OFF THE MAT – THE REALITY OF A BAD SITUATION
“Taking it off the mat. Exploring how bad positions, and environmental factors play in your options and how you modify your response. You don't always get the choice of where your violent encounter will take place, variables matter, limited vision and temperature based on the sun. Surfaces, such concrete, gravel, mud, sand, snow and ice play a factor in body positioning and base. The clothes and equipment you wear can help or hurt if you have not trained to compensate for this and the above. Build the basics and fundamentals in the gym and every so often pressure test with equipment or lack thereof, surfaces, confined spaces and different contextual probabilities. Sweating and grinding on the hard pavement and rough walls from unconventional positions, to explore various force options, in the dynamic controlled (as safe as we could make it) environmental combative experiment.” – Sal Mascolli
Let’s discuss reality. More often than not we train nice. Hell, many of us actually take classes through our employers to actually “be nice”, even when others are terrible to us. We train comfortably inside a nice, air-conditioned building. When we combat traing we have mats to absorb the impact, gloves to soften the blow. We use blunted weapons specifically designed to ensure that injuries are minimal, and headgear to protect our precious melon. We use extreme caution when striking or grappling. We listen to our partners, and we ensure we don’t go “too hard”.
WHAT ARE WE DOING? All we are doing, is training our partners to fold under pressure. Training ourselves to hold back when it is time to cut loose.
WHY ARE WE DOING THIS? How often do you even think about the impact your training methods have on your psychology and your willingness to do what you need to do to win. When was the last time you really allowed yourself and your partner to cut loose?
The only rules being 1) don’t intentionally break bones, 2) stop when one side forfeits the fight, 3) no eye gouging or fish hooking, 4) when one person loses consciousness its done.
Does this sound brutal? Does this sound unreasonable or unrealistic? This sounds like what needs to be done to make sure you are truly prepared for reality. Not a simple fight but for combat. Doing what you must do to make sure you are the one who goes home when the dust settles.
According to the FBI UCR reporting as of 2019 there were an estimated 1,203,808 violent crimes reported in the US. That averages to 366.7 violent crimes per 100,000 inhabitants. That was in 2019. The numbers are not available for the years leading up to present. The FBI reports that aggravated assaults accounted for 68.2 percent of violent crimes reported to law enforcement. With violent robberies following directly behind at 22.3 percent.
WHY IS THIS IMPORTATN TO YOU? Criminals prey on the fringes of any group. They often seek what they see as weak or vulnerable targets. If you carry yourself like a victim, your head down, failure to look another person in the eye, shoulders hunched, an air of fear about your person, you are much, much more likely to become the victim of a violent crime. Those individuals who function from a place of fear or from a victim mentality are often those individuals who do not train. They exist is a safe bubble where nothing is ever uncomfortable, and life is often stable. They do everything they can to avoid discomfort or injury.
THIS IS THE WRONG WAY TO LIVE YOUR LIFE!!
You were built to be a warrior. Embrace it! You were designed to be a hunter, an apex predator. You are smart, strong, fast, and dangerous. Train to bring this out. Put yourself in situations that are uncomfortable and challenge yourself to fight out of the bad spots. Find a partner or a group of like-minded individuals who will push you. Who are willing to take things to a whole new level.
Start your fights from a corner, where you have nowhere to go but forward. Start on the concrete, under the sun, in the middle of the day were the light blinds you and the rocks dig into your back. Learn to use your environment as a tool, a weapon. Learn to position yourself so a small rock can become the blade you so desperately need. The backpack is no longer a simple accessory worn but a weapon to be used to bludgeon or strangle an opponent. The shirt a noose.
Learn that you don’t need the mats and the air conditioning. Learn to embrace the discomfort and revel in the feeling of power you gain from doing such horrible training. This will separate you from the sheep. This is what will make all the difference when it is time to face that danger threatening you or those you protect and care for.
DOES THIS SOUND LIKE TOO MUCH? TOO HARD? WHY? What about this is “too much”? There are people living in third world countries training to fight for their lives with no running water, no electricity or air conditioning. They don’t know where or when they will get their next meal, yet they train daily. Young children in Thailand, living in similar situations, fight at the age of 4 and 5 to feed their families. They train morning to night day in and day out to fight. Fight in brutal conditions that those of us in the United States will never experience and cannot even imagine. They don’t complain. They don’t whine about how hard it is or how hot it is or how much it hurts. The get up, strap up, shut up, and fight!
I am not saying this is what any one of us needs to do but why not? Why not push yourself just a little outside of your comfort zone. Why not try to embrace that suck and become that bad ass you were meant to be.
Become the predator!
Take a look at our good friend and partner GN_FUNKERTACTICAL as he helps to break these scenarios down on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/p/Chk-0y2pGmC/
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