# its good to know the basics



## hwarangdo-adam (Aug 31, 2006)

they say that 95% of all street fights go to the ground. so when i herd this i started doing two martial arts hwa rang do and brazil jiu jitsu. it comes in handy. i was walking down to my buddies house down the street, (trying to save on my gas) when out of nowhere this guy ridding a bike crashes into me, the smel of beer was all over. so im in the guard position and this guy starts throwing punches on me. i got ahold of his arm put him in an arm bar. i held preasure on it for about 3 seconds (it felt like 30) he didnt stop so i had to break it. i knew the guy was drunk because despite his broken arm he was still coming after me, so i got him in a rear naked choke and made him pass out. i left the scene called 911 and said two guys were fighting and one guy is passed out.      The point of this whole story is so you can expand your training, if anything just learn the basics of ground fighting, because no matter how good you are at stand up the fight will prob. go to the ground


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## Drac (Aug 31, 2006)

hwarangdo-adam said:
			
		

> The point of this whole story is so you can expand your training, if anything just learn the basics of ground fighting, because no matter how good you are at stand up the fight will prob. go to the ground


 
Great post..Interesting note that a lot of basic training academies for police are adding MORE groundfighting..Now with all the equipment we are are forced to wear going to the ground is not my first choice *BUT *if you must you should know what to do..


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## zDom (Aug 31, 2006)

hwarangdo-adam said:
			
		

> they say that 95% of all street fights go to the ground.



You know who "they" are, don't you? Mark Twain said there are three kinds of lies:

A lie, a damned lie, and a statistic.

BTW -- not arguing that being proficient in ground work is important. It is.

But let me ask you a question: wouldn't it have been nice to be able to defend yourself against the drunk without breaking his arm?

Were you REALLY that fearful for your safety that you had to cause an injury that would take 8 weeks or longer to heal up?

How does that go again? Don't kill when maiming is enough, don't maim when hurting is enough, etc. etc.


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## Last Fearner (Sep 1, 2006)

hwarangdo-adam said:
			
		

> they say that 95% of all street fights go to the ground. ....no matter how good you are at stand up the fight will prob. go to the ground


 
I would certainly like to meet these people ("they") who keep creating this off-the-cuff statistic about fights going to the ground.  Where did they do their research to gain this information?  If such a statistic really existed, and people believed it to be true, wouldn't you have to consider the number of "street fights" that go unreported, and were not included in the gathering of these so-called "statistics."

Would it not also be relevant as to how many of those fights involved two or more people who were *not* highly trained in any Martial Art discipline.  How many of the alleged "95%" were drunks who fell to the ground during the fight because they couldn't keep their balance.  How many of those fights were two untrained women, whose only tactic at that time was to roll on the ground, pulling hair, kicking and scratching at each other (cat-fight!).

I have been involved in several real-life, street encounters, and the only connection to going to the ground for any of them would be when the other guy hits the ground after I hit him (not joking, and not bragging, just facts).  In the line of duty (police and security), I have purposefully taken people to the ground to subdue, and/or handcuff them, but that is by my choice, and *not* because of me being taken down, and having to defend myself on the ground in any high percent of the time.

I am in agreement with the fact that all Martial Artists (including Taekwondoists) need to train in ground grappling, controls, strikes, and escapes in order to survive any encounter which does go to ground.  However, I am a firm believer that a skilled fighter can prevent the majority of all fights from resorting to ground-fighting.  Thus, any high percentage of ground-fights would either be due to the Martial Artist choosing to take their opponent down, occasional slip-ups, or both participants not knowing what they are doing, in my opinion.

CM D.J. Eisenhart


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## MA-Caver (Sep 1, 2006)

Damned if you do and damned if you don't. You had to break the guy's arm and so you did. 
Basics are extremely important in ANYTHING in this life. With Martial Arts, as you pointed out they could save your life or at least get you out of what could've been a nasty scrape of trouble. Learning and re-learning and learning again the basics of whatever art you're studying goes a long, long way in making effective use out of whatever technique you use. 
I've noticed with Kenpo a certian technique is expanded upon with each level belt you progress to. They get longer and more damaging with each movement (punch, kick, hold, whatever!). 
I've seen this in Wing Chun and with many other arts. You keep going to the level you've (presently) stopped at and will find it just as effective as a series of techs used by a 3rd or 5th Dan. Just that the higher belts will do it (all) more quickly, and more harder. 

Nice move on calling 911 and telling them "two guys" got into a fight and one of them needed help... leaving yourself *ahem* out of the picture altogether.


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## hwarangdo-adam (Sep 4, 2006)

ya


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