MMA – Amherst MMA

How do we Know What Works?

The old means to establish a martial art’s effectiveness were:
•Argumentation: “This art combines hard and soft styles, so it’s the best, I’m 100% sure.”
•Anecdote: “O’Sensei once dodged bullets fired by experts at 25 meters, twice. He was a wizard.”
•Appeal to Authority: “Bruce Lee taught this to Navy SEALs!”
•Demonstration: “Grab my wrist. No, the other one.”

Then MMA came along, testing experts from various disciplines against each other; a large, verifiable body of knowledge of what works emerged (along with a vast body of knowledge of what fails). However, there is today another means to know what works for self-defense. Cellphone and security cams are everywhere, which has opened a window onto thousands of cases of martial arts working and failing on the street. These can be roughly divided into several main categories:
•Mutual Combat;
•Dojo Storm;
•Bouncer;
•Informal;
•Style vs. Style;
•Self-Defense.

The final one, self-defense, is the proportional use of force to protect against an unprovoked attack that objectively threatens imminent injury or worse. A remarkable example occurred in 2022, at the Brunswick Street Mall in Brisbane, Australia.

Pro welterweight MMA fighter Viktor Lyall was minding his own business , when he reportedly saw two punks – Josh Townsend and Jessee Swain – stomping a man in an alley. The fighter promptly broke it up. Then the two attackers relentlessly followed and harassed Lyall, spurred on by a Swain’s partner, Tia-rose Shaw. Her father is a bodybuilder, as you will hear.

How Did Martial Arts Work?

The altercation is a seminar in using distance management – not getting close enough to get hit, while momentarily stepping into the pocket to hit back first. It’s also a seminar in situational awareness, never letting the second assailant get in position to sucker punch, something the punk was desperately trying to do. Further, Lyall was simultaneously making sure his own companion was close and safe. And it is a seminar in staying cool and controlling temper, in the face of extreme and prolonged harassment that included being spit on.

“Not all heroes wear capes,” wrote Lyall’s friend, BKFC star Bec Rodriguez, who originally posted the video.

Breakdown from Lawrence Kenshin:

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Lawrence Kenshin (@strikingbreakdowns)

And here’s a view from above:

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Viktor Lyall (@impalervikki)

The Fighter’s Side

“I never laid hands on either of those males, nor needed to until the events of that video transpired and I needed to defend myself,” Lyall told The Chronicle. “I was merely involving myself to extricate another party. That’s when I got involved, and that’s the only reason I got involved.

“You can see quite clearly from the video that I don’t want to hurt anyone, otherwise I would have, and I’m walking away getting followed.”

The pair remind of the jackals referenced in Christopher Walken’s Lion Speech. However, Lyall requests that there be no further steps taken against the two unfortunates. He hopes that their enshrinement in the global @$$hole Hall of Fame was sufficient.

“As they’re identifiable, I hope people can also respect the privacy of the aggressors and not ruin their livelihoods or whatever they do,” wrote the fighter. “Although the two males were together beating someone brutally, it was stopped. That video going viral is probably (hopefully) enough punishment for them. Please don’t harass. Ultimately, to me, it was just a bit of a tiff. They got plowed on. It happens. It’s good nobody got hurt.”

Lyall fights for the Brisbane-based XFC, and trains at Brisbane’s Gamebred Academy, under coaches Ryan Dunstan, Simon Clough, and Jason Lonergan.

Follow the hero without a cape on Instagram.

A usual reply would be many words about how extraordinary the writer’s chosen martial art is. This scene from the dark comedy Foot Fist Way sums it up pretty accurately, with a little off-color language:

There is in reality no best martial art or best school. My mother practices Tai Chi, at a friend’s home; it helps my mother stay healthy, so Tai Chi is to me the most awesome martial art of all. And too Tai Chi probably won’t be a great deal of use in getting out of a rear naked choke. Martial arts can develop a variety of qualities, in varying degrees, including confidence, character development, cultural appreciation, conditioning, peace of mind, self-defense, spirituality, sporting success, and much more. Whatever art provides over time, with work, those qualities that you most want or need to develop is the best art of you.

Emphatically, this is not to say that all martial arts are equally good at everything. Typically, there are approaches that specialize in one area of development over others, and these areas of focus can vary enormously. And too there are countless factually incorrect claims of effectiveness, which, if self-defense is of interest, can or should be a deal breaker. But even if two schools have nearly identical approaches, many less-recognized factors can come into play. A famous gym may not offer the average student nearly the personal attention that a smaller, far less heralded one will. Proximity to your home or workplace plays a big role. How compatible you feel with the membership is a massive factor, as community will invariably play a large role in your development. Further, a great teacher in something that is not exactly what you want will likely take you far farther than will a poor teacher offering precisely what you want. In sum, choosing the best school (for you) can be complex.

So first decide what you want to get out of the practice. Then find a place where you feel comfortable, under a 30-minute drive away, led by an established subject matter expert in whatever is of keenest interest to you, work hard at it, and don’t quit. That’s the best school, for you.

Lastly, keep an open mind about martial arts. Usually, but not always, there is something useful in every approach, albeit sometimes a small one. Unfortunately, practicing a martial art can lead to one’s sense of self becoming too closely identified with the gym or teacher, and then all other schools are viewed as inferior. MMA adepts can come to see traditional approaches as hopelessly ineffective. Aikido students can view combat sports as nasty, brutish, and short. Believing your Eagle Fang is way more effective than their Miyagi Do is, literally, comedy. So don’t ask whether any given martial art is right or wrong, but rather, ask how is it right. Usually, there is a positive answer.

And in closing, what matters most is hard work. The dictates of the market are such that, most unfortunately, instructors feel compelled to make classes ever easier and shorter. If you observe a class, and it doesn’t look like physical, mental, or spiritual hard work, then you aren’t going to get very far from where you are. And beware, some teachers are skilled at pantomiming hard work, substituting ornate movements, loud yells, and stern facial expressions, for what the class actually needs to do, which is work hard. There are no secret moves, and no shortcuts. All real martial arts are hard work, above all else.

Aussie MMA Fighter vs. Multiple Street Punks

How do we Know What Works?

How Did Martial Arts Work?

The Fighter’s Side

What’s The Best Martial Art?

Page Copyright

Tag: MMA

How do we Know What Works?

How Did Martial Arts Work?

The Fighter’s Side

Page Copyright