BJJ Self Defense Sucks

No Kaylens were (seriously) harmed in the making of this video.
Why does a really good martial art have really bad self defense moves? Let's find out!
My Twitter: / armchairviolenc
Thanks to Metrolina Martial Arts for letting me film in their gym! Their channel: / @metrolinamartialarts
(Metrolina MA does not necessarily endorse any views expressed in this video. I need to be really clear about this. My rampant criticism of everyone in the world is not necessarily reflective of the views of Metrolina Martial Arts' instructors or students.)

[@ArmchairViolence]

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this video are not necessarily held by the owners, instructors, or students of Metrolina Martial Arts. My views are completely my own.

[@RudolfInderst]

Yeah, I thought that would happen. :)

[@grandwonder5858]

Dude, do you realize how much pain you have caused those UFC fanboys who say that BBJ is the only martial art that works in a real fight? Believe me, they know this for a fact because of the thousands of UFC fights that they have watched! That makes them the real experts of martial arts and the judge of what works and what doesn’t, not you or me!

[@saure22]

Who’d you get in trouble?

[@dragonslayer-eo7ki]

I love your content my guy your giving me tons of martial arts knowledge and making me laugh in the process thank you armchair violence

[@asengeorgiev7848]

Well, I'm glad that your views are completely your own, because they show mostly a lack of understanding of how street attacks actually happen (and work).

[@hard2hurt]

I've wanted to go after that weird bjj self defense curriculum for awhile, but this is better than what I was gonna ever do. Very thorough... very well done.

[@wildys6]

Yeah but I still'd want to watch your hot take aswell

[@ShengFink]

if the stuff shown in the video is gracie jiu jitsu then at least these parts of gracie jiu jitsu seem pretty bad (please don't track me down and do bad things to me gracie family)

[@BOBBOB-tx7ox]

@@ShengFink So funny, I just want the correct things said nothing more and nothing less

[@ShengFink]

@@BOBBOB-tx7ox lol ok buddy

[@jholmes45]

I was just going to comment something about how this dude is like an Aldi's version of Icy Mike, but then here you are.

[@chadbroski4611]

A drunk guy legitimately tried to front choke me at a party one time because we ran into each other and that pissed him off. I’ve been doing martial arts since I was and I was 7 and I was 21 at the time. Didn’t do anything fancy, straight up punched him in the face and that was lights out for the drunk idiot. Self-defense is about keeping it simple. Also, avoid drunk idiots.

[@krisdamen6472]

Was he really gonna kill you with his front choke? Was he trying? Was there no better alternative than punching him in the face? Of course punching him can work to defend yourself. But it can also kill him if he falls on the concrete and breaks his skull. Some of you guys don't understand until you accidently kill someone or put someone's father or child in a coma. Then you wake up and realize why jiu-jitsu is so good for self-defense

[@greenlitlleman]

@krisdamen6472 Yeah, right. Grappling is good if you just need to dominate an untrained idiot who thinks too much of himself. Low kicks are nice, too. Punching them in the face can get you in prison.

[@haxxah]

​@@krisdamen6472he can also hit his head when you try to take him down lmao

[@SOUKOKU-SUPREMACY69]

@@krisdamen6472 If some guy randomly starts choking me, I will defend myself in the most effective way and keeping them safe and unharmed is the least of my worries in that moment

[@basti2607]

@@krisdamen6472 play stupid games, win stupid prices. Action always has a reaction. When you don't want to get hurt, don't start a fight.

[@benjaminhorowitz9927]

Kaylen carrying Jake out of the screen is the greatest thing I've seen today

[@Vlad_Tepes_III]

Literally took him for a ride. I wonder if that was unscripted, if so then it's doubly hilarious.

[@bewarethegreyghost]

The front choke is extremely common in domestic violence. That's why it's so common in self defence.

[@Liam1991]

Sadly he's looking at it from the point of view of who does sport martial arts. I very much doubt he has much knowledge on domestic abuse

[@amethystevans4885]

That may be, but it "works" in that context because of psychological factors. Which are unrelated and immaterial to the physical realities of the position.

[@AgentHomer]

@@Liam1991 in the context of domestic violence, the moves he cliticises still don't work and "the sport martial arts" of, say, rotating your body into a hook to the head is still the best answer.

[@jaketheasianguy3307]

@@Liam1991 how to defend against it is still the same thing. Dealing with an untrained raging spouse or an untrained strange asshole on the street is the same thing. What the defender need is to get over the fear, which they probably could if they trained properly and not from freaking self defense class 101

[@katokianimation]

In bjj it is not even a real choke it is just a bad frame. Stiff arm + v grip on the neck. That is a good no gi frame for knee on belly top and butterfly guard. This is useless you need fundamental understanding of how grips an biomechanics work. Good defense and offense and good exploit of bad defense and bad offense. That is the most effective way. Instead of learning how to counter very specific white belt mistakes. If it ever happens the way you imagine...

[@bryantaylor1572]

Thank you for pointing out the uselessness of the front choke. It's a decent intimidation tactic against defenseless victims, but that's about all it has.

[@amethystevans4885]

@Andrew And an untrained victim will be able to push or kick them off. I feel like movies have made the front choke SEEM more common than it actually is.

[@tjl4688]

@@amethystevans4885 I've done the front choke to women in class and unless they are trained, I generally can keep myself in range of them. If they try and kick me while being driven backwards, they often lose balance and open themselves to GnP. The headslip leaves you open to a knee maybe, but what this video fails to address is that it allows you to keep your base. If you're afraid of knees, cover your face as you duck your head.

[@amethystevans4885]

@@tjl4688 But can you keep hold of the choke? I seriously doubt it. I can literally reach out and shove away men 50lbs.+ bigger than me. They might follow because that's how it works. But the position was successfully escaped. Though in open space, I do prefer other options over a kick because of the range. Kicks work better from against a wall because you can brace on it. The head slip doesn't work. Sure, it leaves you open to a knee IF you can get your head through, but I've never managed it against someone who was trying to stop me. They just bring their arms together. The front choke is strong from the FRONT. Why would you try to escape in the direction of the strongest resistance?

[@tjl4688]

@@amethystevans4885 I can drive women back into a wall, yes. Sometimes they get away, which is great! But sometimes they don't, which is the concern. Striking DOES work, but look at the size of Rener compared to Aja in that video; his arms are twice the size of hers. She can't reach him if she wanted to. You want a high percentage option, which the head slip offers. Just a step back into a basic boxing head slip is usually sufficient, not the exaggerated one shown in the demonstration. I don't need to keep pressure on the choke, all I need is control of the neck. I'm not trying to choke you standing, I want you pinned against a wall to do that. If you cannot completely break free and disengage, then I would argue you have not escaped the position.

