People that are new to my school are often surprised I emphasize throwing and grappling skills over striking skills, especially in the early stages of training, especially for those students interested in "self-defense."

Most people (who haven't been involved in or seen a street fight in their adult lives) are often under the impression that the best self-defense is to learn series of deadly strikes and kicks. Although striking skills are, of course important, I believe the foundation of realistic fighting skills should be grappling based.

Matt Larson is the man considered to be the "father of Modern Army Combatives" (the system of hand to hand combat taught to the U.S. Rangers and special forces). Hundreds of soldiers that engaged in hand to hand combat in Afghanistan and Iraq were interviewed, and, according to Mr. Larson "every hand-to-hand fight we have documented has involved grappling, but not a single one has involved only striking." (quote from "Hand to Hand Combat" by Greg Thompson and Kid Peligro.

Thanks, Tim!

Tim,

Remember during the earlier UFCs when everyone was so shocked how two traditional strikers ended up in a grappling match?

Human nature.

of course i agree, grappling is the most effective way to utilize offense within defense.

Very true Tim... A friend of mine that was in Iraq and went through a ton of hand to hand combat etc. said it was alot of jujitsu type fighting. The only thing we talked about was "if it was effective" to engage in a wrestling match sort of say with all that gear on.

Suprisingly he showed me some moves that were jujitsu at heart, but had a very hsing i flavor to it.

Although, the moves are only a piece of the puzzle... it is the bravery of the American Warriors that win the fight!

If I may add my two cents, throws and grappling have worked well for me and for what it is worth, I truely believe in the above posts.

I am getting to be an old street cop, and prefer not to have to fight. But when someone presses the issue, I prefer to throw him (usually it's a guy) hard, and then into some kind of appropriate hold. Done correctly, the wind is knocked out of him when he hits the ground, and the "fight" is usually instantly over. That is very good. His head may also bounch a bit.

I also note that basically, I have never dealt with a martial arts student using their training in a bad way. Part of this may be where I work and live, but is is still a good thing just the same, and says something good about the different schools. The people running these schools deserve thanks as well.

Still have a respect for good strikes and kicks......