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Chris Turnbull RBSD
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Pre-emptive Striking in Street Fighting Situation

I spoke a bit last week on adrenalin and its good/bad effects very briefly so thought id add a bit here.

There are many good and bad aspects of all kinds of adrenal release but by far the worst aspect to deal with is the hesitation and indecision that you have to deal with in a situation when your forced to do so under pressure and the adrenalin is coursing round your body.

The thing that use to effect me the worst, was the fear of making things worse, yes read it again,MAKING THINGS WORSE. sound strange?

Well it is i suppose but thats what it feels like. how many times working doors when i first started and things went off, i thought that by striking back or let alone first would make things worse, well how bad does it have to be before you strike first or for gods sake strike back. contrary to popular belief you CAN strike first if you have no avenue of escape and you genuinely feel that your personal safety is suffieciently threatened. sounds great in practise doesnt it? try standing in front of 12 jurors that have never seen a days trouble in their life and a judge thats only idea of a tear up was a bit of fisticuffs for 2 seconds on the rugger field at boarding school!

Believe me when i say its not easy, i have been there. waiting to see if im going to be locked up for acting in self defence and stopping myself from getting my head smashed in by some pissed up chavs. its terrifying but like i always say "BETTER TO BE JUDGED BY TWELVE THAN CARRIED BY SIX"

In my experience any signs of kindness once its escalated to the shouting threatening stage will only be seen as weakness, isnt that so often the case these days? kindness being seen as weakness,lol. however that can be used to your adavantage, but thats another story.....

the only way to really prepare yopurself for such a situation is by training in as live an environment as possible and ultimately exposing yourself to it so these feelings become familiar. now as i always harp on about (you may have noticed) pre-emptive striking. this couple dwith verbal disarming and constant strike practice takes away the indecision making that comes under pressure. for those that have done this with me you will just have to bare it! for those its new to, here goes.

Pre-emptive striking coupled with verbal disarming works something like this:

When in a confrontation be it pub/club/street whatever you want to try and get yourself into as good a position as possible with regards some sort of stance. but remember,HIDE IT! pleading hands/the fence up at same time and as placid/pleading face as possible,CHIN TUCKED IN. There are so many various versions of the fence and all work in different situations so that im afraid is a whole new thread as well.

Right from the start you let your aggressor think your mr/mrs placid, couldnt fight the tide in the bath as you cover your stance get the fence up and tuck that chin in. engage him in conversation about how you dont want to fight and dont want trouble. if your lucky and i mean very lucky this may be enough but i have yet to see it. it only makes the aggressor more confident as his adrenalin rises. next step he will push/slap/touch you to test things just that bit further.HE DOESNT GET ANOTHER CHANCE, PERIOD. right, at this point its on. adrenalin will be coursing round your body and again thats another thread,lol. as his adrenalin rises this is the worst point of decision making, you need to engage the twats. sorry aggressors tiny brain, this can be anything you choose to say or question him about. it doesnt have to be in context just something you use to engage his thought process. whatever you choose and this may take a while stick with it, mine was always"so what do you want me to do about it?" BANG! as his jaw drops for that split second you strike full force on his jaw with a slap or punch. drill this over and over on the bag, with a partner with a focus pad using your verbal disarming question/statement and your logistical/decision making logjam is gone. i have worked doors with so many excellent martial artists and they go on and on about how many techniques they have for every given situation....sigh.

When your under pressure in a street scenario its invariably the same, 18 inches/talking distance. keep it simple and incorporate this method into your training. i did for years and still do, now its embarrasing getting caught doing what looks like talking to a punchbag in what you thought was an empty gym but there you go it just means your focused!

DONT BE A VICTIM.

Article by Chris Turnbull ©