[@amethystevans4885]

@@tjl4688 Okay, but...have you actually tried literally anything else? Preferably with someone you're not teaching, because a newbie will go with anything you say works and give up on anything you say doesn't work. Because I have tried a LOT of things. (Had a friend in college who was really into self-defense and was always asking to test stuff with me.) The head slip is one of few that never worked. Which makes sense logically because the head slip tries to escape in the only direction the front choke is strong--the front. Against a wall or not, there are several good options for getting out of the front choke. Assuming I can't just tank it, which I usually can, and I'm SMALL--probably about that girl's size, actually. If there were some giant I couldn't reach with my fists, I could still reach with my feet, or use a different escape that doesn't involve striking. Control of the neck isn't good for much, though? Especially standing.

[@CombatSelfDefense]

"The physical manifestation of a straw man argument." bravo, bravo. The one thing I would say about front choke is that, while it is awful as an actual attack, it is great as a show of dominance. Speaking specifically about domestic violence scenarios, a bigger, stronger man putting his hands on a woman's neck is VERY aggressive, and if she panics before she realizes she can defend herself, he's going to accomplish his goal of hurting her. So not a great attack, but a good power move. 100000% agree about the "*snort snort* you can't go to the ground, what about their friends!" bullshit

[@1individeo]

I see what you mean but it is not BS. There is a reason why in the military they teach you to avoid going on the ground at all cost. Now the good thing about BJJ is the fact that it teaches you to deal with this situation if you cant avoid going onn the ground or if you are taken down.

[@IphigeniaAtAulis]

@@1individeo Also, if your attacker has a longer reach then you, then simply "punching them in the face" isn't going to do much because all you are hitting is air. The channel is called Armchair Violence, and he's really demonstrating that here.

[@eeurr1306]

@@IphigeniaAtAulis You can still kick though

[@IphigeniaAtAulis]

@@eeurr1306 Have you ever tried kicking someone while being held against a wall. Kind of hard to general power from there. Most you can do is kick in the groin. Of course, he seems like the kind of person who would say that groin kicks don't work because "UFC".

[@eeurr1306]

@@IphigeniaAtAulis Whats the problem with kicking when being held against a wall, I just tried that with another person and it worked perfectly fine

[@bob67497]

The real reason no, "self defense technique" works at all is that they're all supposed to be shortcuts that let people skip a fight, and that's not a real thing.

[@franciscogomez4382]

Yes!!! After taking freestyle wrestling, Judo and BJJ, what always worked in actual street fights (only 3) was single/double takedown, a few punches and just run. Running helps...lol

[@ArmchairViolence]

Takedown, punch, and run is honestly an S-tier combo. Hard to do better than that!

[@sexmansex4776]

you forgot shielding with plastic chairs. plastic chairs are goated.

[@ajax3310]

​@@sexmansex4776 I always make sure to cut through a market square and knock over some cabbage carts to trip up any pursuers

[@nemo5335]

@@ArmchairViolence no, the S tier is avoiding the fight in the first place.

[@counterkidnapping1737]

Exactly. Forget about the underhook he can still punch you, collar tie he can still punch you too, overhook is also the same.

[@lordvoldemort1985]

that was the fastest 20 mins of my life dude. The concept of people creating garbage fake solutions to sell a product is something that deeply irks me, but I had no idea it exists at such a deep level (even with the GRACIE family!). I watched a lot of those gracie self defence videos in the past and just took whatever he said as 100% truth. Thank you for calling out the bs and being funny and weird af while doing it lol

[@eliph4165]

I just "escaped" a self defense based bjj gym some months ago, I was too blind to see it as newbie when I started there, the difference is huuuge, people in my new bjj and mma gym actually know how to fight and I'm learning meaningful stuff.

[@robertmayfield8746]

'Being put in a headlock is a gift' - I love it

[@imatreebelieveme6094]

The "more than I can generate with my throat" "equal and opposite reaction into my windpipe" section genuinely had me laughing out loud.

[@vforvendetta2028]

In self-defense, the simpler the moves, the better, in a street situation, having to think a lot, flowering too much ends up killing you. Do not fight unarmed with anyone, always have some kind of weapon within easy reach, always try to have an advantage.

[@yonnihils]

Knowledge of martial arts is a weapon

[@antoniojaguilar]

Simpler is way better. When you are attacked and panicked your forget the fancy techniques and fall back to simple striking and the most basic grappling.

[@yonnihils]

@@antoniojaguilar or you train and drill until it becomes muscle memory. The point is to develop your reflexes; you’re not relying on trying to remember techniques in real time.

[@dannythorne7143]

Absolutely 💯. Keeping the advantage is key.

[@user-wd4ge2zh2c]

If the other person is unarmed and you pull a weapon, you will be going to jail and possibly prison.

[@gutts1405]

Watched 3 minutes into this video and I'm already subscribed. Finally someone who talks bluntly and talks sense. Excellent video so far

[@jb_lofi]

This is one of the only grappling/defense/mma related channels to make me laugh so hard I was crying, absolutely subscribing. Love it.

[@stephenschiffman5940]

"But, if you think he's wrong, go challenge Rener Gracie to a fight." To those who will inevitably comment that, hear me loud and clear. JUST BECAUSE SOMEONE IS A GREAT FIGHTER DOESN'T MEAN EVERYTHING THEY SAY IS TRUE. Rener Gracie can absolutely beat me in a fight, I'm not under any illusions that he wouldn't. But that doesn't change anything. Him being able to submit me, and his "escape from back choke" not working, are two completely separate things.

