Strength and Fighting with Nick Delgadillo | Starting Strength Radio #14

[Mark E. Hurling]

Guys seem very knowledgeable.

IMO the greatest martial artist ever is Jim Harrison

I’m just just a lowly Tae kwon do guy I was lucky enough to have an instructor that incorporated BJJ after seeing what Royce did in UFC. We did a lot of standing grappling, sweeps and throws as soon as started at a young age.

Mr Hurling if I lived in the vicinity I’d gladly be your student.

I'm flattered, but please, Mr. Hurling was The Old Man. As such, I am not sufficiently worthy of the appellation. Which has nothing to do with that Eastern mountain range reaching from Georgia to Maine.

[John B]

I loved listening to this discussion, and I agree that strength helps any sport. Back around the time when Jim Sharp was the world champion bull-rider, I remember hearing that he worked out consistently and could bench press over 300 pounds. That was probably one of the things that set him apart and made him the best.

I live in a rural area and don't have access to good self-defense classes, but I've spent a little time in several different martial arts dojos over the last few years. Even though I have almost zero skill, being a little bigger and stronger than most of the guys is definitely an advantage.

Do you recommend any self defense resources for those of us who live in the middle of nowhere in Texas? Books or videos?

Thanks!

[Satch12879]

By the way, Larusso was clearly the asshole in The Karate Kid.

Listen, he was from New Jersey; we're all like that out here.

[Nick Delgadillo]

I loved listening to this discussion, and I agree that strength helps any sport. Back around the time when Jim Sharp was the world champion bull-rider, I remember hearing that he worked out consistently and could bench press over 300 pounds. That was probably one of the things that set him apart and made him the best.

I live in a rural area and don't have access to good self-defense classes, but I've spent a little time in several different martial arts dojos over the last few years. Even though I have almost zero skill, being a little bigger and stronger than most of the guys is definitely an advantage.

Do you recommend any self defense resources for those of us who live in the middle of nowhere in Texas? Books or videos?

Thanks!

Thanks, John. You'll need someone to train with for anything you do to be worth a shit. You can't get much done for fighting purposes with just a heavy bag. If you can get a friend or spouse to work with you consistently, I highly recommend this stuff for self defense:

Close Quarters Fighting with Concealed Carry Weapons-Ryan Hoover Volume 1 | ApertureFightFocused.com

and pretty much anything here: FTF Media — Fit to Fight(R) Products

You can find a ton of info from these guys on YouTube as well.

[Nick Delgadillo]

Someone pointed this video out in one of the YouTube comments. Skip to 2:05 for the goods:

[Mark E. Hurling]

Do you recommend any self defense resources for those of us who live in the middle of nowhere in Texas? Books or videos?

For look at the general environment in which violence occurs and what to do or not do about it, The Little Black Book of Violence. In general, anything by the authors Lawrence Kane and Rory Miller. What you do can land you in some real legal shit in some urban areas or counties, and those two help you navigate the rocks and shoals of ambitious DA's.

Some good basic technique for the average Joe Citizen can be found in "No Second Chance" by Mark Hatmaker.

[cantara256]

I really like grappling for self defense. I started training with striking based systems - Muay Thai, Bas Rutten MMA, Krav Maga - and did those and taught them for lots of years. I'm a firm believer at this point, though, that I can teach a grappler how to strike effectively very quickly, but teaching a striker an effective clinch, wrestling, takedowns, and comfort being on the ground takes a VERY LONG TIME. And I'm also a firm believer at this point in my teaching career that actual fighting happens at clinch range almost exclusively and as such, most training time for self defense purposes should be done at clinch range, including learning to strike from clinch range. Clinch fighting and grappling can be done against a resisting opponent from day 1.

I've taught LOTS of people krav maga, boxing, and muay thai. I firmly believe that the only benefit they got out of that was the dynamic nature of the stress drills especially when it comes to krav maga. Otherwise, it's mostly bullshit that only seems effective. If I were to do it again, I'd teach them how to handle themselves when tied up with another person. Much more valuable for everyone.

