How can we convince hobby fighters to become unconditional fighters through training flow?
Discussing the most daunting and potentially most rewarding form of combat, the battle or brawl, as a goal will help prepare fighters from novice, to sport to survival mind set. The idea here is to get our men, most of whom shy away from more than half of the combat forms we practice, to focus on something more daunting, a battle or brawl.
Since 2008, most unarmed attacks are launched by groups against individuals. The second most common attack is mob on 2. Except for knife attacks, most armed attacks are by a group. Our forms are 1 on 1, following sport and curriculum-based art. But our serious threats are groups. Lets get our men to see the forms [stick, knife, boxing, grappling] as a tool for dealing with the most lethal threat, which is also most common. I suggest the coaches agree on 4 battles, one for each major form [weapon/grappling/boxing, and one that combines forms, with gloved men able to punch and ungloved left free to grapple. For a battle, I think the Russian MMA fight is no good, with a high injury rate and a lack of a goal. Serious crew-based actions, such as running a security detail, need be focused on a goal other than a beat down.
#1: A Group Goal
How about an unarmed final battle in which the cornermen, or other old gimps, may not fight but are captives or are the principles for a security detail, who have to walk with whoever grabs them, like a cross between human chess and rugby? James is bringing his rugby ball. I have never dealt with a better-conditioned fighter, and he claims it comes from rugby.
Battle Experiments
Training in public places with training weapons brings the cops. Using a human enclosure for dueling, and having structured formations in group actions, will make the activity appear more benign to outsiders.
Positional battles, without roving, will be most relevant to self-defense and have less lower leg injuries from running on uneven ground.
Another idea would be having a team of “defenders” tasked with holding off more numerous men for a timed period.
Another could be a team moving a non combatant through a hostile group.
Group fights can be a lot safer if men are given either boxing gloves or tasked with grappling and moving. Just like MMA should be preceded by grappling and kickboxing experience, group combat should develop in stages. I’ve done group fights with weapons and can discuss some of the collected lessons.
A fighter should announce he is “Out,” in a group action by taking a knee, and then sitting or walking off, depending on the circumstances.
As with the rest of Modern Agonistics activity, these honor based meets can be done without non-combatant officials, judges, referees and umpires. The need for these in modern sports is a result of the death of honor culture and the supremacy of money/slave culture. Involved as we are in trying to resurrect traditional honor culture, I see no place for such mediators.
Armed Battles
Small group 2 against 2 have been the smoothest at full contact.
2 on 1 have been the most dangerous, as one of the attackers is often KO’d for lack of control by the desperate and outnumbered man.
2 on 2 and 3 on 3 fights in narrow circumstances, with human barriers can be done full contact with stick.
With experimental weapons real survival development and safety can both be served by assigning an off hand weapon to a crew member. Example, Joel with a stick paired up with Alex, a grappler, who is given a jacket, against James with a stick and Sean with boxing gloves. This forces tactics.
3 on 3 weapons should be the limit of such experiments. I like the idea of weapon fights having a goal, a point to defend, a position to take, an object to be acquired or preserved. In 2004 Damien, Kieth, Bryan and I did a long series of such 2 on 2s; fun, brutal, with no injuries, which included an arm bar finish still on video.
3 on 2 weapon fights should have a goal for the 2 men, such as egress, protection of a position, or of a non combatant. I like the idea of using the pier for some of this.
If we have four shields, we can do a three on three line fight with the unshielded man taking a wing. Shield battles should be number of shields plus one flanker to a side.
Of the men who agree to duel with dull machetes, we should have a small battle, in close circumstances designated as a deck.
Boxing Battles
To make something relevant to self-defense there should be an assigned mix of function. Some ideas for boxing brawls:
a.) Opposing lines, captains in the middle with two grapplers assigned to each wing, with the goal to put or pull down the captain.
b.) Opposing lines, captains ungloved as grapplers, and the rest of the men gloved, going until a pin, mount or submission of the captain.
c.) Boxers attack, ungloved grappling defenders eliminating any boxer who takes a knee or goes down. The boxing goal is to land a clean punch on a designated defender wearing headgear.
d.) Alley Scrap, a two on two brawl in narrow area with two boxing gloves assigned to each side. Each man might glove one hand and grapple with the other, or one man might glove and the other grapple.
e.) Punk & Pops at the 7-11, the most common 2 on 1, situation. One man defends against two. The defender is gloved. The primary attacker, the punk, has one glove on his right hand. His pops is ungloved and may only push and get in the way. The lone boxer may not hit pops!
f.) Craig taking out the trash. 2 on 1: A grappler wearing head gear and a gloved puncher attack a man who has to defend without a closed fist.
g.) Gauntlet, ungeared man must walk, not run, through two lines of gloved punchers without taking a knee.
Grapple Battles?
Sean, Alex and James can surely structure some affrays.
In ancient Greece and Rome men of all ages from youths of 12 to seniors of 60, fought in different capacities, from scouting to guarding the standard. As a way to get all of our men to grapple, goal-focused crew battles may work.
Ideas:
a.) Lineups with various goals
b.) Crew of the hill
c.) Half field rugby, with men unfit for running assigned goal keeping.
d.) Some kind of group grapple in which each man except the one on the far right has to hold on to the man to his left’s belt and work in echelon with his right hand free? I got this idea when escorting nerds in the face of groes in Laurel, MD.
Training progressions in forms will be presented in #4, hopefully expanding men’s experience in weapons, grappling, boxing and concerted action.