[@horrors-of-biology]

OMG THE JUST LEAVE TECHNIQUE MADE ME CRACK UP

[@dapro5002]

One of the best videos about this topic, that is for some reason a sacred cow. BJJ is an AMAZING form of self defence, but only when being pressure tested to oblivion. People like Ryan Hoover, Aaron Jannetti, Eli Knight, Craig Douglas, Cecil Burch, Paul Sharp, Shawn Lupka, Jerry Wetzel, and so, so, SO many more are currently teaching self defence based on BJJ, Judo, Wrestling, Muay Thai and Boxing-or in other words-MMA, but the common denominator between everyone here is that they all use the techniques and principles from the combat sports versions of the art! Yes, they may need some modifications and alterations, but you don’t need to make a whole new art! Spider Guard, leg lassos and gogo clinch are fantastic for gun grapples, arm drags are maybe the best move for self defence, reverse Kesa Gatame is one of the most underrated positions for weapons-based grappling, and many more solutions exist within the art, that just need to come out under pressure testing. But that’s the big thing-they have to come out of testing! Not out of lineage, out of testing! That’s what made BJJ different than most arts-the fact that it’s tested! But for another great thing you mentioned-the headlock. Oh, my fucking god. If you look at the school bully headlock, you’ll see that it isn’t a choke, it gives you a free angle, doesn’t really affect your posture if you know how to wrestle, and also-doesn’t tie up any of your hands, but it does tie up both of his! So-other than attacking the legs (which is a fantastic solution for this position, btw), you can also just pop your head back (if the headlock is tight, you might need to get your hand in beforehand) and get their back! For free! And even if you don’t-the moment you get your hand in (which isn’t hard to do-you can literally just comb your hair and your hand will be inside), you get a free angle, and if you’re not as slow as a turtle, also a free underhook and even a free split seatbelt, which is an amazing position of dominance for self defence (especially if you want to draw a weapon/hit your opponent and stop him from hitting you/getting his weapon). tl;dr-if you know how to grapple and strike, all you need to do for self defence is just FAAFO. Don’t know what to do against a gun/knife/stick? Just buy a training version of it and roll! Don’t know what to do against two attackers? Start clinching/striking/grappling with one person and then get a second one to try to attack you! Want to learn T-Shirt chokes? Roll in a T-Shirt! It’s literally that easy! If you want to get to the answers in a shorter amount of time, you can check out every person I’ve mentioned above. Thanks again man, you’re one of the most important voices in this community.

[@PaladinJackal]

What's interesting is he was using Eli Knight teaching as what not to do

[@Frisbinator]

Dude chill out on the keyboard, I couldn’t read your entire post, you’re not Dostoyevsky so it’s not worth reading an entire book of a stranger, say more in less words how about that bud

[@dapro5002]

@@Frisbinator good to hear, buddy! If it’s too long for your little brain to read, feel free to… idk… not do that! No one is forcing you to read this.

[@dapro5002]

@@PaladinJackal he talked about Eli when he just repeats traditional techniques that don’t work, versus Eli when he pressure tests and actually tries (btw, he later mentions this exact point in the video).

[@JulianDocumentary]

I have copy pasted your comment to my notebook to read it later

[@dmanman5781]

I've studied BJJ for 2 years. Made blue belt. Everything he says makes sense. I could sense "something was wrong" with the moves I was learning, but I didn't have the confidence to just look for better solutions... like punching. I tried to trust my teachers. What a massive mistake. Thank you for making this video. It opened my eyes.

[@Dippa666]

Hope by studied BJJ you mean attended a BJJ as self defence class, as regular BJJ is not what hes talking about here.

[@davorzdralo8000]

​@@Dippa666regular BJJ is a nice sport, but not much better than this for self defence or real fighting.

[@MrCmon113]

@@davorzdralo8000 If you put someone, who did striking for a year and no grappling, against someone, who did grappling and no striking, my money is on the grappler. And I think that opinion is backed up by 100+ years of vale-tudo competitions. Of course you need both to really know how to fight.

[@davorzdralo8000]

@@MrCmon113 someone who trained boxing for a year will murder someone who trained grappling of any kind for a year if we are talking about fighting and not sport.

[@alexmurphy5289]

Striker would always win in a real fight because the grappler can’t evade or cover and will go for the legs. They will just get knees and kicks as well, BJJ is a sport

[@BradYaeger]

One of my biggest problems with grip breaking techniques in general is they seem to imply that once you break it the bad guy can't just grab you again . Like some sort of reverse game of Tag.

[@jaketheasianguy3307]

Yea, you need to grip him back and execute things like throws or takedowns after you break his grip. Just break it and stand there or turn your back and try to get away and he will just grab you again

[@katokianimation]

The Gracie breakdown had a new video about kidnaping where they showed that if you can't break the grip, lay down and kick your way out. And i wrote a comment about that. I think it is bs because now you have to deal with not being ground and pounded. And people answered... they said that would never happen, the point is that it is harder to drag and they don't want to hit you. If they see it is hard to pull you away they will leave you alone after 30 seconds. And it was super hypocritical. Clinch fighting is not okay because you don't want to exchange strikes with a bigger man if you are a woman. But kicking thier lower body from the ground is okay and they would never kick back...

[@tjl4688]

@@katokianimation That's not quite what Eve was showing. Rener didn't quite explain what her feet were doing other than kicking. Yes, she basically pulled guard, but the idea was to push on Rener's hips with her feet to try and give herself more leverage for breaking his grip. The upkicks are just extra deterrents, but yes, 100% this brings the risk of getting mounted. Again, as Rener says, everything is on the table. One of the first things taught in the women's program is that you must do EVERYTHING you can not to be taken in isolation. If that means risking getting mounted on in public, so be it.

[@katokianimation]

@@tjl4688 oh pls not again, i had enough....

[@tjl4688]

@@katokianimation can't help it. But again, if you can't break that grip, what should a smaller, weaker person do?

[@pipbullz]

This is realistic, yet fun to watch. Not bored at all. You got my sub, bro.

[@darrenstettner5381]

Great points as usual. Can’t believe this channel only has 9k followers.

[@iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii2458]

Someone tried to use BJJ on me, so I used pocket sand to stop him.

[@SuhbanIo]

lol

[@homegrownrevolution9350]

As a black belt under Royce, I experienced a full range of human emotions watching this video! There was much that I agreed with, and a few points I thought were an unfair representation of Helio’s basic curriculum and it’s intention, or how self defense is taught and practiced in schools that make that the priority. Still, your video is awesome and really helpful, honestly. I chuckled a lot and thought deeply about my own beliefs and assumptions - that’s two wins. Thank you!

[@HostileAtHeart]

You're definitely a black belt in humility and being a decent human being! Great comment :)

[@subtlewindtv1772]

Kung Fu Is The best system period. We been around thousands of Years before firearms, No real men want to roll around on the ground with other men. BJJ Men roll on the ground more hours per week than they do there own WIFE? wtf?

[@CyberChrist]

I'd love to see a video response, but good on you for taking criticism like a champ ;)

[@user-pl9ox6ls9q]

I would only learn Gracie Juitsu from Helio sons.Noone else because the modern BJJ doesn't work in the streets.

[@FR-ty5vn]

@@user-pl9ox6ls9qI train under Royce black belts, we put the gloves on often, practice with strikes and weapons, the it works or it doesn’t work misses all the nuance.

