OFFENSE OR DEFENSE?

 By Phillip Starr

Let's face it; the vast majority of martial arts instructors have never been in an old-fashioned, no-holds-barred, knock down-drag out street fight or bar brawl. Although I can't and don't encourage anyone to deliberately seek out such a thing, it is well to listen to those who have been there – whether they're martial arts enthusiasts or not.

At the present time, street fights often happen unexpectedly and occur at close quarters. The attack is usually preceded by a grab of some kind or a push, and attack never consists of a single blow; punches are fired off in a flurry, with the head and face being the primary targets.

This is not to infer that we should discontinue basic 3 and 1 step fight routines. In fact, they're more important than ever but the reason(s) for practicing them absolutely must be understood. They are NOT intended to teach us how to fight; they're practiced to teach you how to apply various techniques. Actual fighting in self-defense is another matter.

The first thing to consider is mindset. Many, perhaps most, martial arts followers feel that they should adopt a kind of “defensive” mindset. I think this is a serious error. In Vietnam, the Marines found that the old way of responding to an ambush just didn't work – they'd either hunker down and return fire, and/or work to flank the enemy. The cost was just too high. The answer? Charge straight at the aggressors and cut them down! And it worked...with much fewer casualties than they'd have had otherwise. Self-defense works the same way; maintain an “offensive” mindset. Attack the attack.

Many streetfights begin at very close quarters and are often initiated with a grab or a push. Trying to apply classical -step routines to such situations is like trying to play chess using the rules of checkers (with your opponent actually playing chess). We have to adapt our classical routines to fit the new circumstances. This is what martial arts are about and how they have always been intended to work. However, the principles upon which the techniques don't change; they're what make the techniques work properly.

Karate and gong-fu are not arts that are made of static, fixed postures; actual fighting is dynamic and constantly changing and we must be able to adapt to any changes that occur. Otherwise, we're confining ourselves to functioning within the confines of a rather small box...we have to break out of the box!