# Street Fight Videos



## wingchun100 (Jun 22, 2014)

Has anyone ever gotten bored enough to watch street fight videos on Youtube? I have. I'm not sure what that says about me, but that isn't the point. In every video I watched, it looked to me like every first punch came from a mile away in slow motion. Now I can't tell if this is because my training has actually taken hold, or if it's just because I am not in the situation. My guess: a combination of both. After all, if I were the one on the receiving end of the aggression, my adrenaline would be pumping and screwing up my reflexes. 

But it's amazing how much of a difference training can make. I watched one guy take a wide looping punch that started all the way back in Georgia and it actually LANDED. Meanwhile I am sitting here thinking, "How could that other dude NOT have seen it coming?"

Just a random thought on a boring Sunday night.


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## hoshin1600 (Jun 22, 2014)

i actually study them.  there is a lot to learn by watching. i prefer the armed robbery video and knife assaults but fights are good too.


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## jks9199 (Jun 22, 2014)

Review Monkey Dance.  There's a script.


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## wingchun100 (Jun 22, 2014)

hoshin1600 said:


> i actually study them.  there is a lot to learn by watching. i prefer the armed robbery video and knife assaults but fights are good too.



Yes, I prefer the real fights that were right out on the street...the ones that look authentic, with no staging.


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## hoshin1600 (Jun 22, 2014)

i dont really care about the "monkey dance"  i am a little past my posturing stage. i am more concerned with intentional killing and interactions involving weapons.  mass killings and terrorism stuff like that.  but monkey dance can be dangerous too if my wife and children are involved.  but yeah i agree Rory has some good insights.  i am hoping to go work with him in a few weeks, if i can.


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## donald1 (Jun 22, 2014)

I Never looked them up but I have seen some a friend might have shown and have seen several in real life and it. In my opinion if they are actually good then it might be interesting specifically (not exchange of punches)  when two people are constantly punching at each other that gets boring very quickly one last thing (I've often seen where someone ends up on the ground and the other person hops on them and throws a lot of consecutive punches to the face)  that just seems messy one good punch is all that is necessary and maybe a second one for caution 

That's my opinion, I could be wrong but none the less if the people are both good then it would be at least somewhat interesting


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## drop bear (Jun 23, 2014)

It is easier to fight from the sidelines.

This is not some sort of mean comment about armchair warriors.

It really is easier. So you see a lot more opportunities an options than you would if you were actually on the receiving end of those punches. Which is why the person in the fight quite often looks a little more raw than you would expect them to.

I used to be able to easily review the cameras from a job I worked one. And so could as a team see exactly what we did during a fight and how we could improve.

I think watching fights on you tube is fine.


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## drop bear (Jun 23, 2014)

jks9199 said:


> Review Monkey Dance.  There's a script.




Not really. Because you are assuming street fights are not always predatory. And in some cases they are. The knockout game is an extreme example.

War is an extension of that dominance concept. And that is defiantly not a monkey dance.


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## RTKDCMB (Jun 23, 2014)

drop bear said:


> This is not some sort of mean comment about armchair warriors.



Sometimes at training we will have one person sit in a chair and practice self defence techniques and do a form of sparring, but that's a different kind of armchair warriors.


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## wingchun100 (Jun 23, 2014)

drop bear said:


> It is easier to fight from the sidelines.
> 
> This is not some sort of mean comment about armchair warriors.
> 
> ...



That's why I said in my initial concept: maybe it is easier to see when I'm not in it. If I were the one about to get hit, my nerves would be firing off and ruining my ability to perceive what should be an easy attack to block.


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## jks9199 (Jun 23, 2014)

hoshin1600 said:


> i dont really care about the "monkey dance"  i am a little past my posturing stage. i am more concerned with intentional killing and interactions involving weapons.  mass killings and terrorism stuff like that.  but monkey dance can be dangerous too if my wife and children are involved.  but yeah i agree Rory has some good insights.  i am hoping to go work with him in a few weeks, if i can.



Doesn't address the original question of "why do they not see the attack coming?"  The Monkey Dance script does.  And many of the videos available online are not intential killings, mass killings, etc. -- they're Monkey Dances.  Occasional other subsets like an Educational Beatdown.


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## jks9199 (Jun 23, 2014)

drop bear said:


> Not really. Because you are assuming street fights are not always predatory. And in some cases they are. The knockout game is an extreme example.
> 
> War is an extension of that dominance concept. And that is defiantly not a monkey dance.



Again -- not the issue of the original post.  The OP was wondering why so many of the street fights shown on YouTube, etc. feature people taking punches that seem hugely obvious.