[@jeoster7400]

Just binge watched your videos, keep up the good work.

[@gmeister3022]

I agree with your points. I think such a video was long overdue. Well done!

[@michelemalbano]

In my BJJ school the only guy who (very rarely) teaches self defense is also a MMA competitor. Punches, knees and ground & pound

[@Guitarist166]

Nice!! My instructors, show us how to get to an advantageous position to begin striking and then disengage. I think there are some schools that are aware of this and are trying to evolve.

[@Donotaro22]

I learn something new everyday. Also props to your girlfriend for basically dying every vid for our education and entertainment.

[@holywaterbottle3175]

"just leave" This is most likely the best self defence advice on KZbin. No joke

[@jaketheasianguy3307]

And don't hang out with people that make "just leave" option not available

[@Raz0rking]

Good cardio is the best self defence.

[@holywaterbottle3175]

@@Raz0rking running is "just leave" but with speed. Just leave wins again

[@Liam1991]

That's basically the advice most self-defense systems tell their students. But obviously we don't live in a perfect world where you could walk away.

[@haydenford3794]

Parkour is just he French martial art if running away

[@kacklerot]

I love this! Thank you for this. With your explanation of headlocks and rear chokes I never seen it in this light before. Grappling is my weakest but ironically has protected more in self defense situations than anything else.

[@surfside16]

Great. Keep up with these videos. They're informative and entertaining.

[@Shiresgammai]

It's true, the martial arts industry is the most shameless of all. They literally play with human lives and sell them garbage in gigantic, overblown curriculums, despite the fact that a couple of boxing and wrestling lessons give you the same amount of fighting prowess. It's sad really. 100 percent agree with you, the "giving people bad moves is arguably worse than nothing at all" is so very true. I experienced this myself.

[@jholmes45]

It's not even arguably worse, it is much, much worse. At least if they took those boxing and wrestling classes (and got to do some light sparring) they'd get the reality check that's so sorely lacking from so many people's worldview when it comes to violence. Then, knowing what they don't know, they could make an informed decision of either training a combat sport to become proficient at some aspect of fighting or really prioritizing situational awareness and getting the hell outta dodge when shit goes sideways. Actually you should do those last two things even if you can fight, but obviously it's even more important if you can't.

[@Shiresgammai]

@@jholmes45 You're right! Yet, we're never going to see a "martial art" which will ever acknowledge either. That's one of the things which killed martial arts for me: the fakeness and the insane mountains of garbage which come with it ("learn our curriculum of 200 techniques which takes 50 years to become proficient"), the worst part is the "you can come invincible" myth. It's actually so easy to kill that myth off, a look into local violence reports is more than enough to get rid of these fantasies. The whole money scamming aspect is just unbearable at this point. There's a guy in Germany who has become rich by basically selling people terrible Kung Fu and promising them that they can become invicible and able to deal with any attacker. He got wealthy and more than a dozen of his students were either killed or sent to the emergency room (he's actually not the only one, there are countless people who sell abysmal garbage to eager students).

[@blockmasterscott]

My issue is that they are not taught just how dangerous this stuff can be. For example, teaching a total beginner to strike someone in the throat, and they end up in jail.

[@Shiresgammai]

@@blockmasterscott They never teach people about the law in "self defense" classes, it's like teaching children to swim but failing to mention that water is wet.

[@blockmasterscott]

@@Shiresgammai Agreed 100%!

[@gagworks]

As a BJJ based self defense coach I love this! Some things you advocate like punching your way out of a neck grab are demonstrably not advisable or achievable in some situations, but it definitely definitely made me think about some things. I don't teach the collar grab defense as shown or even the finger pulling from the front neck grab. I had to find better solutions and modify the traditional curriculum a bit to make it more realistically applicable. A side headlock is not a 'gift' though, you can really get your neck broken. Also, we spar even in our self defense classes so a lot of the bullshit got filtered out pretty early on. The self-defense classes also work as a great feeder and introduction to sport BJJ and MMA.

[@smithyMcjoe]

BJJ is a tournament fighting style, can't convince me elsewise. My friends practiced it for years and can't do shit outside of a strictly regulated match, the amount of times he's had his ass handed to him because he thought BJJ was this superior martial art is actually kind of funny.

[@gagworks]

@@smithyMcjoe That's bizarre. America is different. It depends on where you learn I guess. So many schools in the States focus only on the sport. Have you seen the old Gracie challenge videos? We train to fight, match or natch, rules or no rules.

[@smithyMcjoe]

@@gagworksThe Gracie style BJJ is absolute trash and that's most prevelant world over I believe.

[@naakaalastudio6655]

@@smithyMcjoe Its always one of you with the "my friend does bjj and gets beat up". Why does your so called friend get into so many fights? Time after time, challenge matches after challenge matches BJJ is proven. What rank is this friend you speak off?

[@user-pl9ox6ls9q]

You have to learn the original self defense Gracie Juitsu curriculum.Not today's modified sport BJJ..

[@joss1578]

One of if not my favorite video on youtube. I love the way he puts so much emotian in the video.

[@dimaschine8838]

Love ur videos bro! Keep it up! Imo one of the most underrated channels on whole KZbin!

[@snehithabraham9907]

Man I'd love to hear a response to this from a bjj instructor who teaches this stuff, it'd be a great perspective to hear from. In my 7 years of training, I always wondered why no one just punched the other person during a front choke. Thanks for answering it finally

[@tjl4688]

The reason we don't advocate punching is to avoid breaking our hands. It also relies on pain compliance. Perhaps to our detriment, we always assume the bad guy is bigger, stronger and resilient to pain. Punching a dude who can resist pain can work, but it's easier to just use leverage and slip out.

[@dapro5002]

@@tjl4688 are you stupid? Punching works because it can physically knock someone out. It’s not based on pain compliance-even if it doesn’t hurt you, a well landed blow to the face can DEFINITELY knock you unconscious. Now, am I an advocator for only striking as a primary form of self defence? No! You also need wrestling, and clinching, and grappling, and how to combine all of those together. But out right lying about what punches do isn’t the way to do that. Also-“you can break your hand while punching”? First of all, Armchair Violence (literally the dude who made this video) made a great video showing why if you’re a good striker, that’s unlikely to happen (and why palm strikes aren’t an alternative to punches in most cases). Second of all-that can also happen when you go for a takedown, but no one is downplaying the importance of takedowns in self defence (and like punches, if you do them correctly, that’s very unlikely to happen). Third of all-you know that there are strikes other than punches, right? Teeps, roundhouses, knees, elbows, and many more strikes exist that aren’t punches. So it’s still not an excuse to skip out on striking for self defence.

