You hear it all the time in the martial arts—“That move won’t work in a real fight!” But does anyone really know what they’re talking about?
Here’s my judgment about all that judgment!
You can watch the video below or scroll down for the transcript. Keep it real, my friend!
That Won’t Work in a Real Fight!
Howdy! Ando here from Happy Life Martial Arts. You know those martial arts moves that make everybody laugh at on the internet? The ones that make people say, “That move would never work in a real fight.”
Well, you can hear those same comments in actual martial arts schools.
One time, I was at a knife defense seminar. The instructor started off by saying, “Hey—this isn’t the movies. You can’t go around kicking knives out of people’s hands.”
Then we started some free sparring defense drills. A guy got up and BOOM… kicked the knife right out of the teacher’s hand. We all had a good laugh.
Then the next round started. Same guy… BOOM… he did it again!
Speaking of knives, I recently saw a video of a woman being robbed at a convenience store by a guy with a large knife. The woman grabbed the blade of the knife, flipped it around, and then chased him out of the store with it.
Now, are you going to hear many self-defense teachers telling their students to grab the blade of a knife? No. But did it work in that instance? Yes.
So, what’s going on? How do you know if a technique is going to work in a real fight or not? The answer is you don’t.
Look—anyone can be killed. Let’s start with that fact. It doesn’t matter what you train or how you train, anyone can be outnumbered, caught off guard, or make a mistake.
There are simply no guarantees in self-defense.
So, you might be thinking, what’s the point of training in the martial arts?
It’s all about playing the odds. The odds are that for most people, most of the time, some training is better than no training. The odds are, for most people, most of the time, keeping your hands up will protect you from getting knocked out.
In the same way, facing your attacker will be safer than turning your back and kicking at the knee will be safer than kicking to the head.
That’s what training is all about—building habits that work for most people, most of the time.
So, if that’s true, then where do all the fancy moves fit in?
Consider MMA. Just when someone says, “That fancy technique would never work in the cage,” somebody does it.
Spinning head kicks, jumping off the fence, rolling in for a leglock, passing guard with a backflip… you name it, I’ll bet you can find a clip of somebody doing it. Which is why I always say—
No technique works all the time, and any technique might work sometime.
But if you’re playing the odds, then you should practice the rear naked choke. The rear naked choke is statistically the most successful submission in UFC history. Does that mean a front choke or an Ezekiel choke won’t work?
Not at all! It just means they don’t work as often.
For a little more on the topic of “fancy moves”, check out, The Truth About Fancy Kung Fu Moves.
Of course, sports combat is far more predictable than real-life self-defense. In real life, you don’t know when you’ll be attacked, how big the guy will be, if he’s got buddies, if they’re armed, or if their goal is to rob, beat you up, or kill you.
You also don’t know where you’re going to be, how you’ll feel, who you’ll be with, or what you’ll be carrying.
Therefore, we train to build the best habits we can and hope it will all work out. And the best habits are the ones that work for most people, most of the time.
So, when it comes to judging moves, I’ll say again, “No technique works all the time, and any technique might work sometime.”
But hold on—
Is all this talk about what works and what doesn’t really the most important question? No. The most important question is not about the technique, it’s about the person doing the technique.
If you get caught off-guard and freeze up, it doesn’t matter what techniques you know. You’re in trouble!
But if you train to stay calm, trust your training, and trust your instincts, then you’ll have the capability to try just about anything. Maybe you’ll do something you’ve trained a thousand times before… or maybe you’ll do something you’ve never done before. Or a combination of both! Who knows? Life is crazy.
Of course, we’re talking about two separate skills here—1) your ability to execute a trained technique and, 2) your ability to improvise. You need to practice both. And while you do, remember this—
You are the art. Your body. Your mind. Your choices.
So, practice fighting with your favorite techniques… and practice fighting without your favorite techniques.
Along the way, listen to advice, but never let the limitations of others stop you from developing what feels right for you. That crazy move that everyone is laughing at today may become your go-to, signature move that either wins you a tournament or saves your life.
Bottom line—I wouldn’t walk around saying this move or that move won’t work in a real fight, because the truth is we’re all just playing the odds. No two people are exactly the same and no two situations are exactly the same.
That’s what makes life so much fun… and so terrifying. Until next time, embrace the chaos, my friend… and keep fighting for a happy life.
