As a general rule of thumb, I'm very easy going on my students when they are learning street-fighting martial arts. I don't push them too far, too fast...and I don't put enormous amounts of pressure on them and try to make them "crack." However, one thing that really ticks me off...that I sometimes even raise my voice over...is when someone only practices and works on their favorite area of combat. I don't care if it's kick boxing, grappling, weapons, mass attack, whatever. Because if there is a "cardinal sin" of street-fighting, martial arts and self defense, it's only developing your favorite moves and skills and ignoring everything else. Why do I say this? Because in a real fight, you never know who you're going to be up against, or what the situation is going to be. You have to be ready for everything and anything. If you excel at grappling, for example, but blow off learning weapons fighting, what are you going to do when someone pulls a knife on you? You've got to be ready and comfortable with all areas of combat or you're going to get hurt, crippled, even killed in a real fight. Now, I realize people have their favorite moves and techniques, and that's fine. But you have to keep up with everything else you learn, too. In other words...if you want to be someone who can truly take care of business on the street, then you must train in everything, gain experience in everything, but show commitment to nothing. |
