Street vs. Sport

I very rarely read or participate in martial arts discussion forums these days. But when I did back in the late 90′s, when forums were becoming popular, everyone was arguing about “street vs. sport”. (Matt Thornton and Burton Richardson were two of the biggest contributors arguing for sport style training.) With the first UFC in 1993, people saw how grapplers and mixed martial artists were wiping the floor with traditional martial artists. Most TMA practitioners either closed their eyes and pretended their traditional styles were more effective than they were, or adapted. Those who stuck with traditional styles often used a “street vs. sport” argument claiming their style was designed for the street where there are no rules, and was too deadly to be used effectively in the ring. These arguments went on for years, and the TMA crowd mostly lost.

Why MMA Wins

Since that time MMA has become hugely popular and most people regard traditional martial arts with a bit of skepticism to say the least, usually rightly so. There are two primary reasons most MMA fighters easily beat TMA practitioners. First, training methods. MMA training and the training in sports that typically make up MMA (boxing, Thai boxing, wrestling, BJJ, etc.) is the best there is. In these styles people train against fully resisting opponents. Most TMA training on the other hand involves doing solo drills and prearranged partner drills. This training does not prepare you for real fighting. If you want to learn how to fight you MUST train against uncooperative, fully resisting opponents. You have to spar in all ranges (stand up, clinch, ground, and the three together). The second reason TMA practitioners were easy for MMA fighters to beat was their poor technique. When training is unrealistic and practitioners are only training with members of their own style, very ineffective techniques evolve that don’t work under real, uncooperative pressure.

This Won't Work

Both the punch and the block above are great examples of the horrible techniques that evolve as a result of unrealistic training, not to mention the complete lack of footwork. So MMA is the best, and the street vs. sport argument is BS, right? Not so fast! Just because many of the TMA people making the street vs. sport argument didn’t know how to fight doesn’t mean the argument isn’t at least partially valid. Like everything, it’s not black or white, but something in between.

Why Street Is Different

Street self defense requires several components that sport fighting does not, and these make all the difference in the world. The most important of these are awareness, deception, dirty tactics/techniques, and weapons. Awareness isn’t taught or trained in sport fighting or MMA, but it’s extremely important in self defense.

Deception is hugely important in self defense, and when combined with the use of more damaging techniques and weapons, it can give a smaller, weaker, less skilled person the ability to beat a larger, stronger, unsuspecting sport fighter. MMA fighters can of course learn to be deceptive and use more damaging techniques, but because their training doesn’t require it they generally don’t, and generally aren’t prepared for these to be used against them. You fight how you train.

There are rules in MMA, and in every specific combat sports competition, but not so in self defense. The quickest, most effective self defense techniques are illegal in sport fighting, and this changes the way people fight. The footwork that can accompany an eye strike or a groin slap for example isn’t very effective or useful in MMA. In MMA there are weight classes, and a 150 lbs woman has very little chance against a 200 lbs man largely due to the technical limitations of sport fighting. Typical sport style training completely neglects the most efficient and effective techniques, along with the set ups and footwork that makes them work best.

Possibly the most important distinction however is the use of weapons on the street. In MMA there is not only no weapons training, but the techniques and positions that are trained would often lead an MMA practitioner to be more vulnerable to weapon attacks. In self defense the use of and defense against weapons should represent at least half of all training. It’s highly unlikely a person will ever be attacked by a single opponent who is smaller, weaker, and unarmed. The use of weapons in self defense leads to a massive advantage, and the ability to defend against them is essential.

The Solution

MMA training is top notch, and all self defense practitioners should adopt the same approach to training. But MMA is severely lacking in the areas of awareness, deception, dirty tactics, and weapons. The solution is to combine the two, ending up with the most efficient and effective armed and unarmed techniques, realistic training, and a winning strategy involving awareness and deception. That’s reality based self defense, and the aim of Hertao.

Oveready Triple XPG Surefire 9P

I’m a big proponent of flashlights for self defense. My first quality self defense light was an Inova X03, a very solid light plenty bright enough to blind an opponent with night adapted vision. But after getting my first Surefire, an LX2, I was hooked even further. The beam on the LX2 is so bright that shining someone in the face with it at night is physically shocking. Not only that, but it’s an excellent light to carry. Later, the Surefire 6PX Tactical came out, which is a terrific option for someone not wanting to spend as much on something like the LX2.