[@spaleski87]

@@tjl4688 that's the dumbest thing I've ever heard. Why not then assume the attacker is a much better grappler? In real self defense you gouge eyes, groin strike, and whatever possible to inflict maximum damage quickly. You dont play touch-butt in bath robes in real life.

[@mastermichaeldunchok]

Also, if someone is actually holding you, they can upset your root so you can't punch.

[@darthbacntildeth7221]

@@spaleski87 The guy that brought that touch butt" phrase back into the limelight is a bjj black belt. I don't agree with some of the silly stuff shown demonstrated, but the classes I I took didn't teach them. Depending on who you are, punching in front choke is stupid. My wife for example, has some good punches and I can still pretty much shrug em off. Most of the time a front choke is up against a wall or something, so getting much leverage for a punch makes them more useless. Eye gouge if you can reach, great. Groin stuff, surprisingly useless if someone is pissed and maybe I just choke you on the ground instead. There are a few pretty easy ways to get outta that grip, maybe put some hurt on, and get away. There is a place for several parts of diff martial arts in knowing you can attempt to remove yourself from a life threatening situation, and bjj encompasses many things in an effective no bs way. I personally wouldn't spend my life training for the one time Ill probably ever need to defend myself or someone else unless it's my job, and this is after having spent some time with different stuff including diff striking, but mainly bjj. I will say, tho, that stuff like eye-gouging and whatnot aren't going to save you and aren't as easy to pull off as you might think (I'd still shoot for the moon and see if it does). In fact, in a bjj situation like a rnc or guillotine, etc.., if I feel like I'm really in a bad spot, nothing is going to make me let go unless you know an escape and can execute it. If I lose an eye in the 3 or so seconds it takes for you to pass out so I know I'll walk away, so be it. I've been bitten and other painful stuff and it didn't stop me doing jack (knee right on the ribs really sux too). If I even thought my eye was severely damaged, I'm an asshole, so I'd probably keep holding my choke on that person until they were dead.

[@peteripetrelli]

I'm missing the old song at the end

[@winst999]

Bro, this is my first time watching your videos and you have perfectly illustrated alot of the things i thought about fighting. Plus! You make it so enjoyable to watch and learn……Thank you. P.s the sad abused dog music had me in tears.

[@Spyronite913]

I genuinely laughed with the "difficult difficult lemon difficult" with the voice altered from being choked

[@keepcool2330]

BJJ is super fun, but I admit, it’s hard to instinctively remember what chess moves to make when someone is punching you in the face.

[@Canecorso14]

Judo is better

[@givemeajackson]

​@@Canecorso14 you mean the martial art where a fight is over as soon as someone's back touches the ground for a milisecond? Just like in real life?

[@markzuckerberg3128]

As someone who has done Japanese jujitsu for 10 years and 5 years of BJJ, I agree with this video 100%. About 99% of self defense moves are totally sh-t and your just better off punching the guy. Sadly, most martial artists including BJJ black belts just toe the line and teach the same crappy moves because it was taught to them. They never bother to actually consider if the moves actually work. Bravo. Great video.

[@Mike_LaFontaine75]

Which JJJ doesn't have strikes? Because we were always taught to strike and throw.

[@gagworks]

A 40kg woman punching an 80kg man is not advisable at all. Most people who need self defense are at a massive power disadvantage. Striking in such situations will just escalate the level of violence, making the attacker angry, thus putting the victim in more danger.

[@Mike_LaFontaine75]

@@gagworks In a JJJ situation, a strike is more of a distraction into a throw, submission, or escape. Would would you advise a smaller person to do? Relax and enjoy it?

[@gagworks]

@@Mike_LaFontaine75 those are not the only two options. Using strikes to set up a grappling solution is great. That's not what you implied in your original comment. Jus punching someone in the face can quickly become counterproductive in a hairy situation. I teach Judo and MMA so striking is definitely part of the curriculum but highly dependent on context.

[@Mike_LaFontaine75]

@@gagworks Wait, so you are saying that throws aren't grappling? You must be replying to someone else, because that's exactly what I said. In addition, if you are an accredited Judo teacher, you'd know about the Judo self defense katas that cover exactly what I'm talking about. Strike, throw, finish. This was the JJJ that I studied, and yes, we had unscripted scrimmages.

[@gradybaka4946]

thanks for wrecking my whole outlook on fighting. liked and subscribed.

[@lisawillis699]

I just recently found your channel. I think you're definitely spot on about the self defense techniques not working. I'd probably say when you're getting out of a rear naked choke is maybe give a "free" elbow when you're turning in to get out of it.

[@666Odysseus666]

This is great! Back in the day I used to call the headlock the "suicide headlock" and actually give it to beginners. The three main grappling control points are hips, shoulders (under the armpits) and legs. When you grab the headlock, not only do you control none of these points on your opponent, you also expose all three on yourself! And both hands are tied up to give you zero striking or defence. So glad someone has finally done a video on this! 🤣

[@thedogrunner]

Solid content. Great work.

[@justingolay]

Nice. Very thorough. I can tell there was a lot of effort put into this.

[@paul_warner]

I rewatched the "you can now take them for a ride" bit four times 😂😂 your videos are great! It's nice to know my instincts, for the most part, are superior to silly self-defense courses.

[@EffectiveMartialArts]

Love this. Very well thought out and executed. This kind of “self-defense” garbage needs to stop. I think it’s entirely possible to help untrained people improve at their own pace in a safe environment by simply introducing A BIT of pressure testing through progressive resistance. No need to be dishonest, training martial arts properly is actually lots of fun! Thanks for sharing 🙏 - Patrick

[@alexkehoepwj]

Any good self defense moves for when a girl is being repeatedly ragdolled during a demo?

[@ArmchairViolence]

Step 1: Git gud

[@alexkehoepwj]

@@ArmchairViolence 😂

[@TheVenerableMr.T]

Taking her somewhere nice, apparently. Self-defense doesn't always mean fighting :D

[@tak4043]

I've used the headlock escape successfully while rolling so thumbs up for teaching it from me. *with the change that your hand should lift from under the nose OR stuck your fingers into the eyes, which ever is appropriate for the occasion.

[@Barock.Johnson]

I guess my takeaway from the video is to go to a gym that has credible figures and is centered towards competition instead of being centered towards “self defense”, and then it’s important to practice other martial arts, or to deliver a proper punch or kick

[@mtgsalt1151]

That's all depends what you want out of a gym to be honest. Self defense gyms aren't bad.

