Training to fight all martial art styles

To defend yourself on the street you must be able to fight any type of martial artist. Too many schools only practice fighting guys with their own style..

In the last few decades martial arts has taken off all around the world as a form of self defense for modern society. Are you training martial arts as a means to defend yourself? If yes, are you training for ANY type of fighter that may throw themselves in front of you?

Let's take a look at the most common type of fighters you will come across in the street...

Average Joe

Mr average is the kind of guy that likes to throw wide haymakers at you. In close range he goes for a head-butt and if that fells the good old rugby tackle will always take you down..or crashing through a table.

Mr MMA Cage Fighter

Mr MMA is a difficult one. He will most likely have a decent stand up - similar to a boxer and be able to resist pushes, shoving and rugby tackles due to the clinch and take down defense training. If you are alone 1 vs 1 (which is unlikely) he could take you down to the floor and will have a good ground game.

Mr Wing Chun

Mr Chun will try to use his sensitivity drills to 'trap' you. He will try to break your structure and then go for multiple quick snappy punches called rolling punches. Very few Wing Chun guys actually practice real life trapping so the chances are it will end up getting messy. I have found that Wing Chun guys are often pretty static and can easily be out-boxed - this isn't due to the Wing Chun system being ineffective but Wing Chun schools only practicing unrealistic drills.

Mr Kickboxer

Mr Kickboxer will good boxing and range skills. Because they are used to evading kicks as well as punches their range isn't quite as close as a boxers. They will be fluent at punching and kicking, will hit hard and most likely be very fit.

Each fighter has a completely different style in the gym however with adrenaline running and the shock of a fight, many people forget what they are doing and go into panic mode, never the less you must learn to fight every style.

When you're talking about fighting, as it is, with no rules, well then, baby you'd better train every part of your body! ~Bruce Lee

The most common mistake in martial art schools

The most common and biggest mistake martial art schools make is training only against their style.

For example: Wing Chun guys that ONLY spar other Wing Chun guys at the same school will never learn to use rhythm, speed, timing and distance control against a boxer. It's very unlikely that anyone of us are going to get in many fights in our lifetime and if we do it's even more unlikely that the person we are fighting will have trained the same style. What are the chances of a Wing Chun guy fighting a Wing Chun guy in the street?

On the other hand some schools train ONLY for Average Joe. This will be fine 80% of the time, but what happens when you find yourself up against a boxer with a snappy jab and one hell of a hook? Your in trouble as those fancy interceptions, parry's and arm bars won't work here.

Training to defend yourself against other styles

It's really easy to do. Get a training partner and ask him to spar you like an average joe, then an MMA fighter and then a Wing Chun guy... you get the idea.

If your training partner isn't too good at take downs, try and find someone that is so you can practice your takedown defense on them. Do the same for as many styles as you can.

Important: Ensure your sparring sessions are as realist as possible.