True. But don’t forget that 90% start on the feet.
The truth is, if you’re awareness has failed and you find yourself in a situation that you can’t talk yourself out of, the chances are you’re on your feet (as are the antagonists).
This is where preemptive striking, power and accuracy will come into play. You want to know that when you make contact, it counts. The ground is the last place you want to be.
For this reason the majority of traditional martial arts are all stand up based, including kenpo and eskrima. Many Filipino’s have a very simple viewpoint of ground fighting, if you see people doing it, go over and stab one of them, or kick a few heads.
Does this mean we shouldn’t learn grappling, absolutely not. It is a very valuable skill, and great conditioning, but it is far from being the be all and end all I often see it touted as.
You won’t see finer grappling than in the octagon of the UFC. But on many occasions I’ve heard discussions with various mma’ers that go the way of “but most fights go to ground……”, “submissions are best….” etc, please note I hold mma in the highest regard and have a few of my own students actively involved in mma. But on the street these arguments are highly flawed.
My personal favorite UFC fighter is the former champion and UFC legend, Chuck Liddel.
Why?
He fights similar to a street fighter, avoiding going to ground and instead preferring to knock out the majority of his opponents. That and the fact that he’s also a Kenpo man. Chuck has great takedown defence and awesome striking power.
Rolling on the ground is great training, but do so for more than a second or two outside and you’ll have people putting the boot in on you from all sides. Submissions on the street are dangerous, it is much safer to strike with all you have and get the hell out of dodge.
Spend time on the heavy bag, incorporate power training (kettlebells are great for this), learn to hit from any angle with all your natural weapons (hammer fist, palm, knuckles, forearms, elbows etc..)with no wind up and full hip and body involvement. Train to strike from compromised positions where you have no space to swing, no leverage from your legs or one limb disabled.
And train to be accurate and relentless.
Wild Geese any cause but our own