[@wawawuu1514]

Just stumbled upon your channel. Me likey much. Perfect speed of delivery (for me), you make great points and you seem very nice, too. Subscribed. I'm only now afraid you will debunk every single martial art/combat system in existence, meaning there is nothing that works besides the obvious (punching,...).

[@BecozPro]

I do all my best learning whilst laughing, this video was excellent!

[@cgspodcast6466]

Great Video! Some interesting points. Thank you.

[@KevinStClair-ph6me]

Best analysis of the ineffectiveness and real world business reasons for a self defense curriculum that I was taught 25 years ago by a 6th Dan (currently grand master) practitioner. I would add one more real world consideration… the (usually sho-Dan or higher) attacker applying these scenarios is in real danger of getting accidentally injured if you let beginners punch under blind and scary conditions. Can you publish suggestions about how these defenses can be practiced in a full class environment?

[@scottmc6768]

I think most "self defense" instructionals I've seen (including stuff from BJJ) has been based around countering B.S. techniques like static wrist grabs, headlocks, double legs with terrible posture, back bear hugs over the arms, ect. I think bad self-defense instructors and con artist base their curriculum around countering these techiques because they're so useless that basically anything you do will successfully counter them. This let's instructors just make up and teach whatever they want, and it'll work. For example, I've seen about a hundred ways of escaping a static wrist grab because any variation of twisting and pulling your wrist away will break it.

[@dapro5002]

This reminds of a great saying by the one and only, Ramsey Dewey: the self defence community is the best at finding bad solutions to problems that don’t exist

[@tjl4688]

Renzo Gracie was literally headlocked in the NYC subway.

[@tjl4688]

What you call BS techniques are the ones used by untrained people. Yes, smart fighters would never bear hug people over their arms, but regular people who just want to pick you up WILL do it.

[@dapro5002]

@@tjl4688 yeah, that’s why using combat sports to defeat those moves is the best way to go about it. Because if I can survive a quality wrestler’s body lock, I’ll probably be okay with an over-the-arm and out of posture one. Same for school bully headlocks-using combat sports via leg takedowns is the best way to deal with them. Yes, there’s a reason to train against it, to make sure you can pull it off from that exact position under pressure, but wasting your time practicing bad escapes that don’t work from moves that are easily exploitable is a waste of time and money. And about the Renzo Gracie comment-yeah, he did! But the Renzo went and mounted the guy, and was in total control of the fight. Not because he did choke defence kata, but because he’s a good grappler.

[@BOBBOB-tx7ox]

For the most part the only relevant martial art in MMA is JuJitsu if it wasn't effective it wouldn't be used. So you stick to whatever art you learned and I hope it works for you.

[@HeartlessKnave]

We did the double choke in Shoto Karate today. They had us reach over/across their arms and dig our elbow in and down like a block then drop our weight. If I could have remembered all the stuff you showed in this video I would have loved trying just walking away or going into the fetal position basically anything other than what we were shown that worked as well or better. The person I was working with asked if I'd be okay with more pressure/resistance and was about to say I would prefer as much as he would be comfortable using, but got interrupted by the Sensei.

[@Osprey1994]

Even the small schools here teach striking, and teach the fundamentals of grappling. Knowing how to control someone in your guard, get into a strong mount, work control positions, be aware of takedowns, etc. After a year I remember going to my first belt promotion and we had some new white belts, it was nuts how much more dominant someone with a year of grappling is against someone who has slim to none. We would incorporate striking at the old gym regularly, and since I had a striking background growing up I found that I now had a really stable mount and was concious of leg control so I could just pound until they opened up an opportunity. At the end of the day though grappling and striking proficiency is for the worst case scenario. You never know what someone else has or knows and that's why the best defense against an attacker is knowing how to use a behavior altering device whether it's OC spray or a firearm.

[@IrishScouseViking]

THANK YOU for doing this video, I be talk about this for years , about some of the choke you are talking about , Respect from Europe, UK

[@manjitheerratic5127]

Finally, a clarification for my personal decision to put more focus from grappling to striking for better self-defense. Evasion + a couple of precise effective strike then haste to somewhere safe. Yes, BJJ is not bad but Self-defense is not only BJJ. Bravo

[@user-ph1ln2yh7l]

Amazing video, you just gained a subscriber✌️

[@azarel7]

This was a well done, well thought out video. Kudos.

[@snatchX626]

great vid. can you make video on comparing leglocks for bjj vs mma?

[@jaketheasianguy3307]

I read one of Jack Dempsey (a legendary boxer who is also very damn good at wrestling and probably Judo as well) book about self defense. And what do you know, instead of teaching 4 5 complicated steps when the opponent's hands are not free, he tell you to punch the other guy in the face.

[@imjustsam1745]

The same book will add power to your cross. Jack is a legend.

[@katokianimation]

He wasn't just a wrestler he was a catch wrestler. To him fighting and self defense mainly was knocking the guy out cold in a dominant fashion.

[@tjl4688]

The problem is that if the bad guy starts striking back, you open yourself to the boxer's chance. A big dude might make me lose my grip, but an untrained woman half my size probably won't.

[@katokianimation]

@@tjl4688 yeah go to an amateur boxing gym and ask a woman half of your size to punch your face with bare knuckles until you let her arm go to covering your face up... Unless we are talking about a 80 lbs woman who is hurting her arm more than your face, no without gloves your face will be f*cked up badly.... At best you won't see much because your eyes will be covered with blood. At worst it is a tko, and you loose because you are no longer intelligently defending yourself

[@nysurdatu5012]

Legend and in later years gave it to two guys who tried to rob him .

[@BeReadySelfDefense]

I don't always see eye to eye on your videos...but THIS. Man, this needed to be said. I hope everyone watches.

[@alfarabi73]

I am so glad I discovered your channel. We see eye-to-eye on so many things. My favorite self-defense advice from Renner Gracie was something like: "If a much larger and stronger man attacks you, then you must close the distance and take him to the ground." Why? Instead, the way to survive such a situation is to maintain distance and strike! Unless you have otherworldly grappling skills, you are not going to overcome a "much larger and stronger man" on the ground, precisely because he is "much larger and stronger than you." So you are literally giving up your potential advantage (in speed and striking) and availing yourself to his advantage. Just utter nonsense.

[@alfarabi73]

Also, having been involved and watched dozens of street fights, it's categorically false that "90 percent of fights go to the ground." My experience is more like 10 percent. Why? Because if one side is a skilled strike, it ends in a stand-up.

