Fight to Win. Martin Dougherty

aggressively, shouts threats and abuse at the fighter, and tries to intimidate him. The fighter must make an intelligent choice under stress to respond effectively if and when an attack occurs, or to observe what the aggressor is doing and make a “no-shoot” decision if he does not attack.

      Competition bouts are normally matched for skill, experience, and body mass, but there’s a lot to be said for training against people who are bigger, stronger, and infinitely more scary than you are. If you can handle battling monsters then the prospect of fighting a well-matched opponent should not disturb you much.

      Do not underestimate the psychological dimension. A wild swing should be easy to see coming and avoid or counter, but the berserk intent of the attacker can sometimes cause a fighter to freeze and get hit. Good training will change your reaction from “Help! He’s trying to hurt me!” to “Oh, look, a haymaker. Is that all you’ve got?”

      There are many variations on this theme. The “aggressor” can make sudden attacks which may not be all that physically painful but look intimidating (e.g. big wild swings, grabbing the fighter and shaking or shoving him, and so forth), all of which forces the fighter to try to respond intelligently despite the stress. These techniques are used extensively by law enforcement trainers and reality-based self-defense instructors, but can also be applied to the sport fighter’s training. Being able to deal with aggression without becoming intimidated is a vital part of fight preparation.

      More conventional approaches like sparring or rolling can also be used for the same purpose, of course. Sparring can be set up to put the fighter under extreme pressure, perhaps by using a rotation of fresh opponents with no break for the fighter. As he becomes more tired, his will is eroded and his determination to win will be sorely tested. It is important not to push the fighter too far, but used with care this approach can build fighting spirit.

      One useful trick is to mess with the fighter’s expectations. Tell him that he is doing three 1-minute rounds with fresh opponents, then keep going after the three. Or allow the bouts to run on for more than the expected minute. The lesson the fighter needs to learn (more accurately, his subconscious needs to learn) is that “it’s not over until it’s over.” Too many fighters let go towards the end of a bout or ease up when they think they’ve done enough to win. The fighter has to be able to keep at it until the end, or maybe to get back into the fight when his flagging opponent (who may think he’s won and be easing up) gives him an opportunity.

      If you lose your head, you’ll lose the fight. A good fighter is capable of acting intelligently even when things go wrong. Gary (on top) is bigger and stronger and I’ve just been taken down pretty hard.

      To prevent matters getting any worse for me, I control Gary’s head and try to hook one of his legs. If I can prevent him from transitioning to a fully dominant position, I’ll give myself a chance to improve the situation.

      The fight for position begins in earnest. Gary pushes down on my shoulder to break my grip on his head as he tries to move around to the side.

      He succeeds in freeing his head, but I’ve still got control of his leg. At this moment, that’s about the only thing between me and being submitted, and we both know it. On the plus side I’ve avoided being quickly beaten, which means that things are bad but I’m still in the fight… and as long as I’m in the fight then I’ll be trying to win it.

      The psychological dimension must be used with care to avoid doing more harm than good, but mental conditioning can be built into the fighter’s training at every level. Fitness work, even technical drills can be set up to build the habit of pushing on through to the end, even when things are bad. This is important, because nothing ever goes according to plan and sometimes the margin between defeat and victory is simply the fighter’s own willingness to keep at it when someone else might have given up.

      How to Attack the Human Body

      The human body is a marvelous thing; incredibly robust in some ways yet vulnerable in others. Race drivers have been seen to climb out of the wreckage of a 200-mph crash, kick a tire in disgust, and walk away… and yet people have died from slipping in the shower. Thus an attack can be devastating if it hits the right spot, or merely annoying if the aim is off. Most of the “pressure point” techniques taught in martial arts are unworkable in a real fight, as it is difficult to hit just the right spot. So as a rule, it is better to strike at large targets that will get you at least some benefit, rather than to try for that perfect one-shot knockout and risk achieving nothing.

      It is not usually possible to attack small areas of the body with great precision in the chaos of a fight, though precision can be achieved if a measure of control can be exerted over the opponent. Although most wrist-catching martial arts techniques are virtually useless against an opponent who is moving around and throwing punches, it is possible to apply a Kimura, a locking technique that requires the fighter to hold his opponent’s wrist. Is this a contradiction? Not really.

      The answer, obviously, is that once the opponent is under control, e.g. is held or pushed up against something, then it becomes easier to apply precise techniques. A clean hit to the jaw may well drop an opponent and win the bout by knockout, but landing that shot is problematic. Most fighters have to settle for hitting hard to the head in general. You might get lucky, hit “the button” and end the matter then and there, but if not then each blow will still rattle the opponent and wear him down.

      Let us not forget that every time you hurt an opponent’s body, you also attack his will to win the fight. Pain, fatigue, disorientation from repeated blows to the head, and the general feeling of being overmatched can cause an opponent to “lose the fight in his head” and give up or at least start trying not to lose rather than fighting to win. Once he is defensive, he is well on the way to defeat.

      There are only so many ways to attack an opponent. These include direct impact (e.g. strikes, knees and kicks), secondary impact (e.g. throws and takedowns that cause the opponent to land hard), joint locks, and chokes/ strangles.

      Direct Impact

      In a sport fight, the rules will dictate what is permitted, for example it may not be legal to knee to the head or to strike the head while the opponent is on the ground. Outside the sporting arena, there are no rules for this sort of thing, but actions must be lawful to avoid criminal charges. This is covered in the next section.

      It is generally a bad idea to strike hard targets (e.g. the head) with fists unless you are wearing gloves. Even then, injuries to the hands are not uncommon. For the “street,” the head is best attacked with open hands (e.g. palm strikes) or hammerfists. However, a punch that drops an assailant and prevents you from being seriously harmed is still a “win” even if your hand is damaged. A properly formed, tight fist will help prevent damage to the hand but the risk is always present. With gloves, even light MMA gloves, the hazards are significantly reduced.

      The head is most definitely the primary target for direct impact techniques. Even a glancing head strike can cause “brain shake” that can disorient an opponent or knock him out. There is also the possibility of inflicting cuts, causing eyes to swell shut, and so forth. Injuries may cause a sport bout to be halted on medical grounds or simply reduce an opponent’s performance.

      It has been wisely said that: “Head shots hurt. Body shots hurt the whole fight.” A good body shot might put the opponent down, so badly winded or hurt that he simply cannot carry on, but even if it does not, blows to the body can weaken the opponent in various ways. Most movements use the muscles of the body, and strikes