Throw in multiple attackers.
In its current form, modern Jiu Jitsu prepares you mainly to compete in tournaments where you spar with another JJ practitioner, 1 on 1.
The strategies that are primarily employed are to close the distance, control from the inside, and eventually submit the opponent.
So, if there are multiple attackers, the idea of the clinch is not a very good one, because it exposes your back to the other attackers.
The idea of getting the fight to the ground, and establishing control and submission is also not a very good idea, because it leaves you vulnerable to strikes from the other attackers.
So the question is, is Jiu Jitsu useless in a multiple attacker situation? Absolutely not, in fact Jiu Jitsu can be one of the best arts for this. But not the way it is currently trained and practiced!!
Jiu Jitsu is most celebrated for its ability to submit the opponent. But that, in my opinion, is not its highest value, functionally speaking. Its most scalable and valuable asset is in its methodology of how to escape!
They have escapes for every situation. It’s almost like magic! But it’s not, it’s all physics/leverage based. They are not even all that complex, but they are not intuitive (especially in a high stress situation), and must be regularly trained, to develop as muscle memory.
Imagine this:
Someone grabs both your arms from behind by the crook of your elbows. 2 other people start to approach you.
Yeah.
You can’t practice typical sparring drills to have the tools to deal with this!
Your first thought must be to escape at all costs. Do not try to fight everyone - GET OUT!!
So, there is a leverage based way to get out of that hold I can show you, if you ask me, in person.
After that, there are strategies of running away from a situation that makes it harder for attackers to catch up to you.
Also, having some basic Parkour skills certainly helps get past obstacles.
So I’m introducing a new way of thinking about martial arts self defense training:
1. Being Preventive
2. Always Think “ESCAPE”!
So much of martial arts cultural imagery is based upon the idea of dominance. Beating up the assailant. Hey, it sells!
So, many programs will teach you more about dominating others, and in the process, you may learn escape tactics.
I think martial arts of the 21st century should do this in the opposite way - put the focus on escape oriented techniques, and along the way, you’ll eventually learn about dominating others in a one-on-one confrontation.
Oh sure, you’ll hear the standard line of, “It’s not about dominating others, it’s about dominating yourself”…
Yeah, yeah, yeah. You’re saying that while trying to land strikes or strangle another human being, LMAO.
So in saying that, you’ve dehumanized your opponent into a non-living entity for personal improvement???
Actions speak louder than words.
So. When you are in the mindset of there being multiple attackers in every assault situation, you are more compelled to be in the mindset of escape. And also, don’t get swayed by the Kung-Fu movies, either, where one person is literally fighting a group of people. DO NOT DO THAT. Get away! Get out of there. Don’t try to be Bruce Lee in “Fists of Fury/Chinese Connection”!
Some may call this cowardice. I call it surviving.
With this being said, I will gear the vast majority of the Jiu Jitsu, Tai Chi, Baguazhang techniques I know, and contextualize them towards escaping bad situations with multiple attackers.
As for Choy Lee Fut Kung-Fu, my main style, even though we are working on blocking and striking, and generating power and developing reflexes, we will explore this more on contextualizing this in a multiple attacker scenario, rather than a one-on-one gladiator match. That is, after all, how the art was intended. It’s why the forms and combinations are constantly changing directions.
But again, don’t think of these blocks and strikes as mechanisms to dominate and defeat the attackers - it’s a methodology to facilitate your escape. Very important to always remember that.
I will continue to re-iterate this philosophy, idea, mindset in class, because it is going against our current socio-cultural programming of martial arts and self defense.
Here’s to the martial arts of the 21st Century!