Guys, I just wanted to ask what your opinions of throwing in self defense are. By this I don’t mean just what you teach or are taught, rather what your street fighting experience with throws is.

Okay, I’ll start:

The last time that I “threw” someone in a street fight was when I was working as a bouncer in a strip club.  The only way that I saw to prevent a fight was to remove the more aggressive guest from the club. I went in from behind (he was a lot  stronger than me) gained control  of both of his arms and tried to drag him away, then I  realized that that wasn’t going to work and I ended up “throwing him to the ground.”

Basically, I just pulled him backwards and tried to turn him and trip him. We both bumped into the bar, tripped over several bar stools and fell to the ground. I made sure to land on top of him and was able to pin him to the ground with pressure against one of his eyes.

It certainly looked a lot less than impressive, but it worked, which was very impressive, considering his size, so I was happy with the result.

I guess what I’m basically trying to say is that I treat throwing and take-downs like ground fighting–if you stumble with a guy, try to land on top, but don’t go out of your way to “throw” someone.

What are your opinions and experiences?

Train smart and watch your back,

Christopher “Bob” Roberts

http://www.extreme-measures-institute.com

Our “Martial Art Minute” of today, shows David D’ Antonio counter a shoot.

Today’s Post Topic:  Ground Fighting

Can we once and for all separate the popular from the practical when it comes to street fighting? Can we understand that what we see in a sports oriented environment of a Mixed Martial Arts match does not necessarily equate to something that we would want to incorporate as a regular part of our reality-based street fighting regime? Yes, I know that it is very trendy by today’s popular sports fighting standards to want to take an opponent to the ground.

But Let Us First Define “Ground”

“Ground” in the Mixed Martial Arts Perspective is a flat canvas floor on which you can easily fall flat on your back – even with someone falling directly on top of you without necessarily causing you serious bodily damage.

“Ground” in the Street Fighting Perspective can be a multitude of hard, rocky and ruff surfaces that will almost always cause you bodily damage if you fall flat on your back, and especially if some big, heavy, angry, ugly, muscular guy falls on top of you. The “ground” surfaces can include rock, gravel, asphalt, shells and even broken glass. These are all dangerous surfaces to fall on if you can at all avoid them.

The 3 Reasons Why Attempting A Ground Take-Down Is A Bad Move in a Street Fight

Reason #1 – Once On The Ground, You Have Lost Your Peripheral Vision - When fighting on the ground, you can’t see what’s behind you or to the side of you: moving cars, objects, the attacker’s knife or other weapons.

Reason #2 – Hitting The Ground Is Hard And Dangerous - As alluded to above, the varied surfaces of ground outside on the street become, when you fall flat on it, a type of silent and unintentional weapon that appears to take on a life of its own “coming up to strike you” on your opponent’s behalf. You don’t want hard surfaces slamming against your back or your head in a fight.

Reason #3 – When On The Ground, Your Head Can Be Stomped To Death By Your Attacker’s Friends Who Appear To Come Out Of Nowhere - When you are busy occupying yourself with an opponent on the ground, you have definitely put yourself in harms way for any of your attacker’s friends who may show up out of what appears to be nowhere to come to his aide and finish you off.

So, The Rule Is Simple: Avoid Going To The Ground, and if you fall to the ground for any reason, make it to your feet as fast as possible and fight on your feet as you were meant to be doing.

Please leave me your comments.  Without your feedback, I am just writing to myself.  Thanks.