When you fight"on the street" you are fighting with no rules,no ref and no points.What are the odds a fight will go to the ground?If you or your opponent is skilled in any kind of fighting,the odds are good.Any style that says "stand up" or grappling is the only way to fight is missing the mark.

I don't want to be disrespectful,but do you people fight as if your life depended on it,or do you all fight for points?This style vs that,ground vs striking this weapon vs that weapon,how about fighting to win? Martial arts are not what you see on the screen,martial arts were developed to combat an overwhelming force either in numbers or technology using what tools were available.To fight, all ranges must be addressed;weapons,kicking,striking,grappling,trapping and psycological.

Hey i have a question for you: Why would a groundfighter get into a streetfight with you in the first place? if he is truly a martial artist he wont be trying to get into fights. why would it matter in the first place? do you expect to be attacked by a bjj fighter? why is that even important? if you are attacked or mugged by a common street thug i dont think the mugger will have practiced bjj or ANY martial arts of any kind for that matter. so why do you need to be able to fight a ground fighter? is that a very realistic thing to think that youre going to be attacked by a groundfighter? to be in a street fight or bar fight i expect you have to be a bit of an a**hole. just dont make people angry and it wont be likely that youll be attacked.

*slaps head*

Specter -

Do you know how many people in the USA have done wrestling?

Wrestling is taught from grade school up to college. Lots of guys (and more and more women) have done wrestling. So actually, it is quite realistic to think that you may be attacked by a ground fighter.


It is very likely in a street fight that you may end up on the ground by intent or accident. My own (admittedly limited) experience has shown that at least 50% of my brawls ended up on the ground, one way or the other.

Matt, you are DEAD on man.


-John

I agree with Matt too.

The other thing Spectre, is that what you "expect" and what really happens are two different things. Just because you didn't expect the guy to bring a knife or gun, doesn't mean it's not going to happen.

-B

I think a large problem is the reluctance of many practitioners to move backwards when faced with someone moving in for a grab of some kind. All the videos demonstrate the "stand up" practitioner failing to move backwards or out of the way, and failing to mount any attack upon the telegraphed step in leg.

I think it is of benefit to prevent a fight going to the ground, and this is done poorly by many fighters, but you must of course also be prepared for a possible ground fight.

Yes ok, half of the US has done wrestling but....

a. some of us are not in the US.

b. Most of those wrestlers that encompass the group you are talking about are crap.

c. Yes brawls end up on the ground but most of the time its not because of someone grabbing you its because someone got knocked down, well I am trained to do the knocking.


These are just counter points, I am not saying that fights do not go down to the ground but like you said half of them do, so what about the other half. If you want to be a complete fighter you have to train at all ranges.