Then I discovered Oveready, a company that makes custom flashlights with the highest quality parts…Surefire hosts (bodies) with custom coatings, tail caps, bezel rings, and LED emitters. Their Triple XPG Surefire C3, which uses a triple LED emitter from Torchlab, in a Surefire body coated with a ballistic grade ceramic, bored to accept rechargeable batteries, and with a metal rather than plastic bezel ring, was too hard to pass up. Not only is it an extremely high quality set up, but it’s advertised as a 1,100 lumen light. My other Surefire lights were advertised at 200 lumens. If those numbers don’t sound like much, here’s a comparison photo:

LX2 vs. Triple XPG

The image above is of the LX2 beam (at left) and the Triple XPG beam (at right) placed about 3 feet from a wall. It was the best way I could demonstrate the difference in a photo, but the photo doesn’t do it justice. The beam on the Triple XPG looks like something you’d expect from a helicopter search light. It’s astoundingly, shockingly bright. The beam on the LX2 does project further due to the lens and beam pattern. But up close…maybe inside of 30 yards or so…the Triple XPG throws out a monster wall of light, capable of blinding a small group of people with one flash.

I chose to get my light with the Surefire 9P host rather than the C3 host, as I figured the 9P may be better to quickly grab. Since it’s round, the grip is the same no matter how you grab it. However, I’ve also ordered a C3 host to see which one I end up liking more. I chose the single level Triple XPG rather than the one that has a high, medium, and low mode, so for self defense it would be very simple to operate…without concern for using the wrong mode accidentally. I also picked the smooth bezel ring instead of the one with “teeth”, so it wouldn’t look like a self defense light.  Thus, I can travel with it on a plane, etc. This set up, in my opinion, is not ideal for an everyday use flashlight (it’s too bright), but makes an incredible self defense tool. While the 9P and C3 are on the big/long side compared to the LX2 and 6PX Tactical, they are still easy to carry in a back pocket or deep front pocket. Here’s a comparison image:

Self Defense Lights

The Surefire 9P is at the top, followed by the LX2, 6PX, and an Inova X5 (which I would not recommend as a self defense light due to the relatively weak beam).

Oveready custom lights are expensive, there’s no doubt about it. But the product you’re getting is top notch, as is their customer service. Their lights are made in the US, and if you email or call you’ll be talking to someone in the US. If you’re considering a self defense light and want the best you can possibly get, I’d highly recommend Oveready.

For more information on using a flashlight for self defense, see our pages on the palm stick and self defense flashlight.

Galle Face Green, Sri Lanka

My wife and I took a trip to Sri Lanka for a few weeks at the beginning of this year.  Other than the delicious food and some nice natural scenery, the trip was unfortunately a real disappointment.  People attempted to scam us several times a day, there were incredible numbers of stray dogs on the verge of death at every turn (hairless, missing legs, crushed paws, open sores, etc…very depressing), and overall there just wasn’t much to see.  We travel a lot, and this was the first trip I remember where we were ready to get back home well before it was over.

Train Ride

We traveled from Colombo to Galle on the same train line that was made famous by the terrible tsunami in 2004, and did see some pretty beaches:

Sri Lankan Beach

But most of Sri Lanka looked more like this:

Sri Lankan Road

Anyway, one of the only cool things I managed to find on the trip was this beautiful antique Sri Lankan knife called a piha kahetta:

Piha Kahetta - Sri Lankan Knife

It was very rusty when I bought it, but I spent this morning cleaning it up and I must say it’s a very nice looking knife.  It’s heavy, and extremely solid.  I love the carved handle:

Piha Kahetta Handle

Here’s a picture with the wooden scabbard:

Knife with Scabbard

The last post I wrote on the palm stick was about a year ago, when I explained why I didn’t like it as a self defense tool. After spending the last year experimenting, I’ve changed my mind. What I don’t like is the way most people I’ve seen use the palm stick, striking targets that have relatively little impact, using inefficient entries, flipping the stick around in their hands, etc. As I wrote in my new section on the palm stick, people shouldn’t be asking themselves how they can use a palm stick in a given position, but what the best technique for a given position is. That might involve using the palm stick, but it might not! The problem is when people get into the “everything looks like a nail” mindset because they’re carrying a hammer.

