Let me pre-empt this article by first letting you know that the system I teach in my club is Reality Based Urban Defence. We train for go not show. No sport, just street. I am a certified Instructor in the Real Combat System of self-defence as created and developed by self-defence legend Geoff Thompson, and as taught in the British Combat Association.
I was graded to Instructor in this system by Mr. Thompson’s two highest-graded students, Mr. Tony Sommers and Mr. Matty Evans, both of whom are now 6th Dan. Mr. Thompson developed the system during his decade-long stint working as a bouncer in Coventry during a time when it was polled as the most violent city per-capita in Europe. The system works, it had to work because Mr. Thompson’s life literally depended on it (for more on this I urge you to read Watch My Back by Geoff Thompson).
From this grounding, I have tweaked the syllabus somewhat to suit my own needs, and those of the people I teach in contemporary combat. I have based my own system off the physical applications of Boxing, Muay Thai Kickboxing, Judo, Greco-Roman Wrestling, and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. I have taken these five systems and stripped them down to the core techniques that have the most chance of being successfully deployed, whilst at the same time being quick to teach (and subsequently learned), and can be used by the highest percentage of people; if you’re 7ft tall you can probably kick most people in the head, if you’re 5’2 probably not. This has to be taken into account.
One thing I see quite a lot (and all too often) in martial arts is the claim that what is being taught at any given school, club, or private seminar is aimed at realistic self-defence. Now, it rubs the wrong way to see this, as for the most part, what is actually being taught is the same run-of-the-mill martial arts technique, only now instead of a gi everyone is wearing jeans and a t-shirt. If they are really on form, instead of being in dojo or gym, they’ll be conducting the session/taking the pictures/filming the video clip in a car park. Extra double-bonus points if said parking lot has a chain-link fence. Nothing says bad-ass real street fighting like a chain-link fence.
These classes/instructors often miss some vital and integral points of what reality is, and how it looks, feels, smells, and tastes. It is a very different thing from the dojo. I’m sure we have all known and trained with Dojo Champions and Gym Goliaths who once out of the safe womb of their home club populated by their own brood, they crumble. I have known of boxers who were picked as Commonwealth contenders, who once asked to compete before people they didn’t know and in a new environs didn’t know a left hook from a coat hook.
In my opinion, and that is the opinion of a man who has made real violence my career by teaching real self-defence, working as private security, and working as a bouncer (I worked a one-man door at a job that according to the SIA had a 70% chance of needing medical attention, and I was doing this job on the 28th worst street for crime in Britain as can be read here) there are several things that must be met for the criteria of ‘training for reality’ to be met.
Training Drill: Aggression Line-Up
I do not know of any honest person who has faced real violence, whether they be combat sport athletes, professional military personnel, bodyguards, bouncers, et al., who have not felt the adrenaline dump. This is what we often confuse for fear. This adrenaline dump is there to help us, it is our friend. Adrenaline will make us stronger, faster, and anesthetize us to an extent. However, it is such a powerful force that we can get overwhelmed by it.
One way I teach to get used to this is the Aggression Line-Up. You get the class to line-up, two lines facing each other at a distance of about two feet. One line is the attacker, the other is the defender. The attacker line will yell obscenities and threats at the defenders. This gets one used to having raw, naked aggression in your face. After thirty or so seconds of this, everyone on the attacker line takes a step to their side, meaning they swap partners. Each defender must have each attacker yell at them during the exercise.
Then, part two, is the defender’s opportunity. From The Fence position, the defenders will give an almighty shove to the attacker, then take a few steps back, while screaming at the attacker “F–king get back! Stay f–king back right now, you little $h!t or I’ll f–king bury you! Get back right f–king now!”
Be honest, with yourself if not me, how did reading that above quote make you feel?
Allow me to explain why we do this. If I shove you back, I might create three feet of space, which might make you feel trapped. This will make you fight your way out. If, however I push you back three feet, and move back at least three-to-four feet myself, I have now created six-to-seven feet of space between us, giving you ample space to flee, which is what I want.
Once I have shoved you back, I will pace back-and-forth, as I swear at you and threaten you. My aggressive behaviour coupled with my frantic and erratic movement, combined with the adrenalin dump you have just received after I shoved you, will make the survival part of your brain scream at you to get the hell out of there.
It is, at its core, a desensitization exercise. Think of it like this; most people will get hit in the face once and give up. No real damage is done, but it’s the shock of getting walloped in the face that shocks people into giving up. Something that they are not used to has happened and it’s that unknown factor that mentally takes them out of the game. Compare that to a boxer, who is used to sparring and is used to getting hit in the face, that person will take either a significant amount of damage or will need to be ‘sparked’ (knocked out) to be taken out of the game.
The more we can get used to the naked, raw aggression (and the language that goes with it), the better we can handle it when faced with it for real. Now, I can already hear some out there disagreeing with me. I know some of you are. I’ve dealt with this before. There is a certain mindset that insist we must not, ever, use foul language in the dojo! Well, here’s the thing, if the above quote, that was censored let us remember, had caused you discomfort, then how exactly do you suppose to deal with some total stranger screaming those words in your face? And please, don’t insult us both by claiming that you’re a different animal when you’re in the moment, that you perform live and the red mist comes over you and you just go. No, it doesn’t, and no you don’t.
“When ignorance is mutual, confidence is king.”
Essentially, know that the other person is going to be just as scared/insecure as you are. If you can trigger their adrenals into over-drive, you’re basically just giving them room to defeat themselves.
Train hard, train smart, stay safe.
He can be contacted at rbud.co.uk
- Training for Reality Part 5: Games - May 14, 2021
- Training for Reality Part 4: Numbers - May 13, 2021
- Training for Reality Part 1: Aggression - May 12, 2021
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