Picture this…

You’re on your back on the asphalt of a parking lot.  Something sharp and unpleasant is digging into your back.  You don’t notice that, however, and you don’t try to get up.

Why?  Because you can’t!

There’s  a very large man straddling your body, punching you in the face again and again as he uses his weight to keep you pinned down.

Congratulations…you’ve just discovered the horror that is losing position to a ground fighter or mixed martial arts student out on the street.  He’s used his grappling moves to get you into what is called the “mount”, and now you’ve got to try to escape it.  If you don’t, it’s all over for you.

While you can’t play the other guy’s game, and you almost never want to deal with a self-defense situation on the other guy’s terms, the only way to get out of the losing end of a grappling situation is to…

Use “Dirty” Grappling Moves Of Your Own
To Defeat A Ground Fighter!

You’re not really accepting the mixed martial arts philosophy, here, so much as you are acknowledging that grappling got you into a bad position.  Your only choice is to counter-grapple or “anti-grapple” your way back out of that so you can use your combative skills to teach your assailant the error of his ways.

Unfortunately, once you’re caught in the mount, you don’t have many resources. You can try to cover from the blows, but that’s just stalling.  Sooner or later, he’s going to overwhelm you.  If he’s on top of you just pounding away, whittling down your defenses, you won’t last long and he’s going to break through and bust you up eventually.  Time is not on your side.

You do, though, still have your hands free so…

Here’s A Grappling Move That Will Come In Handy…

Use one hand and arm to protect your head while he rains his punches down on you.

With the other, form a “tiger claw”, reaching out with your fingers spread to claw into the side of his body.  That roll of skin and muscle, or maybe that big roll of flab, that you’ve just caught in your fingers is yours to take home with you.  Twist it with all your might.

When you do that, even a tough, determined attacker is going to flinch.  Weaker men will howl in pain. It hurts…bad!  Even in the adrenaline rush of a real street fight, it’s a force to be reckoned with.

When he’s distracted, if even for just a second, grab the side of his head with your free hand.  Twist and roll, rolling your own body with his so you end up on top and between his legs.  You’re not, technically, in the mount on him, but you’re close; you’re in a superior position, poised for bringing a knee straight up into the family jewels for a knee groin strike or to start striking him with hammer fists.

You’ve turned the tables, and now your grappling moves have him on the losing end of the fight!

The debate between which striking technique works best for a “real street fight” has always been one that gets the blood boiling of die hard martial arts practitioners and close quarters combat enthusiasts.

Here’s how I approached it once in one of my Close Quarters Combat seminars…

I asked the class if they would be willing to volunteer to go over to the cement wall and punch it (hard!) with their fist.

What? No takers? Hmmmm…

Ok, so next was “Who would be willing to go over there and hit it (hard) with a strong, open handed, palm-heel?

Ahhhh…now we got some hands in the air?

Why is that?

Simple…even your subconscious knows that it’s very easy to damage your hand striking a hard surface (like someone’s jaw). But we naturally understand that we can put a LOT of force behind a palm heel and not subject ourselves to the knuckle- and wrist-destroying impact a traditional punch could bring on.

In fact, even in mixed martial arts competitions like the UFC (back when they didn’t wear gloves), there were plenty of reports of guys nursing broken fingers and strained wrists after punching in a bout.

And watch some of the clips of Bas Rutten in his UFC and other fights! Bas Rutten was a MASTER at exploding on his opponents with a fury of open handed palm-heel strikes that they couldn’t recover from!

So what do YOU think? Do me a favor and leave your comments under the blog (whether you agree or disagree) and please click on the “Bookmark and Share” button to post the comment on your Facebook, Twitter, or other social media site!

Schools are popping up all over the place offering “ground fighting training” to prepare you for defending yourself on the street.

And it makes sense, right?

After all, some lab full of geniuses “studied” real street fights and found that an estimated 85% of them end up with both guys going to the ground to battle it out in a combination of wrestling moves and punches.

So let me spare you a few hundred dollars in martial arts classes and give you my #1 secret to surviving a vicious ground fight.

Ok, ready? Here it is…

…get off the freakin’ ground!

Look, I’ve been in some pretty brutal street fights and I’ve been witness to countless more, from barroom brawls to all out gang attacks.

Every single fight I’ve seen that went to the ground did NOT end up with a happy ending.

If there are any friends around of the guy you’re defending against and you end up on the bottom, chances are you’re about to see the rubber soles of a half dozen size 11 boots coming toward your head like a freight train.

Even worse…when you’re on top and WINNING the fight, you can expect a bottle or chair to come crashing on your head…

…to be followed immediately by a half dozen rubber soles coming toward your head like a freight train.

Unless you’re simply trying to subdue drunk Uncle Charlie at the family picnic, your goal when you feel a fight going to the ground is to do one simple thing…

…get back on your feet as quickly as possible!

Now, here are 2 powerful ground fighting tips to help you do just that…

Roll Through The Fall

Oftentimes, you may find that you’re pushed to the ground or fall over an obstacle like a chair.

While your natural reaction may be to fall flat on the ground and try to get up, this is actually the LEAST effective response at getting back on your feet.

Instead of falling flat, try to use your body’s momentum to naturally “roll” through the fall by tucking your head down and doing a somersault or just rolling on your side.

Either way will allow you to use that momentum to quickly jump back up to your feet.

Drop & Flip Your Attacker

One of the biggest mistakes people make in the transition from fighting while standing to the plummetting to the ground is in WHERE and HOW they fall.

The natural reaction of your body is to “go stiff” and try to fight the inevitable drop to the ground and this typically leads to a hard, flat fall.

Instead, when you’re in the “clinch”, locked up with your attacker, and you feel like it’s heading toward a wrestling match on the ground, you want to drop STRAIGHT DOWN, as close to your attacker’s feet as possible, while grabbing his clothing around the chest area, with your hands close together.

This places their bodyweight completely off-center and their natural momentum will send them over your own body, making it easy to flip them in the same direction using your knees while twisting them as they fall.

Now you may find that as you both fall to the ground, your attacker has also grabbed on to your clothes to stabilize himself and unless you can free yourself, you’ll be locked up in a dangerous struggle.

Here’s a cool trick to help you escape…

Taking the hand that’s easiest to maneuver from your grab on his shirt, let go and drop it down close to your body and toward your groin.

Then come around and over the outside of their hands as close to your body as possible so your leverage allows you to break their grasp or continue the motion until you’ve pinned their hands under your arm.

(You can try this standing up versus a normal shirt grab to get the feel of it.)

Your options at this point are to get in an eye gouge or other close combat technique with your free hand or get to your feet as quickly as possible to escape or continue your attack.