How many people (mainly men to be blunt), do you know or have you heard say things such as;
“I’m a street fighter”
or
“I don’t have any training but I have a bad temper so don’t piss me off”
or better still
“When it kicks off I go mental and just see red mist”?
Most of the time you can almost guarantee that this person has had little to no actual combat experience. Ego plays a big part in this false sense of confidence and it can be VERY dangerous to have it. In the next couple of minutes, I will break this down and explain why.
THE STREETFIGHTER EXPLAINED
First of all fighting is an art. To get the most out of any strike, grapple or movement, technique must be learnt and drilled so many times to the point of it becoming muscle memory. The “Streetfighter” claims that he/she has learnt all that they know from “The Street”. Unless they have had someone on the street break down techniques, assist with footwork, movement, timings, use of hips, retraction, speed, precision etc the list goes on, then whatever they have learnt is garbage! It takes professional fighters YEARS to perfect certain areas of combat and even then they can be re-drilled and made better. A couple of scrapes down the local Weatherspoons with a pissed up teenager will not count as drilling and refining. Therefore there is no such thing as a “Street Fighter”, only an untrained, egotistical ape.
THE BAD TEMPER DUDE EXPLAINED
Ok, so one of the first things you will learn in combat is to keep your cool. You lose your temper and you can lose all control of the situation. What I mean by this is that you lose the ability to control your fine motor skills and can only perform gross motor skills such as push-pull. This means you will find it hard to adapt to an ever-changing situation (a conflict will change quickly and often) and remain focused on the one thing that “pissed you off”. Also known as “Tunnel vision”. I could go to town on reasons why losing your temper does not make you a better fighter, it only makes you more vulnerable, but I will give you one more example. When we are angry we tense up. When we tense up we move slower and less effective. Throwing a punch, for example, we need to be smooth and explosive, but most importantly relaxed. At the point of impact is where we tense. If you are tense from the off then the shot is slow and poor. To be blunt, a Bad temper is Bad form!
THE RED MIST CAME OVER ME
Very similar to the one above with the temper. The tunnel vision, the tensed muscles, the loss of fine motor skills and the inability to adapt. I’m going to be really short with this one and try to explain it in a different way.
If “Red Mist” makes you a dangerous opponent in a skill that requires years of practice and training, then why can’t I just get angry, see red mist and dominate the UFC!?
Can’t really put it any simpler than that! To summarise, we get a lot of adults joining the Club who have lived their lives with a false sense of security thinking that with absolutely no training whatsoever they can take on the world if needs be. They begin to realise that they are not armed with the tools or knowledge to deal with this ever more dangerous world, and once ego is put aside they begin their journey in learning the techniques they need to defend themselves and their loved ones.
A quick paragraph to wrap up this short sharp blog.
It is never too late or early to learn how to fight. Nobody will judge your current ability and even if they did that shows insecurities in their own. If you have never tried combat in any form then try it! You will gain skills, confidence, fitness and most likely long-lasting friendships along the way.
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