And wars are quite often Monkey Dances played out by nations and the political elites within them with the lives of others...  I certainly agree that, for the line soldiers, it's not a Monkey Dance... but that doesn't mean that it's not one for the leaders.


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## rob08tapout (Jun 24, 2014)

Actually there are martial arts that were created by watching street fights on youtube. There is much to be learned from watching a street fight because they are vastly different than what you see on tv in boxing and ufc matches. Boxing and ufc are combat sports. They are not what I would define as real fighting. Now I do not mean that I think they are fake or don't work. They absolutely do work, and knowing a form of competition style martial art is much better than knowing nothing when it comes to defending yourself in the street. However arts like boxing, kickboxing, jiu-jitsu, muay thai, wrestling, karate, tae-kwon-do, etc, are designed with a specific purpose in mind. While each of their purposes vary in some ways (I.E. boxing is meant to teach you how to punch well, jiu-jitsu is mean to teach you to grapple well) but their main purpose remains the same. They are all competition style martial arts. While they can be adapted for street self defense, that was not what they were designed for. There are key differences between real fighting and what people perceive as real fighting from watching too much ufc. If you watch enough street fights on youtube, you see that untrained fighters throw punches and kicks differently, they throw them from a mile away and often take their own balance in the process. They do rodeo style tackles vs. doing a trained wrestlers shoot or a proper hip toss. They also attack without warning, weather from the front, side or behind. In a ufc or boxing match it is clear who you are fighting, when the fight starts, and when the fight ends. In the streets ANYONE can be your next opponent, which forces you to be on top of your awareness. Also there are no set of rules in the street, if they want to kick you in the groin, they will. If they want to poke your eye, they will. If they want to grab your hair, they will. Every self defense martial artist knows that you can not rule out weapons or multiple attackers either. Alot of people advocate the ground and pound method. While this may be effective against one unarmed opponent in the street, the last place you want to be against someone with a knife and/or friends, is on the ground. In a street fight, mobility equals survivability. Also you must take into account your local, state, and federal laws regarding self defense and the use of excessive force. If you do what they teach you in alot of martial arts in the streets, then it will land you in jail weather you started it or not. 

There are TONS of things to learn from watching street fights on youtube, because the reality is that sport, and street fighting are light-years away from each other. My suggestion is that not only should you continue to watch street fights, but also look into finding an art that is designed for real world self defense.....what is everyone elses thoughts on the best martial art of the streets?


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## drop bear (Jun 24, 2014)

jks9199 said:


> Again -- not the issue of the original post.  The OP was wondering why so many of the street fights shown on YouTube, etc. feature people taking punches that seem hugely obvious.
> 
> And wars are quite often Monkey Dances played out by nations and the political elites within them with the lives of others...  I certainly agree that, for the line soldiers, it's not a Monkey Dance... but that doesn't mean that it's not one for the leaders.




You raised the monkey dance thing. And then say it is not the point of the thread.

The monkey dance as described in that article is a gross misrepresentation of what a street attack actually is. Because quite often it is a predatory attack.just like any other predatory attack.


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## wingchun100 (Jun 24, 2014)

Guys, I just started watching the videos out of boredom. No need to get on each other's cases! LOL

Having said that, the monkey dance thing does have its place in a discussion of street fights. Having seen my share of bar fights, I know how the whole "you lookin' at my girl?" approach goes. Usually it ends with nothing but alpha male showmanship, but sometimes it goes the distance to combat.


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## RTKDCMB (Jun 24, 2014)

wingchun100 said:


> Having seen my share of bar fights, I know how the whole "you lookin' at my girl?" approach goes. Usually it ends with nothing but alpha male showmanship, but sometimes it goes the distance to combat.



If someone really wants to attack you they will just attack you. Bully's will often use that approach because they want to goad you into attacking them so that they feel justified in attacking you.


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## wingchun100 (Jun 24, 2014)

RTKDCMB said:


> If someone really wants to attack you they will just attack you. Bully's will often use that approach because they want to goad you into attacking them so that they feel justified in attacking you.



Yes, but there are occasions where the bully gets sick of goading and actually DOES take a swing.


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## RTKDCMB (Jun 24, 2014)

wingchun100 said:


> Yes, but there are occasions where the bully gets sick of goading and actually DOES take a swing.



Which goes back to my first point. It is up to the one getting threatened with violence to try to steer the bully away from wanting to take a swing (deescalation and such).


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## wingchun100 (Jun 24, 2014)

RTKDCMB said:


> Which goes back to my first point. It is up to the one getting threatened with violence to try to steer the bully away from wanting to take a swing (deescalation and such).



Well yes, no one would argue that avoiding violence in the first place is best...but my thread was just about attacks that seem like they are coming from a mile away and could easily be countered.


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