The Danger of the Sporting Mindset

I was surfing a friend's forum and they were talking about a DVD by a noted self protection instructor on the subject of defeating an MMA trained adversary. He points out in the DVD that with the popularity of MMA training it's becoming more and more likely that you'll end up scrapping with someone who's had such training.

Of course the MMA forums are denigrating the DVD saying that the only way an MMA fighter can be beaten is (and I quote)

a "seasoned" (read truly skilled ) MMA practitioner can only be countered by 1. Luck; 2. Equal or greater skill; or 3. A massive size/strength/injury disparity.

This is an absolutely perfect example of the danger of training in a sporting discipline. Notice the angle they come at it with i.e. from an entirely sporting context.

From my perspective, that of someone dealing with the real world and not the ring I'd be thinking of things such as...

A martial artist should be concerned about...1. A guy with a gun; 2. A guy with a knife; 3. A group of guys; 4. A group of guys with weapons; 5. A sucker punch; 6. A pre-emptive strike; 7. An ambush; 8. A mob kicking the crap out of me while I'm rolling round on the ground with someone trying to put them in a cool triangle choke etc.

At first blush this might seem like a criticism of MMA guys and it's not. I admire anyone who trains hard and puts it on the line, no matter what discipline that is. It is however a criticism of the dangers of a sporting mindset and it is also a criticism of guys who play in the ring thinking they are automatically now qualified to talk about self defense.

That's a little like paint-ballers telling Special Forces guys how to conduct themselves in a firefight.

Self defense/protection training requires a certain mind-set, don't confuse it with the mindset you'll develop in a club that concentrates on sport.

We interupt this program...

A long time ago I mentioned how a lot of self defense products...some that people put great store in...don't work in the real world all the time.

Here's a great link to a news story discussing Court TV (for my non US readers it's a tv channel here that focuses on true crime and criminal justice system shows). Watch the first clip of the "poor misunderstood" prisoner attacking the prison guard the second they leave the court room.

Pay great attention to the guard who obviously never bothered learning how to fight despite working amongst the most vicious members of society on a day to day basis who uses his mace to try and subdue the prisoner. Notice the mace covering him as much as the bad guy - one huge problem with it - and two, notice how absolutely ineffective it is on someone amped up, intent on doing you harm. Also, notice how long it takes him to access the gas canister (a huge problem with weapons as your only solution) and imagine if the bad guy had a knife instead of a clenched fist.

There's a slew of lessons in this one clip...if a picture is worth a thousand words, what's a video clip like this worth?


http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/22773900#22773900