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Realistic/Street Arts

If you read about martial arts styles or visit schools of different martial art styles, you will see or hear the terms "realistic" or "street" used to describe techniques used in some styles. Just what is a realistic or a street technique? The premise of these terms is that "traditional" martial arts are useless outside the school environment and that, to effectively defend yourself outside the school, you must study a "modern" fighting style designed to combat situations you may encounter in everyday life. But, are traditional styles necessarily useless on the street, and are realistic styles necessarily useful for the types of confrontations ordinary people may face on the streets?

What does "street" mean?  One would assume "street" would mean self-defense situations that average people may have to face while moving around in the world outside of their homes. If this were the case, then people would need to know how to defend themselves from minor confrontations, such angry motorists, purse snatchers, aggressive panhandlers, obnoxious drunks, over amorous suitors, etc., not from major confrontations, such as gang fighting, knife duels, raging murderers, terrorists, etc. For over 95 percent of the population, even minor confrontations will never occur, and, when they do occur, they do not escalate to the point of needing physical self-defense techniques. Psychological techniques, such as smooth talking or intimidation, end most minor confrontations. Major confrontations seldom occur, even in today's supposedly crime ridden society. So, is there a really need for the ordinary person to train for a knife fight or a kidnapping. 

We all insure our homes against damage that commonly occurs, such as fire or plumbing leaks, but only a few homeowners insure, or even need to insure, against less common dangers, such as floods, hurricanes, or tornadoes. Since it is possible for a tornado to occur most anywhere, why do not we all insure our homes against one. We do not because it costs more and because it is not economical to insure against every possible disaster. Therefore, we insure against disasters that have a greater chance of occurring. We drive down highways at high speeds, directly at other speeding vehicles that only miss us by a few inches, and yet we do not not wear helmets, have roll cages, wear HANS devices, etc. In the real world, we prepare for what may occur, and even then our preparation is only to the level of what is convenient and economical to us. So, why should we insure that we are prepared for self-defense confrontations that we are unlikely to ever face?

Can you envision a soccer mom taking a mugger to the ground in figure-four-reverse-toe hold? Can you imagine a stock broker in business suit engaging in a knife duel with a street thug? Granted, anything may happen, but some things rarely happen; so it is waste of time, effort, and money to worry about them. You should consider rare occurrences and have a general overall strategy for handling them if they should occur, but you do not concern yourself with perfecting individual tactics to use when they do occur.

People who train for self-defense in street fights, knife fights, gang fights, etc. are people who usually currently engage, or who have engaged, in these types of confrontations at some time in their past. People usually do not care much about some rare disease until they, or someone close to them, has the disease. Then the disease is the most important thing in their lives, and they think everyone else should care about the disease as much as they do. Once an ordinary person has been attacked on the street by a knife wielding thug, the person feels the need to train in knife fighting and thinks everyone else should train in knife fighting; for if it happen to them, it could happen to anyone, and if it happened once, it could happen again. This is only human nature but it is not necessarily the correct way to deal with rare occurrences that have occurred. After some rare event occurs, you should take reasonable precautions against it happening again, and then you should accept the fact that sometimes "shit happens," and just because it happened once, it does not mean it will happen again.

Police officers work in a world of violence everyday. They learn some hand-to-hand tactics during recruit training and then that is usually the last time they train in any self-defense techniques. You would think they would train at least once a week. However, they are just people; if there is not a perceived need for something, they do not want to spend the time or effort to bother with it. Even though their jobs deal with violence, they most police officers rarely have to defend themselves, so they do not see a need for any extra self-defense training. If they are not that concerned, why should you be so concerned?

One thing to remember about criminals is that they may be evil and ruthless, but they are losers. The reason they are criminals is because they have failed at everything else they have tried to do. The reason they have failed is because they do not have the determination and dedication it takes to become a success. Being failures at everything else in life, they are also failures at being criminals; that is why prisons are full of criminals. A criminal may have a firearm, but he or she does not practice shooting or take lessons in shooting, they just shoot. The media always reports the rare cases when a criminal shoots and hits someone, but they seldom report the many, many times that criminals shoot and do not hit anything.  When you face a criminal, you may be facing a ruthless, dangerous psycho, but you are probably not facing a trained fighter. Thugs do no train, their whole purpose in life is seeking and attaining instant gratification, such as the pleasure they get from using drugs or the exhilaration they get when overpowering another person. They do not do anything that takes much effort, so they certainly will not spend time training in anything.

If you are involved in street fighting, or you daily deal with criminals (such as being a police officer or even a drug dealer), or you live in an area where attacks are common place, then you may need to train in a "street" martial arts style. However, if you are an ordinary person leading an ordinary life, then violent, aggressive, highly physical martial arts training is a waste of time and money, unless you are just doing it simply for enjoyment.

Traditional martial artists spend hours and hours practicing punches and kicks to develop speed, power, and accuracy in their techniques. Then they spend years sparring in class and in competition, where, under stress, they have to use the same techniques the practiced in class against all sizes of people attacking from all directions. If your "street" training does not have you practicing the same techniques for hours and hours against all sizes of people attacking from all directions, then you will be doomed when you try to use the same techniques on the street. When surprised and under stress, you will do what comes naturally. If your reaction movements have not trained until they have become instinctive, then you will probably not react as you have practiced in class, and the techniques you do use may not work because the attacker is attacking from an unfamiliar direction or position. Remember, no technique will work unless you use it, and use properly with power. An attacker may just be mad at you and want to smack you around some. But if you do some half-ass technique, the attacker will then be prepared for any thing else you make try to do, and may become even more angry and try to kill you.

Traditional martial arts are not just for self-defense. They are practiced as sports, hobbies, character builders, confidence builders, fitness builders, etc. If you only train in any martial art just for self-defense, then you are insuring yourself against something that may never occur. When considering a martial art to study, self-defense should be consideration, but it should not be your primary consideration. If it is, you will probably drop out of training after a short time.

"Street" or "realistic" martial arts are an option when seeking a martial art to pursue, just do you homework before choosing one.

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