[@pangopod2969]

Urban Combatives Netherlands did a video about that choke (the first one). His solution was to just step aside when there's space. And violently stike his hand to the face of the opponent then knee (to the groin) if against a wall. I like this one too. You're kinda giving your arm but it create space so time which is usefull under stress. I'm curious if that's that good or not (especially compared Armchair Violence solution). What are your thoughts on this ? (My english isn't that good sorry)

[@Liam1991]

It's good to see someone else who's a fan of Urban Combatives

[@johnreidy2804]

I'm not against punching someone who aggressively grabs me in certain situations. However, in some instances a punch escalates the confrontation, and what really bothers me is that when the Police get there and they always get there, they ask "who threw the first punch." Now we have a criminal issue and no doubt if you hurt the person a civil suit will follow. Love the rest of the video!

[@ArmchairViolence]

I would argue that breaking their finger is going to escalate it a lot more.

[@johnreidy2804]

@@ArmchairViolence is often defined as striking another person friend. If someone grabs me and there is a chance for me to stop the confrontation without striking, I'll take that option. And there are several ways to do it. Overall, however your video is great! And points out the obvious flaws in many of the tried-and-true Gracie "escapes". Thank you

[@justinbutcher2183]

As a jujitsu practitioner I'm a blue belt and competition and everything else instead of street fights or getting an altercations with people outside of that notion I feel that jujitsu has an advantage not on the sheer fact of dumb techniques to get out of but on the aspect of being in high stress situations having someone crank on your neck or dealing with the arm bar attempt or acknowledging the fact that being mounted is not somewhere you want to be at all all those aspects play a big role in the ground game aspect this despite that I do acknowledge what you mean when it comes to dumb techniques being used but Jiu Jitsu is nothing to scoff at it can be extremely lethal if know how to use correctly in certain situations I'm not saying Jiu-Jitsu beats everything there's boxing there's Muay Thai hell there's even some Kung Fu stuff

[@rodrigoruiz976]

I can’t confirm how much of your videos is based on actual research, but man they are awesome and convincing!

[@jamesvaughan8395]

The variation of pushing the attacker's head back from a head lock I learned comes from a WWII manual, and was also around in the 1800's. It includes, like you said, attacking the guy's leg. The idea is to throw them, pushing his head and lifting his knee in the same leveraged move. Personally, unless you're strong enough to pull it off then slam him down over your knee, I would see going for the legs with both hands is a better option. Right now my main focus is striking, and building ridiculous strength and fitness.

[@gailvalleymartialarts]

Super interesting, hopefully this will get the discussion going! Obviously, sports-based BJJ where you never even practice defending punches isn't the answer either.

[@benstark5320]

Honestly I think that is the probably the biggest part of the problem. Too many schools focus exclusively on sport so they never really have time or intention to look at self defense skills.

[@vermanshane]

Great video, I always love these breakdowns, also "The physical manifestation of a straw man argument." yeah that's a brilliant line. And Kaylen rocking that strong main character hair.

[@freehand.underhand]

same! that strawman line got my lol

[@pmac5934]

Thanks, I enjoyed your vid. First time I've watched you and the moment I saw you walking to camera it was obvious you have an interest in BJJ . I learned a lot more from this than I expected to. Also, you're good fun to listen to. BTW ( and I know you have a laugh at the cliche ) but wriggling around on the floor in a street fight truly is to be avoided. Luckily, my experience of doing so has only left me with scars.

[@ramseylawrence4285]

Love the intensity and good points…oos!

[@patrickmcdonald5731]

Excellent video. I feel like martial arts have benefited from the internet, maybe more than any other thing. Clearly terrible schools/instructors are easily exposed when, in the past, they would be able to operate with relative impunity. The exception to this rule is the self defense community. For some reason those guys have escaped the same scrutiny by and large.

[@Balrog4242]

My sensei used to call this stuff "Neighbor Waza", meaning it evolved during the period when various jutsus were becoming commonplace and it was designed to give peasants a way of resolving disputes without permanently maiming each other, and also to look cool while doing so. There's also a serious level of nerfing on the more dangerous techniques like armbars for a similar reason - little kids don't need ruined elbows. In theory they're supposed to tell you the real version later but sometimes that gets lost. They didn't set out to create bad women's self defense courses centuries later, it just happened. But before anyone blows them off entirely, consider what happens if the entire population is only learning the most dangerous stuff. Japan tried it, and even they decided to roll it back. A fully fleshed out martial art is a long list of stuff slowly escalating in effectiveness and level of permanent injury because they are the same thing. Defending yourself from a drunken acquaintance you have to talk to tomorrow, versus an enemy soldier, requires different levels of response. Otherwise the only technique you would ever need is: "bite their nose or finger off." Oh hey there you go a whole elderly / women's self defense course in one sentence.

[@FranzStFleur]

Oh snap I was just at your gym today talking with Coach Ed.... Crazy that this video popped up in my youtube recomends...

[@Mongoose-ct6us]

Excellent. I love this video. That being said I like jujitsu in general but thank you for this. You make a lot of sense. Muy Thai or BJJ which do you prefer. Thanks in advance. Those are the two most interesting to me.

[@Storylosopher]

I'd enjoy seeing you react/break down the Gracie JJ Combatives curriculum, esp. what % you think is legit vs. sucky.

[@yonnihils]

Or he can just spar against a Gracie and see what really happens 🤷🏻‍♂️

[@metrolinamartialarts]

Oh, Y'all big mad.

[@vorz]

Truth hurts 🤷🏻‍♂️

[@betotamu]

Nope. You offer Real armchair wisdom 😂

[@Malt454]

Great against one opponent - but that's an assumption one can't make in a self-defense situation. It's not that BJJ, like Judo, doesn't have self-defense applications, but they're not some silver-bullet solution.

[@metrolinamartialarts]

@@Malt454 that's not the right take for this video and a different argument. No art is good against multiple attackers besides Gun Fu. 🔫

[@Malt454]

@@metrolinamartialarts - Arts that keep/leave you on your feet at least facilitate escape, and situational awareness, better than those that have you roll around on the ground in order to prove who is the better wrestler.

[@staysafemartialarts]

Very well said sir! Would love to do some videos with ya in the future

[@Tubejudger]

Nice video. It made me think about the things you were talking about. The one problem I had was that you were doing moves without knowing how to do the moves and then saying they didn't work. Also, you can strike no doubt. But striking is not effective for everyone. In self defense I would rather get away than get in a fight.

[@Lauren-se5bu]

I came to this video expecting it to make my blood boil but I must say you do have some good points.

