Wednesday, June 07, 2006

Grappling Tip of the Week: Killer Instinct

Stephan at the Grapplearts.com Grappling Tip of the Week Blog bring up a good example something that's critical in sparring/MMA, or in self-defense: Killer Instinct. See his post here, referring to a 12-second knockout in a recent MMA bout..

He raises a good point, "... killer instinct can be applied to submission grappling and Brazilian jiu-jitsu: suppose you have your opponent pinned and he escapes, but exerts an enormous amount of energy to do so. If you do nothing, you allow your opponent to rest and recover a little bit. If you use this opportunity to advance your position and finish with a submission - despite being tired yourself - then you have just successfully used your inner piranha!"

This is true in a self-defense situation as well. I like to strike first if I feel threatened. There's no question that it's important to be sure that you're about to be attacked, that you have the law on your side, etc. But, suppose you wait until you know exactly what's going to happen and your opponent pulls a knife or gun, or hurts someone with you? My point is that you get your opponent(s) on the defensive, then figure out what the threat was. As always, you are obligated to remove yourself from what you perceive as a dangerous environment, but I'm talking about when you know, for sure, that you are about to be attacked.

If you wait, or are surprised, then, Stephan points out, when you know you've got him hurt, pull out all the stops. Watch the video on YouTube here.

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