In addition to the main palm stick page I’ve added pages with a palm stick attack, palm stick defense, and another on the flashlight for self defense. I hope you find them useful!

Iban Parang

Humans have been using weapons since the beginning of their existence, and for good reason. Weapons provide a massive advantage in both attack and defense.  Every martial arts practitioner interested in self defense should learn how to use weapons both to better defend against their use, and to gain an advantage in a serious self defense situation. You can see how I categorize weapons and their use on my self defense weapons page.

Although people in most 1st world countries no longer carry swords, practicing with them (or a stick of a similar length) can provide very valuable lessons in self defense. The methods of attack and defense that work with a sword also work with a stick, cane, hammer, wrench, knife, machete…even a household iron. You can learn to use a “stick” or any other long blunt or sharp object through the curriculum and videos on my single stick page, which I plan to add to in the very near future.

Parang Handle

Aside from the usefulness of sword and stick training for self defense, swords from different cultures can be fascinating. I recently posted a review of the Filipino ginunting, one of my favorite swords for functionality, and thought I’d add a few pictures of another favorite, an Iban parang from the island of Borneo. I purchased this parang in the state of Sarawak on the Malaysian side of Borneo. It’s about 100 years old, and decorated with human hair. The handle and scabbard are the most beautiful of all the swords I own.

As beautiful as the parang is, it’s hard for a modern westerner to imagine they were used on head hunting raids.  Up until the late 1800′s or so, several tribes of Borneo required heads for all sorts of ceremonies, from those related to the rice harvest to weddings. Imagine having to cut a person’s head off before you could be married…or walking through the jungle where people were looking for heads! In any case, the parang is an amazing sword, very similar to others used in Indonesia and the Philippines.  It’s designed for one handed use, fast, well balanced, and the design of the handle prevents the parang from slipping out of your hand.

Parang Scabbard

I’ve asked a few older Iban about their sword training, but never really gotten any detailed answers. They do have dances that involve the use of the sword and shield, but it seems that their “martial art” was lost when the practice of head hunting was abandoned.  If anyone reading this has information on the martial arts of the tribes of Borneo, I’d love to hear from you! I can’t imagine people like the Iban wouldn’t have had their own martial art. If you were living in a jungle at a time when nearby tribes wanted your head, wouldn’t you?

Ginunting

As a practitioner of Filipino Martial Arts, a great sword is a necessity. I’ve been meaning to post a review of a Ginunting I purchased a while back, and am finally getting to it now. I bought my Ginunting from Ron Kosakowski’s Traditional Filipino Weapons. I’ve bought plenty swords over the years, probably 20 or more.  I bought a samurai sword in Japan from the 1800′s, a Laotian soldiers sword in Laos from the early 1900′s, several Iban head hunting swords on the island of Borneo, a Filipino Pinute, etc., etc. Of all the swords I own, if I had to take one into a sword fight it would be my Ginunting from Ron’s store. (By the way, I do not know Ron and am not profiting in any way from writing this review…and of course I will hopefully never be in a sword fight!) Here is a comparison of the similarly priced Pinute from another company, and my Ginunting from TFW:

Pinute and Ginunting

You probably can’t tell much of a difference from the above photo, other than noticing the cheap scabbard that comes with the Pinute (top).  But take a look at a close up of the blades…from the back:

Blades

The Ginunting is on the left.  As you can probably see, the steel is twice as thick and a much higher quality on the Ginunting.  Here’s a close up of the scabbards and handles:

Scabbard and Handles

The handle on the Pinute isn’t all that bad, but the scabbard is such junk that it falls right out.  The Ginunting fits perfectly in the scabbard.  It’s snug, and definitely won’t fall out.  It handles like no other sword…amazing.  So if you’re looking for an excellent quality Filipino sword, order it from Traditional Filipino Weapons.  I’ll be ordering a couple more styles in the near future…