Martial Artists Do Not Need to Prepare to Face an MMA Opponent

martial arts training self-defense Sep 18, 2018

It is a B.S. argument, but it is the current fad in martial arts discussions.

"If you can't take on an MMA fighter, your martial art is useless."

Nonsense.

Being prepared to take on an MMA or a UFC fighter is NOT real-life self-defense.

That's like saying if you are into boxing, you have to be prepared to take on a Golden Gloves competitor.

The truth is, you don't.

Nobody trains all-out. Nobody trains realistically. It is mental masturbation to think that you do.

If you did train all-out, like a "real" fight, you and your partners would not train very long.

Unless you are in a full-contact fight with no rules at all, it is very difficult to defend the way you want to.

If a shooter comes in, I want to knee them in the face and strike down on the back of their neck with my elbow. If someone clinches, I want to bite a hole in their arm.

If anyone practiced realistically, in any martial art, we would all take turns going to the hospital.

We were practicing clinches last week, and we laughed at one point because one of the best defenses is to just reach over and gouge out your opponent's eyes. But we were working on techniques more fitting to our art and we were not hurting each other.

At one point, I asked my partner to put me in a choke hold. He did. I faked a bite to his arm to get the point across.

In a real fight, if someone got me on the ground and wrapped a leg around my throat, he would be screaming when I bit a hole in his thigh. You think you are tough enough to take that pain? Not likely.

You do not have to hurt anyone or be hurt, or defend yourself against a trained young MMA fighter. You can still be a good fighter and defend yourself or others when necessary.

I was in the Toughman Contest in 1991 -- see the photo above. I was 38 and my larger opponent was 25. I won my full-contact fight, but afterwards, there was a dull ache in the center of my brain from being punched that I had never experienced and could not pinpoint. The photos on this post show highlights. I am in the blue shirt.

It convinced me that full-contact fighting is for people who don't look very far down the road.

That does not mean we can't learn to defend ourselves or others, as I proved in that fight.

The macho guys who now say you have to fight a trained MMA fighter or you aren't a martial artist have my permission to damage their bodies and get all the concussions they want. But truthfully, these guys are so insecure in their "toughness" that it's a sign of weakness anyway. The bullies are the ones who strut and talk tough and run after getting hit with the first punch.

I'll do my own thing and practice my skills without hurting anyone, and without hurting myself.

--by Ken Gullette

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Martial Artists Do Not Need to Prepare to Face an MMA Opponent

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