NO RULES — WHATEVER!

© COPYRIGHT 2009 BY BRADLEY J. STEINER - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
Sword and Pen – July 2009 Issue

[Reprinted With Permission]

http://www.americancombato.com

http://seattlecombatives.com


IN self-defense the objective is survival and the neutralization of a foe when one has been subjected to a dangerous physical attack; then — usually — escape. In military hand-to-hand combat the objective is to maim or to kill the enemy, often by attacking him first. These objectives can only be achieved by a very special kind of technique, as it were, and by a very special mindset. A technique that knows and abides by no rules, that emphasizes foul, gutter tactics, and the most ferociously ruthless disregard for the adversary imaginable. A mindset that recognizes one‘s adversary merely as a target to be eliminated at any cost, and that is uninhibited and unrestrained in regard to that which it is ready, willing, and able to command the trained body of the combatant to accomplish without a moment‘s hesitation, and without an iota of mercy.

"Human decency" and hand-to-hand combat do not go together. Whether on the mean streets of a city or on some blood spattered battlefield in some Godforsaken corner of the earth, to introduce any rules, restrictions, restraints, or even the subtlest of inhibitions into the training of students is to subvert their ultimate and eventual readiness to engage an enemy and prevail.

This is the unpleasant truth about individual human combat. It is not a sport.
In recent years the phenomenon of "challenge fighting" (expressed by such events as the Ultimate Fighting Challenge, so-called Mixed Martial Arts, and Cage Fighting) has become popular in this Country. Proponents of these events, and their champions, often maintain that what they are doing and how they are doing it constitutes a kind of "litmus test" for the effectiveness and efficiency of martial arts techniques as the use of those techniques pertain to real hand-to-hand combat.

While those who excel in such challenge events are often quite formidable, and doubtless could protect themselves in many instances, it is a dangerous misconception that "that which wins in the UFC (for example) is the best of those combat and self-defense skills that may be studied for practical application". The fervor with which many tend to adhere to this belief has made it futile to engage in meaningful dialog with them, unfortunately. So, we‘ll simply say this: If challenge events are your cup of tea, then go for them. If you believe that these events foster the proper attitude, tactics, spirit, technical skills, conditioning, and mindset for unarmed close combat or armed hand-to-hand engagements in war or peacetime, fine. Hold to your beliefs, practice for those events, and we wish you the best of luck and success in your competitive career.

We are addressing those others who, without a chip on their shoulder, may be honestly wondering if participating in challenge events is indeed some sort of "ultimate" preparation for defending themselves and protecting their families, or for preparing for military combat duty.

While we fully respect everyone‘s right to his own opinion, and we respect everyone;s right to participate in and to practice whatever types of skills he wishes (so long as he does so exclusively with others who wish to participate, themselves, and does not bother others who wish to have nothing to do with his particular activity) we insist that challenge events are not a good path to take for learning real world self-defense and close combat.

Please remember this:

• FOR TECHNIQUES TO BE EFFECTIVE IN ACTUAL COMBAT THEY MUST BE VERY DESTRUCTIVE, AND RELIABLE AGAINST ASSAILANTS THAT ARE YOUR PHYSICAL SUPERIOR, AND WHO ARE DETERMINED TO KILL YOU. (You have absolutely no way on earth of determining any assailant‘s abilities, strength level, and/or intentions — so you must always assume the worst, or you will not be adequately prepared to defend yourself.

• YOUR RECOURSE TO THESE TECHNIQUES MUST BE IMMEDIATE, DONE WITH TOTAL COMMITMENT, AND WITHOUT ANY HESITATION OR MENTAL QUALMS OF DELIBERATION OR DOUBT, WHATEVER.
• YOUR TECHNIQUES MUST BE DOABLE REGARDLESS OF YOUR AGE, WHEN YOU ARE OUT OF SHAPE, AND UNDER ADVERSE TERRAIN AND OTHER CONDITIONS AND CIRCUMSTANCES — INCLUDING (IN THE MILITARY, OR FOR SWAT TYPE POLICE OFFICERS, ETC.) WHEN WEARING CUMBERSOME FIELD SERVICE UNIFORMS AND EQUIPMENT.

Now, if we can agree on the above — and I suspect that those of us who appreciate what home invasions, muggings, gang beatings, holdups, rapes, kidnappings, hand-to-hand combative engagements in war, etc. and so forth really involve can agree on them — then we can be readily able to appreciate why anything goes in such situations.

Please read the following list of "forbidden actions":—

• Head butting

• Gouging the eyes

• Biting

• Hair pulling

• Hooking the nostrils or the mouth and ripping ("fish hooking")

• Violently assaulting any obvious injury that an opponent possesses

• Breaking fingers

• Striking the spinal column or smashing into the back of the head or breaking the neck

• Employing downward elbow strikes

• Striking powerfully into the throat, or locking the thyroid cartilage (windpipe) with a finger strangle

• Clawing, pinching or twisting the flesh

• Seizing the clavicle

• Kicking a downed man in the head, kneeing or knee-dropping the head of a downed man, or stomping into a downed adversary

• Picking up an object (stick, rock, piece of glass, etc. etc.) and assaulting the opponent with murderous ferocity with that object

• Feigning surrender or illness or confusion and then attacking the opponent‘s weakest points with all-out strength and ferocious intensity when he falls for your subterfuge

• Throwing dirt in the opponent‘s eyes

To the best of our knowledge EVERY SINGLE ITEM ENUMERATED ABOVE IS EXPRESSLY FORBIDDEN AND BANNED FROM THE SO-CALLED ―ANYTHING GOES‖ MATCHES (UFC, MMA, CAGE
FIGHTING, ETC). And we agree wholeheartedly that such actions should be banned and outlawed in any sport. That‘s the point.

