Board of Directors of the Guild
Words form the National Director
How to learn Danse De Rue Savate
Certified Academies of Danse De Rue Savate(sm)
The 95% Rule: Fact,
Schiznit, or Just Plain Urban Myth??
By Initiateur Padraic “Jilguero” O'Gawain
Waaaaay back in 1989, I was taking Wing Chun Kung Fu and Chin Na (kung fu
grappling) at Mel Rivera's Kung Fu School in Chicago. One day, my instructor Mel
(a student of Austin, Texas Wing Chun Sifu Richard Guerra) said to me: “Hey man,
I met these three `cats' (yes, Mel was a young man in the 1970s) in New Jersey
and I'm gonna bring them to town. They're the `Gracie brothers' and they're
really happenin'. They do `Brazilian jiu-jitsu.' “
Now I didn't know much about Brazil or jiu-jitsu but I told Mel that I could
have sworn that jiu-jitsu came from Japan. He replied, “Yeah, but these cats
have their own way of doing it. You'll see!”
So in a cold as hell November in 1989, we went to O'Hare airport and picked up
three Brazilian guys who had never seen snow in their lives: Rorion, Rigan, and
Royce Gracie. What followed was three days of painful limb twisting and
wrenching the likes of which we hadn't seen before. During that time, Rorion
(the eldest of the brothers and the founder of what came to be known as the
Ultimate Fighting Championship) kept repeating the mantra, “Patrick, my friend,
you must understand that on the street in the real world outside the training
halls, 95% of all fights end up on the ground. If you don't know what to do
there, you may not survive the fight.”
That was almost twenty years ago, and in the post-UFC/MMA world that statement
is accepted by most people in the martial arts community (which included myself
for quite some time, I must admit). But is it true?? Isn't something like that
purely opinionated and rhetorical? Were the Gracies just trying to sell their
art and foist the UFC upon an unsuspecting public?? The greatest challenge with
a statement like that is that it came off like a question of faith. Yes, Rorion
could not prove it. But nobody else could truly disprove it. Check and
stalemate. But then something changed. Enter: Dr. Bakari Akil, a PhD in mass
communications and an Assistant Professor of Communications at Middle Georgia
College in Macon Georgia.
Dr. Bakari holds a green belt in judo and has been practising no-gi style
Brazilian jiu-jitsu in Macon, GA for three years. A career academic, he put the
following claim to the acid test of scientific research methodology: “Do 95% of
fights (or most fights) go to the ground?”
In the 21st century, we have unprecedented means of learning and observation -
namely the internet. Using the popular video sharing site, YouTube, Dr. Bakari
analyzed over 300 street fights over a period of three months of research and
observation. His findings are published in the September 2008 issue of Black
Belt Magazine. Now Black Belt is not expressly known as being a journal of
behavioural science. In fact, some would argue it comes off more often than not
as a martial arts version of the National Enquirer, News of the World, or any
other kind of butt-rag coming out of West Hollywood or London's notorious Fleet
Street. However you may agree or disagree with his research methodology or the
validity and reliability of his findings, they will make for some interesting
talk around gyms and dojos for quite some time. A brief summary of his findings
are listed below.
Research Questions:
RQ1 - What percentage of fights end up with both fighters having gone to the
ground some point during the physical confrontation?
RQ2- What percentage of fights end with only one fighter having gone to the
ground at some point in the physical confrontation?
RQ3 - By what method do fighters end up on the ground in the confrontation?
(i.e. punch, kick, takedown, push)
Answers:
RQ1 - Both fighters ended up on the ground in 42% of the fights analyzed
(roughly 126 of the 300 or so fights)
RQ2- In 72% of the fights observed ( 216 of 300 fights) at least one fighter
went to the ground at some point in the confrontation.
RQ3- How did those that went to the ground end up on the ground??
57% - were taken down by a throw, trip, or being pulled to the ground
35% - went down as a result of being punched
7% - went down after being pushed
1% - less than one percent went to the ground after having been kicked. It
should be noted that in the one kicking incident observed, the individual who
was kicked and went to the ground was knocked unconscious by the kick.
19% - of the women who were taken to the ground were done so by someone
grabbing their hair. (In one incident observed, a male who had
Rastafarian-style dreadlocks was taken down by his hair.)
What happens when fighters hit the ground first?
59% - of those who went to ground first in the fight were the ones who lost the
fight
33% - of the time there was no discernable winner
7% - of the time, the ones who went to the ground first won the fight
What happened to those that hit the ground second or remained standing?
59% - of those that went down last or remained on their feet won the fight
33% - of the time there was no discernable winner either way
Dr. Bakari's Tips for Avoiding Conflict or Inevitable Confrontations:
Never allow anyone to invade your zone of safety (the distance where they can
quickly `sucker punch,' push, pull, or grab you without you being able to react)
Do not walk up to anyone `talking trash' or allow them to `talk trash' to you
(and close the distance). Either way someone is bound to get hit mid-sentence.
Either fight or exit the scene. Make the decision quickly. Do not argue and do
not posture up face to face, chest to chest, or shoulder to shoulder. (Watch out
for head butts at this distance!!!)
Do not try to fight more than one person - especially if you are alone.
Do not allow yourself to get mounted (where your opponent is sitting on your
chest with both of their legs straddling your rib cage). This was the absolute
WORST position for fighters in this study.
Most important: DO NOT BE THE FIRST PERSON TO HIT THE GROUND!!!
In conclusion, I would have to offer the following:
Even if you happen to know grappling, wrestling, and ground fighting (and are
pretty good at it) there are many reasons why forcing the fight to the ground is
just not a good idea - not the least of which are multiple attackers and the
alarming lack of mobility you have down there.
Your goal is not to finish your opponent with a cool submission hold. Your job
is to nullify his threat and just plain GET OUT OF THERE.
Due to the two above aforementioned limitations of the Gracie method, the U.S.
Navy Special Warfare Directorate (a.k.a. the S.E.A.L.s) fired Rorion and his
younger brother Rickson around 1998. As one SEAL officer once told me,” If one
of my guys f***s around with some a##hole on the ground, I will shoot them both
before blowing our cover and compromising the mission. The lesson: be aware of
your environment and tactical situation at all times.
And from Sifu Larry Hartsell (R.I.P.), late of the Jeet Kune Do Grappling
Association (and a FERVENT advocate of grappling): “Don't y'all ever bring your
grappling to a knife fight.” Even old Larry knew when grappling was a crappy
idea that would get you killed.
Given the stats, it is worth learning. But before you go out there and seek out
a BJJ or wrestling coach, know the Lutte Parisienne and zipota grappling aspects
of Danse de Rue Savate and know them well. They teach you how to take apart a
grappler. If anything, learn grappling for its strengths (i.e. how to fall
properly without getting hurt) as well as its limitations (i.e. always look for
the Danse de Rue Savate ways to deconstruct and nullify fighters trained in this
fashion. Thanks to American high schools and colleges, this kind of fighter is
ubiquitous in our society. In other words they are EVERYWHERE.)
Stay strong. Train hard, smart, and safe.
Salut,
Initiateur Jilgero