Charles: I’m interviewing in this article, Norm Bettencourt of Vancouver, B.C. Canada who is an expert on reality-based street fighting, and Norm, tell us for those who are not familiar with you and your background. What is your experience and what is your background?
Norm: Well, I hold a black belt in karate, and I found out the hard way that, that black belt didn’t do anything for me when I was in a street fight, and I actually got beaten up quite badly. What I did was I started researching and training with different personnel and people that had spent time in prison and people that have had military experience.
I learned from them what was applicable when it came to street fighting. So, I created the TACT Self Defense System which is a scenario-based, reality system of street fighting. Half of my training center is set up as a back alley and the other half as an apartment setting. And I teach people how to fight in real world environments. I also have 15 years experience in the security industry, everything from bouncing to bodyguarding.
Charles: So, what are some of the reasons why a person who really wants to learn how to fight in a reality-based situation doesn’t need to spend years and years earning a black belt?
Norm: You take a look at the Special Forces when they train or any military or police personnel when they train. They don’t have years to train to be proficient at their skills. They only have a few months. And that’s the difference between martial arts and combat or street fighting. You don’t need those years because it is not an art form. What it is, is targeting and doing certain simple techniques that will work for you personally every time. So, when you go into a martial arts academy, you learn how to fight in a certain way or a certain style. Where you become so familiar with that you expect that people will fight with you like that. Now, when people change that format of fighting, you become confused.
So, let’s say you fighting in a karate way or jiu jutsu way, and somebody fights you in a different format what happens is you become confused and you don’t do so well anymore because that person is fighting outside of your element. So, when it comes to martial arts and stuff that happens is that you’re being taught a set of techniques that rules apply to. In a street fight, there are no rules. There’s no such thing as a dirty fighter, only an educated one.
So, for the street if you’re going to learn a system that’s applicable for the streets and for personal protection, it can’t have rules tied into it. And it has to involve real-world environments. So, it has to teach you how to use your environment around you, such as tables, chairs, drinks, all that kind of thing where there are no restrictions to the techniques. It’s a free-for-all. It’s going any where: low blows, cheap shots, an anything goes kind of deal. You bite. You eye gouge. You knife someone, or you stab somebody in the eye with a pen if you can. Where there’s no rules, anything goes, and it’s free flowing. Now that’s the difference.
Charles: Now that we see and have established that a black belt is not needed, what would be your suggestion for a person who wants to learn how to become combat ready. How much time would that person need, and where would they best need to go?
Norm: People who train with me only take 3 months to train this system if they come once a week with me. Some people will fly in for a weekend crash course. So, that’s 8 hours on a Saturday and 8 hours on a Sunday, and they can learn my entire system which is personalized to suit their body types and size. So, it is individually personalized to suit them.
How I fight is not going to be the best way for how you fight because I’m short. I have a certain weight where some people will be taller and they weigh more or they weigh less. So, your self defense techniques have to be personalized towards you. As well, people more in different ways. Some people move in more of an awkward way, and you must incorporate that into the equation.
Charles: So, in your school, you don’t give out black belts, do you?
Norm: No, there’s no belt schemes. All it is it primal, instinctive fighting which is natural which is why it is so quick and easy to remember. You could not train again for 6 months and still have all that information inside your brain and inside your muscle memory and still be able to apply it effectively in an all out street fight.
Charles: So, there we have it. A black belt. Not necessary. Thanks again, Norm.
Norm: You bet.
And now I’d like to invite you to get your Free Instant Access to a 30-minute TeleSeminar Audio on “How To Conquer The Fear of Street Fighting” when you visit:
http://www.CombatFightingSecrets.com/nofear.html
You will receive 30 minutes of secrets to never again fear any man with fear busting techniques that will work ever time!
From Charles Prosper – The Street Fighting Sifu
Article Source:
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Would you like an unorthodox tactic for dealing with someone drunk in a street fight?
This one concept could mean that you either won’t have to fight the drunk individual, or you’ll have a definite upper hand, if you do have to fight.
I want to ask you a personal question?
Have you ever been drunk? (No, need to verbally respond to your computer screen.)
Think about all of the symptoms (or characteristics) of being drunk:
* Loss of balance
* The spins (feelings of vertigo)
* Loss of speed in walking and running
* Movement causing nausea
* Loss of stamina
* Blurred vision
* Slurred speech
Can you think of any more?
Unorthodox Street Fighting Tactics
Rather than explain specific martial-arts moves, I’d like to give you a more useful set of tactics.
If you have to face someone being aggressive, who is ‘royally snockered’ on alcohol, then use his (or her) condition to your advantage.
Let’s choose one of the above symptoms … how about movement making a drunk person sick.
