attack the attacker blog

http://streetfightsecrets.com/blog/?p=46






About a year ago I decided I wanted to come up with a course that was 50% physical and 50% psychological whereby the two trainings could be combined together to create a truly powerful tutorial. I wanted it to focus on reconditioning the practitioner physically and mentally out of the rather ridiculous and dangerous ‘I’ll-wait-to-see-what-he-does-and-then-form-a-counter-strategy-in-the-moment’ model of self protection we STILL see being taught pretty much EVERYWHERE!!!
This isn’t some fringe minority of crazies who train like this. When someone tells you they ‘also do martial arts, just like you’ (I get this a lot and it makes me cringe inside), you can be 99% sure they are training with:
1. what I call the ‘tit for tat’ model of violence- you have a go then I have a go

2. a highly compliant environment where everyone politely allows everyone else to robotically and gormlessly ‘go through the motions’ - as IF this type of training is going to help you if some coked up moron with an attitude problem decides to start on you!


3. where the context is actually altered to fit prescribed techniques !!!


I mean just how insane is that? !!!
In what other field of endeavour would you put techniques and strategy before context??!!
Imagine in baseball if they decided they had to ‘return to their roots’ and use the ‘sacred cricket bat technique’ of its native country of origin to ‘preserve the true spirit of baseball’?
Now everyone must hit the baseball with the bat moving from straight down at your feet moving straight upward (youtube “cricket” if you are confused).

Guess what you would have to do if you wanted to play baseball using ‘sacred cricket bat fist’ (just like they used to back in the United Kingdom, we have the scrolls, we know its true)???
You would have to alter the pitch.
The ball would need to be thrown in a completely different way and bounced on the floor first... in other words:
TO MAKE THE TECHNIQUE EFFECTIVE THE ‘ATTACK’ WOULD NEED TO BE ALTERED!!!

Sound ridiculous?
Sound unlikely?

‘Come on Richie that’s a stupid example people would never do that’

So you’re telling me that you haven’t seen people throw a ‘punch’ in TMA and ‘self defence’ (barf!) classes by stepping same foot, same hand (at same time) vertical fisted, with a glassy eyed expression, zero intent and a completely disengaged physiological and psychological state?

Of course you have.

Does that look or feel like any attack you have seen or received in a street fight?

OF COURSE NOT.

Why do they do it??

Well without crappy attack the ‘counter’ doesn’t work!!

The defence is SO WEAK, so ineffective you have to tone the attack down to being dangerous only to people who suffer from a rare disorder that means they die from being hit in the face with all the vicious force of a loving caress.

Notice how wing chun type defences work really well against wing chun style attacks?

Boxing defences against boxing attacks?

Karate defences against karate attacks?

And so on...

But none of them work so well against attacks not coming from the same style???

Or from attacks that have NO STYLE WHATSOEVER but are fuelled by pure hatred and rage?

This just is not an effective way to train.

You need to train to be attacking the attacker pre-emptively with the attitude:

“I don’t care what you know or what you can do because I’m not giving you any bloody chance to do any of it. I’m going to attack you before you’re ready and having created that window of opportunity I’m going to keep attacking you until I feel I am safe.”


Holding down the pillow means not letting someone raise his head. In martial arts, in the course of dueling, it is bad to be maneuvered around by others. It is desirable to maneuver opponents around freely, by whatever means you may. ...Stopping an opponent's attack at the initial outset, not letting him follow through, is the sense of 'holding down the pillow.' ...First, doing whatever you do scientifically, thwart the opponent's very first impulse to try something, thus foiling everything. To manipulate opponents in this way is mastery of the art of war, which comes from practice.
- Miyamoto Musashi,


Don’t wait.

Putting techniques before context is really putting the cart before the horse.

Let the context define your strategy and then let both define the techniques you go to, keeping your objectives in mind at all times.

Let the context define your strategy reality doesn’t care how you WANT a fight to play out (yes, even if you want it REALLY REALLY badly) the only thing that matters is how it WILL play out.

Let the context define your strategy look to people who have actually dealt with real world violence, not comfortable, sheltered professional gas bags who pontificate endlessly about what they THINK THEY WOULD DO. It’s a fantasy land, these peoples ‘bravery’ doesn’t extend beyond their computer screen, the dojo filled with fawning sycophants and their own little comfort zone.

Why wait?

Why let someone who bears you ill will or seeks to harm you and those around you build up enough steam to do some real damage?

Just attack.

Attack him, take the fight to him, stress him, crowd him, frighten him, hurt him.


Forcing your opponent to fight on your schedule and upon your chosen ground is almost as good as changing the rules without letting him know.


Military Maxim

You need to be drilling yourself over and over and over to ATTACK THE ATTACKER these drills need to be physical and mental.

Remember : whatever you do a lot of you get good at.

So if you are always running highly compliant drills, in a switched off gormless mental state, patiently waiting to see what your opponent will attack you with (because HE gets to determine your defence right??!) then that is WHAT YOU ARE GETTING GOOD AT.

Is that what you want?

Wouldn’t you rather get really good at shutting the opp. down before he even has had time to get going?

For more information on the Attack the Attacker course click here http://www.streetfightsecrets.com/attacktheattacker.html

This ONE hour long DVD and 35 minute NLP CD audio tutorial take you through all the physical and psychological principles you need to condition your neurology out of the defensive mindset model that trains students DANGEROUSLY to wait for the attack so they can react to it into pure targeting and attacking of your opponent fuelled with Violent Intent.