great chance you will be taken by surprise and have to use hand to hand in order to get to your weapons.

Plus, it gives you something to fall back on in worst-case scenarios. It also gives you confidence and it awakens the part of you that doesn’t think tactically and defensively.

So all self-defense comes down to more than just techniques. It encompasses the key elements of Awareness, Strategy, Planning and Training.

Predators are banking on the fact you will play the odds and not do any of these.

And all you have to do is be in the wrong place at the wrong time. All you need is one meeting to go late, one thing in your routine to be disrupted and that once busy parking lock is now a barren wasteland. And there you are SOL.

Training for reality is about training your mind to find whatever solution you need to survive.

And that starts well before the fight is imminent. The person who doesn’t prepare for the absolute worst and thinks they are going to get by with just “empty hand” methods is very ignorant, very lucky or very dead.

PS. If you think women are weak, go check out Dr. Ruthless

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Every once in a while I get an email from some misguided and offended martial artist with his or her knickers in a twist telling me where I go wrong by saying “Martial Arts will Fail You Every time”. But facts are facts. Just because you have a black belt doesn’t mean you can fight and just because you can fight, doesn’t mean you are a black belt. Can martial artists, boxers, judo players, wrestlers, mixed martial artists bee good street fighters? Sure. But a fight is an entirely different proposition than combative sport or a hobby. The problem is that martial artists have propagated this “myth” about the black belt since they realized money could be made. To compound the problem, most instructors are true believers. Thinking that what they are saying is 100% true. The techniques used by successful street fighters range from the simple and straight forward to brutal and down right nasty. Never underestimate the depths of human nature or the levels to which some people will go to impose their will over another human being. The difference between a successful and unsuccessful street fighter is attitude and no hesitation. Contrary to the old school yard Marcus of Queensbury rules, who ever strikes first in a real fight usually wins. I’m not talking about people in the local pub having a shoving match. Leave the bar fight out of it. I am talking about a real street smart criminal. So you think that junkie is just trying to slap you- no he’s got razor blades between his fingers and he’s trying to slice your face open. (Thanks for the example Bill). If you wait for him to make his move, you’re done. If you pause, wait for them to “throw the first punch” you’ll lose. And before you question my motivation as one of those guys who never spent time in a real dojo or never received his black belt (I have 3 of them) go to www.zenshin.info. I am a real person and I can be found any day of the week working out at this location teaching none other than martial arts. But like my Sensei, I refuse to limit my self by the confines of my ego and insecurity. Because that’s what it all comes down to: ego. Hey, I know you have a lot of time an effort invested into your study and this is the last thing you want to hear, but earning a black belt doesn’t make you a superhero. Having a black belt does not give you the ability to take on all comers in all any and all situations. A street fight or close quarters battle has entirely different dynamics than a competitive sport. In a competitive fight, the possibility of being seriously injured or killed is not a paramount concern. You have the normal injuries associated with contact sports, but if it were really lethal you would have people dying in the ring regularly. The combative sport is only SYMBOLIC of the real thing. This is where we all get confused. The term symbolic So why bother getting a black belt or what does it mean to earn a black belt? This subject has been beaten to death and I offer my opinion only to ad some perspective. First of all, I hold a special place for those of you who have the determination to see your training through to the end and I hope those same people continue to study for an entire life time. It does set you above all others as having accomplished a great task that requires years of dedication and sacrifice. But learning to fight is only a small part Do you think the night before your black belt exam you are immediately transformed in to the Ultimate Warrior. Martial Arts use fighting and combative skills to affect and overall change on the practitioner. If you study martial arts to learn how to fight, you will find your self very disappointed. Fighting is and should be a smaller percentage of why you study. If you study just to learn how to fight or just to learn how to compete you will not last very long. Because after your competitive career is over, now what? Once you start coaching, training and teaching you really begin to understand that competition is a useful tool, but it’s not what martial arts is about. Street fighting is not about honor and fair play. That’s how you live your life, but when push comes to shove, knowing how to street fight requires very little skill, just a lot of attitude and nerve. The Japanese words "Budo" and "Bujutsu" are used to describe this difference between combat and the way of combat.

I was talking to a parent recently and they told me that their son was not going to compete in wrestling because they were afraid he would get frustrated when he lost. The parent felt the child was far too sensitive to handle the frustration of failure and may get ‘burnt out’.

My response was, "What will they do when they get frustrated in life?" What happens when that kid has got to suck it up and go forward when it REALLY counts? Being a new parent, my daughter is only 2 and I have another on the way, I only want the best for my child. What parent doesn’t? It’s obvious this parent wants the same, but that’s not the issue. The issue is what’s best for everyone involved. What this child is being taught is to quit when things get tough. In an effort to protect the child, the parent winds up doing a disservice to the child. The result is undermining the ultimate goal- the training of the child. I’m clearly not saying throw them repeatedly until sink or swim, but there has to be an alternative to abstention.

Life is training

How does this pertain to you? Segue here: when you train, you want to look good. You want to hit hard and perfect every time. You want to throw for ippon every time. You want to score a knock out or submission every time. Every technique you throw must its mark. Just like that parent- you want everything to go smoothly with out any hiccups or mistakes. As in life: “what you want and what you got, aren’t exactly the same thing.”

If you are training and you never make a mistake, you are probably not pushing yourself or being pushed enough. If that’s not the case- give me your number, I want to train with you. If you’ve ever been in a situation where you had to survive, hardly anything goes smoothly- save the one punch knock out. A fight is frustrating, it doesn’t look aesthetically pleasing; it hurts, it’s moments of frustration highlighted by some good or bad luck. Please note: according to my Dad “luck” is where preparation meets opportunity. No doubt a sentiment echoed from his days in the Marines.

Like that parent I mentioned before- you treat your training like that child. You are worried about the minutia. Micro-managing your work out so you feel better every second without looking at the big picture. How will you deal with the frustration of a real knock down, drag out fight?

Unless you’re dealing with a push-over, you’ll have you’re your hands full. Where a lot of traditional type martial artists fail is that they expect that perfect reverse punch to hit its target EVERY TIME. This is a goal of training. An idea, like finding the perfect cherry blossom or the perfect cheese steak; the one shot, one kill can be translated any number of ways. Again, the Japanese language is comprised of a lot of synonyms. It could mean, you only get one opportunity- make it count!

In your training you need to replicate the frustration of the fight. If you are hitting your training dummy perfect every time- go harder and faster. If you are being too successful- push the people around you. Get them a little agitated (I’ll leave that to your imagination). If you don’t, you will be setting yourself up for a big let down. When it really counts- YOUR instincts will not be ready to fight through it.

Just like that child, you will look to back away and quit because that’s what you were taught. What do you do when you get frustrated? You train harder and fight through it.

Remember: Life is Training Training enables you to handle what life hands you better. Experience is what you get after you deal with what life gives you. Your experience gets put back into your training. You’re constantly training and teaching- whether you like it or not. No matter what you do you’re shaping your behavior and the behavior of people around you. People affect you the way you allow them to. But that’s a whole other discussion.