|
|
The Importance of Groundfighting
by Pankration90
I often hear people say that training in grappling is not important for the street. Most of the people who think they don't need to learn grappling are people who train in a single striking style. Many of them think that their sidekick will keep the attacker away or that if someone tries to tackle them, they will just punch the tackler or sidestep him. Most of these people have never experienced grappling. Their arguments against learning to grapple often include, but aren't limited to, the following: If you grapple in a street fight, you will be rolling on rough surfaces, broken glass, rocks, used needles, etc.
If you grapple in a street fight, your opponent's friends may start stomping on you.
If you grapple in a street fight and your opponent has a concealed weapon, you won't be able to stop him from using it.
However, that list of reasons to not grapple on the street is actually a list of reasons to learn to grapple. Street fights are not light contact sparring matches or point sparring competitions. There are no rules that prohibit you from grabbing your opponent's shirt, tackling him, etc. All it takes for you to go to the ground is losing your balance (whether from being surprised, tripping, being tackled, being pushed, getting sucker punched, etc). Gravity does the rest. You don't need to earn a black belt in brazilian jiujitsu or anything, but a basic knowledge of grappling is useful. Knowing the basic positions, reversals, and methods of getting back to your feet safely can be the difference between running away and getting stomped on by your attacker and his friends.