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ARTICLES AND COMMENTARY WHAT LEON’S FIGHT TELLS US What I’m going to say is not any revelation of information, but a reminder of fighting philosophy and strategy. As martial artist, particularly cross training martial artist, our strength is in our options. Leon’s decision to rely solely on boxing skills, robbed him of this most important aspect of the fighting arts. He went to the park and played the other mans game. He was beaten by two of the most insidious enemies of fighters; overconfidence and poor judgment. No one can question his courage and the money wasn’t bad either, but sometimes the bear gets the man. So how did the bear get Leon? The most obvious was giving this guy three chances at him. Leon had him going the first round and in trouble again the second. In the course of human events the law of averages prevails. Leon stayed at the party too long. This guy was good and a long trained boxer with golden gloves titles and last years tough man contest winner in his brag bag. He was also ripped and had all his “roids” in one basket. So where were the options for Leon? There were none except to beat the guy at his own game and defy the law of averages as he went. Were it an, MMA event, or more importantly a street fight, the guy would have not made it past the first minute. He would have wound up in a ground and pound or choked like a chicken. I can promise you he was ripe for the picking. Leon had broken his nose and had him goofy eyed. But Leon was forced to buy this guy time by eliminating all options but punching. For awhile that too worked until the law of averages reared its ugly head. The guy kept throwing long, sweeping rights, that had landed before, but with no damage done. Now it’s the last of the third round and Leon the martial artist has given this guy three minutes to do what should not have happened. Folks, one minute is a long street fight. Three minutes is an eternity and what can go wrong will go wrong. Especially when you are fighting the other guy’s kind of fight. How did the guy finish up the next night? He fought in the finals and got his arm broken by an elbow block to his arm. An option I had suggested to Leon while we were practice sparring, but he forgot to use. It is a personal favorite of mine to make guys stop wild punches, especially hooks. You can avoid it if you hook with your hips instead of swinging your arm. I think it would have been a service to the guy to demonstrate it, but some yawhoo from Podunk SC accidentally showed him. Red Necks rule. There are old rules in surviving a fight. Don’t let the other guy name the time and place, or get in the fist punch. Other than that, there are no rules and that is our long suite. Being cross trained is valuable when controlling a fight, but its value triples when you are not. Now enter the options. Let’s say for instance that Leon was stung but not out. Would kicking, a take down or other ground options have helped him? If you don’t know the answer to that, don’t wait until it happens to find that out when you are grounded like a turtle on its back, or you legs are too rubbery from the punch to kick. Options my friends, options. Dirty, mother lovin down in the dirt options. Use them, or pay a stiff price for not knowing them. So what is the message here? Stay the course. You are following the best fighting system I know of. Whether you want to or not, throw in some take down and ground training. You want as many options as your training time will allow you to perfect. Keep your ego out of tough man contest and the like. It is not what you do. Your warrior like souls I know, yearns for challenges. This is not one of them. At least stay with full contact karate (which also has limited options) or MMA, which also has rules which limit your street options. Obviously, competition is good for the soul and an indication of your training skills. Point fighting is virtually useless since the safety equipment came around. The old tournaments and especially dojo fighting without equipment, prepared you for the real world and there were more cross training techniques than we even realized, by virtue of the bone to bone contact. Nothing that guarantees your safety, takes away face contact, or disqualifies for blood, is any help for street training. It is just fun and social. Don’t give it up if you like it. Just understand its reality limitations. Hopefully, the ICA can put together some safe, but rugged contest that will more mirror your training. It won’t be life or death, but you won’t get run for giving or getting a bloody nose. All in all, only your own experiences, or listening to the experience of one you trust, will make you a street wise fighter. Don’t train for reality under someone who hasn't had a street fight, or buy hair tonic from a bald headed barber. That’s all the good advice I can give without swapping sweat with you. Train hard and
”TRAIN FOR REALITY”
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