[@jonspec62]

I'm so happy someone is finally saying this. I roll my eyes every time I show up to jiujitsu class and we go over "self-defense" moves.

[@kodypaynter9111]

This is 🔥🔥🔥 Great video!

[@honeybadgeralliance8957]

Hook punch for the choke defense. The body mechanics of that take the neck pressure away, it gives people who are smaller a better tool to use for a surprise attack, and the arm lands over top of the "bad guy" arms, preventing them at least momentarily from countering. It has to be this simple because if that choke is being honestly put on you'd be smashing the victim into the wall too. That part can be done slower and safer too because the goal is to learn to find your balance quickly enough to throw that hook.

[@brucehuddler7518]

Straight forward into his Trachea with your fingertips spear push, lean into him, drive the fingers through his neck. People train punch deflection, but not in close throat protection. This would be a distraction strike to escape, he WILL release.

[@ajramirez77]

This is why I say that you need to pair BJJ or wrestling with a form of striking. Like, I practice wrestling, BJJ, and boxing. In self-defense or street fight scenarios I wanna stay on my feet and be able to flee. I don't wanna fight unless I have to. But, hey I can strike when needed, and if I end up on the ground, I'm accustomed to going full force during BJJ practice, and could defend myself. Overall, I like the video.

[@bvshr]

You make great points, you’ve exposed the commercialism in the martial arts. Jujitsu although useful is not the Swiss Army Knife of the martial arts. Too many people are deluded and think their Jujitsu makes them formidable. Reality is the only thing that makes one “Formidable” is a uninhibited mindset & application of realistic violence. Anyone who says otherwise is selling something!

[@victordragano8863]

BJJ has (at least back in the day) *absolutely* taught turning away from the choke, meaning *toward* the aggressor's center/hands. Turning "into" the choke has always meant turning into the arm which as you pointed out is bad. In the video you termed these to mean the opposite. This was the first time I've seen a BJJ name teaching the turn in this way, and I was very surprised. I think this is another example of what happens to instructors over time. They get stuck in the dojo / square range mindset. I love the fact that you are critically thinking through the bullshido in the market, especially the bullshido that isn't obviously bullshido to most under trained. Excellent content, keep it up! I sub'd after two videos. You remind me of my younger self; excited an incensed over stupidness! lol!!!

[@ClantonCombatives]

Great stuff as usual!

[@christopherjames3027]

But.. but... my Helio! I've been through the Gracie's Combatives course, my old academy used it as the basic curriculum. Some useful stuff, but a lot I now realize are a bit phoned in.

[@idklmaostilldontknow3592]

I like these longer videos

[@ArmchairViolence]

I like them in theory. In practice, they're REALLY time consuming to make lol

[@OneFromEasternFinland]

I see your point - practice is the only way to perfection and money can't buy _true_ safety

[@Mark-wq5uw]

Newbie here... Over the last few weeks I've done a lot of research on the best self defence combat sport to learn. Typically most well written articles rank BJJ in the top 5 but never number 1, mainly due to the lack of striking and unable to defend against multiple opponents. Most articles rank MMA or Krav Maga as number 1. What in your opinion is the best Martial Art for self defence?

[@ArmchairViolence]

Probably either MMA or wrestling. There are some good Krav maga gyms out there, but most of them suck.

[@benstark5320]

One problem I see is that most BJJ school and BJJ as an art has focused so much on sport techniques and rarely even think about self defense. For that reason, those techniques never get updated or tested since most competition rule set really don’t advantage a skill set that is most useful in self defense. Two areas I will challenge you on. Punches and kicks are pretty complex athletic skills. So it’s not that so simple. Grappling is, especially if you have 40 years experience. Also learning to defend a headlock is an absolute. In addition to punches and a bulldog choke a person could throw you. A headlock throw without the arm trapped increases the risk of serious neck injury which is why it’s illegal in wrestling. You don’t want to be thrown like that.

[@marksanchez7323]

The dude who trains to compete at ADCC and worlds and does fancy spinning shit would still probably steamroll the average "self defense" practitioner though

[@benstark5320]

@@marksanchez7323 probably.

[@boywonder4509]

​@@marksanchez7323 Steamroll in what? A grappling match? Sure. In a fight? Maybe, maybe not. If we're going to admit there's some issues with jiu jitsu stand up self defense then we have to apply the same critical analysis to sports jiu jitsu. Plenty of high level sport jiu jitsu guys have made terrible transitions to MMA because they only introduced strikes into their training when they started MMA. The Sambo guys have had better success because the train it all. Striking, Closing distance, Takedowns, and ground.

[@marksanchez7323]

@@boywonder4509 The average man has 0 training of any kind so idk what point you're trying to make. I never said a "sport" bjj guy would beat trained mma fighters, I said he would beat the bs self defense guys.

[@pmac5934]

Yeah , well, Lionel Messi might just be able to tie a defender of my quality in f'ing knots, too@@marksanchez7323

[@NemanjaNislija]

There are a bunch of "common street attacks" shown in most self defence videos that are: a) Not how a criminal or violent drunk will attack you 99% of the time. b) Fail to incorporate intent, i.e. forward pressure, speed, strong grips, and high agression. c) Clueless of the fact that a grab, shove, even just a "friendly" hand on the shoulder as they talk to you in a sweet reassuring voice, is just a setup for a sucker punch or slam to the ground / into a wall. d) Suppose you failed to set boundaries, strike preemptively once the other guy's violent intent was evident, or try to counter a move before it was finished. e) Easily avoided/escaped if you throw punches, have decent balance and are agressive enough. Great job pointing out that you need a whole system behind you to actually make it out on top in violent encounters after that initial "escape/cool counter". Even Geoff Thompson, whose whole curiculum was based on deescalation, and seting up the perfect sucker punch, was a proponent of having a base to fall back on if you fucked up all the other steps, prefferably grapling.

[@tjl4688]

Playing Devil's Advocate as a student of Rener: 1) none of these moves are common attacks from criminal/violent drunks, as they're not taught in the beginner curriculum 2) yes, we do train with more intent, we are taught to increase intensity with each rep when drilling 3) we are taught these situational controls and defenses in addition to the technique itself. If you suspect a sucker punch, we already teach defenses for that (sucker punch them with an elbow, or clinch) 4) pre-emptive strikes and pre-emptive takedowns are taught at white belt 5) managing the distance means you can manage the damage All these things are not capable of taught in just one video.

[@Trashpanda716]

The Lucas Botkin of the combat world, this is hilarious, and accurate, please, never stop!

[@kunedoman]

Great comedy thrown in on top of excellent content. Liked and new subscriber here!