Today I was inspired by this story about a local grandmother who single-handedly fought off two armed home invaders. I was inspired because this story highlights how untrue many statements are that I’ve heard from martial arts and self defense ‘experts’.

Let’s break down a few myths that I’ve been trying to debunk for years:

Self Defense Myths Perpetuated By Experts

1. You can’t fight multiple attackers
2. You need years of training to defend yourself
3. All fights wind up as a wrestling match on the ground
4. You can’t fight armed people without getting killed
5. Untrained people just freeze up
6. You have to be in great shape to defend yourself

In my experience, most instructors out there get their ideas about self defense from the same place most people do – movies and the TV. They also tend to think in absolutes like “never”, and “always”.

Here’s an absolute that makes sense: “Every situation is different”.

Here’s what I would rather hear:

1. Defending yourself from  multiple opponents is hard, but it’s definitely been done and can be done.
2. Untrained people defend themselves successfully every day. Training makes you better at defending yourself.
3. It’s a good idea to learn how to disengage if you’re ever grounded. Some self defense situations wind up with both opponents on the ground, but you don’t want to go there if at all possible.
4. Weapons are always to be considered dangerous. Sometimes armed assailants wound or kill their targets, but this isn’t a definite outcome.
5. Sometimes people freeze up, even trained people. But there are a range of reactions including fight or flight that are more common. Most people are not good at predicting what would happen to them or others under duress.
6. Fitness is a definite advantage in self defense situations. However, unfit people can be skilled. Skilled and unskilled people defend themselves successfully every day. If your self defense training requires you to be in peak physical condition to execute, it might be less effective when you are sick, injured, or elderly.

You do not need to be some kind of commando trained lethal weapon to defend yourself from most common situations. Real self defense is not about fighting like you see it in the movies.

Martial arts skills are far less generalizable than many people would think. I am reminded of an interview I once heard with Joe Rogan who said, “The UFC has proven that Brazilian Jujutsu is the most effective martial art in the world.” That’s a load of crap.

First, this is to take nothing away, or in any way insult BJJ, MMA, the UFC, or anyone who teaches, studies, or competes in those systems. I do not denigrate other systems or teachers as a rule. However, and person that claims that one martial art is superior to another is either ignorant or intentionally misleading people. There is no such martial art – never has been, never will be. I’d like to share a video that I think highlights this:

What you’ll see here is some of America’s most skilled combative athletes going to experience some of the U.S. Marine Corps Martial Arts Program (MCMAP). The most interesting section, to me, is where the UFC guys go to do an exercise called “The Last of the Mohicans.”

Holding a weapon and suited up in armor, they are to run a distance and face multiple opponents who are likewise armed. There are no rules, their goal is to “kill” their opponents. In the video presented, you’ll see a couple of the guys just freeze up until their Marine escort yells at them to attack. Once they begin to attack they are usually taken out by a second assailant.

One of the participants, talking to the camera, admits that he went 4 times and didn’t survive a single encounter. Does this mean that these guys suck? No, not at all.

What you have is people (both Marines and UFC guys) who train specifically to achieve certain goals, under certain conditions, in a certain environment, with certain rules. They are both the best at what they do. However, take a UFC guy and remove him from the ring, eliminate his rules, give him gear he isn’t used to carrying, and face him against multiple opponents and weapons – his skills will only translate so far. Take a Marine who is the best at what he does and throw him into the UFC, give him rules, change his environment and his opponent – again, he’ll only do so well.

Specificity is the key. Martial skills only generalize so far. Want to defend against a knife? Better train that. Want to defend against multiple opponents? You better train that. Do you want to be a good sport fighter? Train that sport.

Arguments over which style is the best have been going on for decades. It’s a waste of time. You should understand why you are training, and make sure you focus on that.

Someone once asked my sensei what he would do if Royce Gracie attacked him and tried to take him down. My sensei’s answer, “I dunno, probably pull out my knife and stick him.” The questioner was awestruck at the answer. My sensei went on, “I don’t train for sport, this is a school of combat. Since I don’t compete, if Royce Gracie was attacking me, it would mean he intended on doing my family harm and I would defend myself. Since Royce Gracie seems like a nice person who doesn’t assault people, this seems like an unlike scenario.”

I am sure that this person was not totally satisfied with the answer. What the person was looking for was akin to the age-old mental rat-hole that we see time and time again, “which martial art is the best.” Let me be up front, there is no such thing. If there was, everybody would learn that one, and it would cease to be effective. On to the question at hand:

There is nothing wrong with sport-oriented martial arts schools. I don’t denigrate other systems or teachers. Sport schools simply have a different focus. As a practitioner of combat-oriented jujutsu, I would undoubtedly get wasted stepping into a ring with a seasoned MMA competitor. I have no idea even what the rules our. My training, which involves killing and crippling techniques, would not carry over legally into the ring. I would be unprepared.

Does this mean that my art sucks? For MMA competition, yes. However, I personally have used my jujutsu to stave off a couple of assaults. My teacher, and fellow students have used this exact training to survive knife and gun assaults, muggings, attempted rapes, and other violent encounters. Our training works, and I have confidence in it.

Does this mean that an MMA competitor would do crappy in a self defense situation. Who knows? It really depends on the person, the situation, and the encounter. Surely MMA practitioners have combative skills and a high fitness level that may be helpful in a combat situation. Some tendencies of MMA fighters (such as the focus on a single adversary, going to the ground, and a lack of weapons training) might be shortcomings in certain situations unless there has been some cross training.

One thing I have learned over the years is that combat effectiveness is less about the art and more about the artist. I’d like to think that our training has been tweaked by real world survival situations enough that it provides a significant advantage in self-defense. I can tell you that there is no training like ours in Maine. But, if you come here expecting to learn how to grapple for points, you’ll be disappointed.