That was a great listen. What do you think of IMPACT Self Defense, especially for women? It's no substitute for years of training (though I think even a few months of grappling can make a huge difference against an untrained attacker on the ground), but it struck me as useful for giving you an idea of how to respond in the sudden, extreme stress of being attacked, which is entirely different from respectfully facing off someone in your school or even sparring in a tournament.

I think a lot of non-grapplers would claim that you shouldn't end up on the ground in a street fight where multiple attackers are involved, in which case I imagine you want to (in essence) strike and run. Do you take those scenarios into account in any way?

[Nick Delgadillo]

That was a great listen. What do you think of IMPACT Self Defense, especially for women? It's no substitute for years of training (though I think even a few months of grappling can make a huge difference against an untrained attacker on the ground), but it struck me as useful for giving you an idea of how to respond in the sudden, extreme stress of being attacked, which is entirely different from respectfully facing off someone in your school or even sparring in a tournament.

I think a lot of non-grapplers would claim that you shouldn't end up on the ground in a street fight where multiple attackers are involved, in which case I imagine you want to (in essence) strike and run. Do you take those scenarios into account in any way?

IMPACT is the one with the big head attacker, right? That's fairly similar to the stuff I did in Krav Maga years ago. The good thing about that kind of workshop is that it pulls people out of their comfort zone and forces them to make simple decisions in situations they've never been in before. It puts a little bit of mental/emotional/physical stress on them, makes them put their hands on someone else, even though it's highly simulated, and unrealistic.

The problems is that these things are usually one day exposures that don't amount to anything long term, but they make things click for some people and get them into some actual training.

Most grapplers who are not morons will tell you that you shouldn't end up on the ground in a street fight. If you've never grappled, though, how will you prevent yourself from being taken down, even by accident? It never goes down the way things look in Krav Maga class or in a self defense seminar. As soon as you put your hands on someone, they will grab you, tackle you, or otherwise tie you up. If they don't, great - a left hook or a headbutt can fix these situations up pretty quick. But if they do and they're more aggressive, experienced, or in better shape - you're going to go down unless you know what you're doing in a clinch fight.

In other words, training someone to kick a guy in the balls and run away is easy. And that kind of stuff doesn't work if you've got someone who's serious about hurting you.

[Erik Y]

Otherwise, it's mostly bullshit that only seems effective.

I don’t entirely agree with this. Muay Thai and boxing are sports, and they’re effective in their own context. For people who want to get really good at Muay Thai, they’ve got to train Muay Thai... but if you think you’re going to get into a confrontation in a bar with a guy who’s exactly your weight to the pound and is going to stand upright and trade blows with you slowly over three minutes and then take a break, you’re dreaming. The problem is that people see kickboxers do well in competitions that are structured like kickboxing competitions and assume that translates to a real fight. They miss that, critically, kickboxers aren’t allowed to go for the eyes, don’t headbutt or tackle, and attack while the opponent is looking right at them in a well-lit room. So this kind of thing catches on as practical self-defense, even though it’s really meant as sport.

[Mark E. Hurling]

I don’t entirely agree with this. Muay Thai and boxing are sports, and they’re effective in their own context. For people who want to get really good at Muay Thai, they’ve got to train Muay Thai... but if you think you’re going to get into a confrontation in a bar with a guy who’s exactly your weight to the pound and is going to stand upright and trade blows with you slowly over three minutes and then take a break, you’re dreaming. The problem is that people see kickboxers do well in competitions that are structured like kickboxing competitions and assume that translates to a real fight. They miss that, critically, kickboxers aren’t allowed to go for the eyes, don’t headbutt or tackle, and attack while the opponent is looking right at them in a well-lit room. So this kind of thing catches on as practical self-defense, even though it’s really meant as sport.

Another critical factor to consider is that if you are conditioned to engage only with gloves on your hands, you are unlikely to resort to a counter or joint lock that would be difficult or impossible to get or maintain a grip on an attacker with. Gloves protect you and the other competitor, but they inhibit your range of potential responses in other ways. Some strikes are less effective with a gloved hand rather than a bare hand.