size matters Archives

It is the duty of every martial person to learn each joint and the directions they go in and the directions they don’t go in, standing thru on the ground, whether they think they are studying “survival fighting” or “arts/sports.” This joint knowledge is useful and can comes from many sources. (My personal favorite being “Catch Wrestling,” and bits from here and there.)

The “ground.” Ever been fighting someone on the so-called “ground?” And I mean –

on the tile floor?
on the the cement?
on the asphalt?
on a stairway?
a gravel picnic ground?
a slimy hillside in the pouring rain?
a room full of furniture?
accomplices around?

I have. Arresting people. I’ve worked in the field, line operations, spanning three decades. I’ve caught people in the act and served many warrants.

So, you get some control. And you hold on in a submission. It seems stabilized, but now I have to transition to handcuffs. I might struggle through several holds/transitions to travel to that goal and geography, as well as get one hand free/loose to get the cuffs out. If I lose the hold, lose control, the fight just continues, unlike mat sport, tap-outs. Unless the guy is totally exhausted (which happens at times, thank goodness), when you let go, loose control, the other guy just keeps right on fighting again. Injured or not (remember what adrenaline does), you cannot depend on holds, submissions to end a fight situation.

Lots of times my submission holds might mean my partner, or arriving back up jumps in, to help (whew!) I wait a short time or worse, a longer time? How much time, though ? How long can I keep an angry, resisting person in a submission hold? And, I have not always had backup.

(In my later years, we could not choke anyone. In the 1970s and 80s, chokes were a great police tool.)

So, what does a civilian do? Beat him, break him, damage him up, or wait? And one must consider the legal issues with each.

– Beating is ground and pound.

– Breaking him his breaking up body parts.

– Damaging is busting him up, but not to the breaking point.

– But waiting? Submissions? Waiting for what? Wait for who? What happens next?

I must repeat though, It is the duty of every martial person to learn each joint and the directions they go in and the directions they don’t go in, standing thru on the ground, whether they think they are studying “survival fighting” or “arts/sports.” This body joint knowledge is useful and can comes from many sources. You still simply have to know this material.

My personal path is one of “no hero-worship,” no “system-worship,” as martial arts are cluttered with these distractions. I am not a hobbyist, nor a “joiner.” I am a skeptic. An analyzer. A survivalist. Your path is your path. Whatever path, get on the path of learning the joints and which ways they do and do not twist and bend.