You have to face the drunk street fighter in front of you. So, your tactic could be to be unstable. Rock from one foot to the other.
Take little steps from side to side.
Maybe walk around or circle your opponent, while staying just out of reach.
Imagine how sick your drunkard would get trying to follow you … around and around … and aroun — d….
Are there any other symptoms on the list that you could use against your wanna-be assailant?
Of course, this unorthodox tactic of using your drunks condition against him isn’t guaranteed to work. It “is” designed to give you the advantage. Maybe the ability to get away.
And if your attacker comes in close, you will have the martial skills and the advantage of a clear head, should you have to strike out.
Are you wondering about an effective move to use against a drunk? No, wrist locks and joint locks may not work on someone with dulled senses.
You may have to hit or kick.
I have a little ebooklet that will teach you a couple of important fighting skills. It’s free.
When you get to the part about the three nerve areas to cause pain, I want you to remember that those points may not be as effective on someone who is drunk.
No problem. Just adjust your follow-up hit to a new target, but maintain the same upper arm pressure.
You’ll see what I mean, when you take a look.
This Free ebooklet really will give you tips for improving your in-close elbow strike, and a great way to counter almost any elbow strike attempted on you.
The Perfect Free ebooklet for street fighting. Click Here!
Keith Pascal has been a full-time martial-arts writer for eight years and a martial-arts teacher for 25 years.
Article Source:
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Once, while being interviewed about street fighting based self defense, I totally shocked the interviewer by stating a simple fact that shook his belief system from the very foundation.
His question was: “What would you recommend or what do you personally teach women in terms of self defense?”
My answer was: “There is no such thing as women’s self defense.”
Now that doesn’t mean at all that women cannot or should not learn to defend themselves, on the contrary, it means that I give women more credit than even they give themselves!
What I mean when I say that women’s self defense doesn’t exist is that there should not be a difference between the way a woman defends herself and the way that a man defends himself.
Read these five reasons why street fighting based self defense works and how they are just as applicable to women as to men:
1. Street fighting based self defense works just as well against bigger attackers-Women’s self defense supposedly has to be different from self defense for men because women tend to be smaller and weaker. Well, I weigh 175 lbs and work as a bouncer. Can you imagine that I have ever been attacked by a smaller guy? Neither can I. Now, if I weigh 175 lbs and street fighting based self defense allows me to defend myself against someone 100 lbs heavier, why can’t a woman use the same concepts to defend herself against a much bigger man?
2. Street fighters aren’t afraid to strike first-A surprise attack by a bad guy is called a sucker punch. A good guy used a preemptive strike. Either way, it is the same thing, a way to take an attacker out before he even knew he was in a fight. What do you think would be a better choice for a woman to do, wait for an attack and try to block and fight back or to suddenly knock a potential attacker down and out before he attacks, as soon as she feels threatened and knows that there is no way to avoid a fight.
3. Street fighters practice very good situational awareness-As a bouncer, I am constantly trying to see a fight before it starts, to be able to respond before things really get out of hand. A mugger or rapist spends time observing potential targets before he chooses the easiest mark. How can so many “women’s self defense” instructors tell their students to run away from a fight if they don’t give them the tools to notice a potential threat before it is too late? If your situational awareness, or your ability to see a potentially threatening situation coming and react before you are ambushed or attacked is on point, you won’t ever have to fight at all.
4. Street fighters have conquered their fears and don’t back down from anything-Ever hear of the concept of the “cornered rat?” Well, rats are nature’s masters of street fighting self defense. Just like a rat, a good street fighter becomes much more dangerous when cornered and endangered. Bite, claw, give your attacker(s) everything you’ve got and die fighting because being afraid and giving-up didn’t ever win a fight or save a life.
5. Street fighters don’t train-Since developing my concepts of street fighting based self defense, I train much less than ever before in my life and am much more combat effective than ever before in my entire life. How should a working mom or business man find time for work, family, household and the hours of conditioning and technique training that most self defense or martial arts instructors claim are necessary to ensure your street survival? How about spending a few hours to learn a few brutally effective concepts of dirty street fighting and then having them for the rest of your life, on call to be used any time without maintenance training? Like I always say, if a technique is simple enough to use with minimal training, it is simple enough to use effectively on the street. If a technique is complicated enough to need to be drilled constantly, it is too complicated for use in a real street fight.
Christopher “Bob” Roberts is an ex-soldier who relocated to Europe and now earns his living as a tactics and close-combat instructor for military, police and private security companies.
For more information about armed and unarmed self-protection, subscribe to his free newsletters at http://www.extreme-measures-institute.com and receive access to an exclusive video interview series where he explains the fundamentals of truly effective self defense.
Article Source:
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