All of those enumerated items are advocated as frontline, immediate, first resort tactical imperatives for our students, when and if they are ever forced to defend their lives against attack, or when or if they ever find themselves needing to defend their loved ones.

"Okay," someone might ask, "I can see your point about a real, life-threatening emergency requiring that such foul measures and ruthless gutter tactics be employed without compunction. However, don‘t you believe that the 'champions' and other participants in, for instance, the UFC, could easily add those skills to that which they do, if and when they ever found themselves in a real situation?"

No, we do not believe that.

People do under great stress that which has either been programmed into their motor memory or/and that which comes most naturally and reflexively, absent specific training and conditioning.

What we teach in American Combato is an INSTANT and IMMEDIATE all-out attack the moment one perceives that one is in imminent danger of injury or death. That attack must be of the most ruthlessly foul and aggressively brutal nature possible. We want to DEVASTATE the enemy — right away! We are not interested in playing around and in trying to progress through some insane ―force continuum‖: that can only result in providing an attacker with additional time and further opportunity to gain his objective of destroying US.

WE DO NOT "SQUARE OFF" WITH ANY ATTACKER, NOR IS IT EVER OUR AIM TO WAIT FOR THE "STARTING SIGNAL" AFTER WHICH WE COMMENCE TO ENGAGE THE ADVERSARY! This is SPORT, not combat — and self-defense is combat.

Competitors meet each other by mutual agreement and contest according to mutually agreed upon rules, and at a previously determined time and place. Neither can suddenly attack the other from behind, unexpectedly; nor is there the possibility of one man pulling a lethal weapon (or of attacking with a weapon at the outset), or of one encountering two or more adversaries rather than one. The terrain will be neither an "octagon" nor a "cage" — and it‘s floor will not be padded with a mat and cleared of rocks, broken glass, etc. One will not find oneself with a family member (spouse, child, etc.) whose safety one will be concerned with, in addition to one‘s own (and quite probably, over and above one‘s own). A physical attack is ILLEGAL; a contest is not. There will be no round two, and no rematch. THE INTENDED VICTIM OF AN ATTACK MUST ACT DECISIVELY AND VICIOUSLY AND RUTHLESSLY OR HE IS A GONER. And neither the law nor sporting regulations enjoin him to worry about anything except defending against his attacker.

If the above does not assist in clarifying some of the major and irreconcilable differences between sport and combat, then we cannot be of further help in assisting anyone to see the light.

To be prepared for self-defense (or for military hand-to-hand combat) one must be focused upon DISABLING and DESTROYING — and doing it right away; and that of course means knocking out, maiming, crippling, or killing, in order to prevent this from being done to oneself or to a loved one. ONE DOES NOT ATTEMPT TO PREPARE FOR THIS BY ALLOWING NONDESTRUCTIVE ACTIONS TO DILUTE THE EFFICIENCY OF ONE‘S SKILLS REPERTOIRE.
In all forms of combat simplicity is a powerful asset. A simpler firearm mechanism (such as that of the proven Colt 1911 semiautomatic .45 pistol) has been proven to be superior to more complex mechanisms (such as that of the double action 92S which, doubtless for some inane bureaucratic reasons, has been selected over the old warhorse — and has accounted for experienced fighting men purchasing their own .45‘s! But this is an aside.)

Hand-to-hand combat is the same. The simplest crippling, maiming, and killing actions work best. These skills are not intended to put a wiseguy on his back or to discourage some other nuisance from pestering one at a social gathering. THEY ARE INTENDED TO BE THERE FOR THEIR POSSESSOR WHEN NEEDED, AND WHEN A FIREARM OR OTHER ACTUAL WEAPON IS UNAVAILABLE.

Why do we continue to reiterate and to hammer away incessantly at the "combat is not the same as sport" theme? Simply because it is TRUE... and because too many in the martial arts field still fail to appreciate this simple fact. What is more, the recent advent of the "challenge" fights, and of the the groundgrappling thing has actually been aggressively misinforming the self-defense seeking public. WE HAVE ABSOLUTELY NOTHING AGAINST THE COMBATIVE SPORTS. Our only contention is that sporting events are not combative engagements, and that which is appropriate in one venue is NOT (regardless of who makes the claim, otherwise) appropriate in the other venue.


Combat is distinguished from contest in many ways; but perhaps the most significant is that in combat there are NO rules. None. Ever.

The individual who aspires to a level of genuine preparedness to be able to cope with extralegal violence at any time must appreciate this critical difference, and train accordingly.

Being ready to explode and destroy an attacker — in the split second that it takes to realize that one is in fact being attacked — is paramount.
You can have a competitive or a combat system. But do not deceive yourself. You cannot have both.