The guard and Self Defence

Yesterday I was teaching class and a relatively new student with a brown belt in Karate and UFC fan asked some really interesting questions about the guard as it relates to self defence. I, at first, dismissed the question and gave a relatively flippant response. But the question has been tugging at my consciousness for the better part of the day. So, I've been trying to work through my thoughts and appended them below. These impressions are really stream of consciousness stuff and should be considered tentative (at best). I'm really interested in your thoughts on this one, so please let me know what you think. Here goes:

While the sporting application of the guard is undeniable, the waters become increasingly muddied when applied outside the relatively controlled environment of the octagon or tournament scene. Not that there isn't any overlap or consistency, because there is - rather they're not exactly the same thing. In my experience as a bouncer and as a rather unrefined young man, fights and situations demanding self defence rarely commence with two individuals squaring off on their feet with few people within arms reach. Rarely, did 2 (or more) individuals skilled in striking stand up and bang. What typically happened is that the combatants would get close by throwing some big looping fists and would then attempt to put the other in a headlock (headlock defences are very important!) and try to muscle the other to the ground while punching and kneeing them in the face. Other typical scenarios included someone being thrown to the ground in a bar or attacked from behind (among many others). It's a BJJ truism to say that many fights and self defence situations end up or start on the ground.

BJJ players are taught (or at least I was) to control the situation, inflict as little damage as possible to this end, and (most important) get away with your life. Many jiu jitsukas would prefer never to go to the ground in self defence, but control the situation on the feet through a combination of base, posture and technique. As such, the guard, or even the ground for that matter, is not the first line of defence. Even when the conflict hits the ground there is no guarantee that the individual trained in BJJ will flop to guard. Instead, many will attempt to control the situation through leverage, posture and technique from the top position (knee on belly, side mount, mount, back mount, etc.).

The guard may then be used when the player finds themselves on their backs with few other options. Indeed, if while on my back I can escape or inflict damage without putting someone in my guard, I'll do it. In self defence situations, guard may be a go to position when individuals find themselves on their backs and in trouble. From here they can control the other's posture and body, rest and look to escape.

All this being said, I am never going to willingly go to my back on the streets! I feel waaaaay more comfortable fighting from the top and have a greater arsenal from this position for controlling the situation and ending it quickly. Moreover, if I find myself on my back I don't ever have to "let" someone in my guard or close to me to control the situation. I can use additional techniques to create space and escape or inflict damage.

Okay, coming back to the original question: in a self defence situation context - as with everything - determines the strategy's efficacy. Guard is an obvious and requisite tool in the self defence arsenal - but it's not the only or most important one. The ability to control the situation, control the attacker, and escape (relatively) unharmed all the while controlling oneself is paramount. The guard is just one of the jiu jitsukas weapons in a multi-tiered and faceted arsenal. Taken by itself, the guard suffers from a certain lack, but is dangerous and potent when situated within the BJJ complex or network of techniques and strategies.

I hope all this makes some sense. I'll look forward to hearing your thoughts.

Bryan

bjjstudy@gmail.com

The grind - self defence

Self defence was a grind when I began my BJJ journey. First, because after being enticed by the first UFCs I couldn't understand, really, why we couldn't just get to the fun stuff and roll. Second, self defence training was painful. Being thrown (I wasn't adept yet at breakfalling), having my arm bent in odd directions, being twisted & etc., is marvelously harrowing for my body that was more accustom to more genteel pursuits like golf (yes, I know) and the odd daring foray into cribbage (not to be confused with cabbage!). Third, I wasn't convinced how effective all of this was against an aggressor. Finally, it wasn't pretty. I had gotten over the fact that the aesthetically pleasing puts bums in movie seats. What I was being taught may have a certain beauty to the trained eye, yet to my neophyte gaze all this seemed quite unpleasant. 

With this in mind we would half ass our way through the motion until it was time to roll or work on some cool choke. Through this admittedly dreadful attitude I was missing out on some really important messages that are imparted more implicitly. Moreover, the nuance of self defence and, by extension, BJJ was completely lost on me. It wasn't until I did a private lesson with an individual who earned the Master rank in BJJ did I learn some of the subtleties of self defence that make all the difference. This was about 2 years ago. Since then, although I still enjoy rolling the most, I have attempted to understand the essence of self defence. 

I see and hear all the time that BJJ wouldn't work in a street fight - even though the early players tried and tested many techniques in such situations. While we can debate the merits of this line of thinking around and around, such discourse seems to overshoot an important point. Separating the assault mindset from that of the competition may help us here. In his book, Meditations on Violence, Rory Miller makes the distinction this way: "The assault mindset in a sporting competition is completely unacceptable. From the assault mindset, if you are scheduled to fight a world champion heavyweight boxer on Thursday, you shoot him on Tuesday." It follows that self defence is about survival and doing everything possible to make it out of the unfortunate situation alive. As is often the case, this is about controlling the situation, as much as is possible, and escaping. Getting out of there, rather than continuing the fight. Jeff Joslin makes a similar point here. There are simply no advantage points for "almost" choking a guy who pulls a knife and there is no reason to continue (or even start) the fight once the situation is under control.

Self defence in the gym or dojo setting can be fun and relevant provided it is trained intensely and incorporates an element of surprise. To this end, one of my training partners who is a higher belt will randomly attack me when I least expect it. I am forced to defend the attack because they will continue until I have controlled the situation. So if you ever meet me and notice I have a nervous shoulder shrug you now know why!? 

Of course all of this still lacks an element of realism and I would not suggest otherwise. Little can prepare you for the aggression and violence of a surprise attack. Working in a youth detention centre gives you a great deal of perspective on the carnality of violence and of what humans are capable - both in attacking and defending. It is amazing what people can accomplish when fighting for their lives. An anecdote from Miller gives some perspective: 

"One of my students was concerned that she couldn't hurt a large man. I told her to imagine a two hundred pound man holding a small cat. ... imagine I throw a bucket of water on them. What happens?"

"The cat goes berserk and starts scratching the guy up."

"Does the guy let go?"

"Probably."

"So the cat wins?"

"I guess, Sure."

"So you're telling me that an eight pound cat can hurt a big man and you can't?"

"The cat has claws and teeth"

"And you don't?"  

Self Defence

My training partner recently sent me this wonderful video of the Migliarese brothers demonstrating self defence in honour of Grandmaster Helio Gracie:

At our school we only intermittently practice self defence. It seems that many of the students only want to work the flashy and sporty techniques while neglected the antecedents of BJJ as a sport. While many can effortlessly pull off an omoplata, they have great difficulty blocking a punch or defending a two hand choke. I'm curious, does your school practice self defence? If so, how much time is devoted to it?Do you enjoy learning about self defence?