This is a useful and informative interview.

The streetfighter is an ex-cop turned martial arts trainer called “ Icy Mike ,” who does backyard brawls as part of his current repertoire.  I have a lot of ideas about how I would run a school and a lot of it has to do with incorporating what I’ve learned reading books by and talking with streetfighters.  The mindset of the streetfighter and even more, of the predator, is crucial if you want to have any chance of surviving an encounter.  Of course, the number one strategy is avoidance!  And by and large, that works 99.99 percent of the time.  But here and there, people find themselves in the wrong place around the wrong people, and then getting out of that situation intact requires some preparation.

I think the number one thing you can do is leave the ego at the door and scootch out of there, maybe throwing out and apology or restraining the dominant, aggressive body language.  I’ve always teetered in this weird space between being too aggressive and too fearful.  Neither are exactly under my complete control.  So when I have come across people in the past who are itching for a confrontation, I’ve usually been able to talk my way out of it.  Meanwhile, in my mind, its always about to turn into a bloodbath.  Fear turns to anger.

But, as I said, my “research” and my common sense tells me how real fights on the street go, plus you can see a lot of them on Youtube.

99% can be “won” (avoided) through verbal de-escalation and situational awareness.  Predators are looking for easy prey and they will notice that you are using strategies like keeping your hands up, your eyes open, that you are scanning, that you are maintaining distance.

Then, if the the situation kicks off, it really helps a lot to have rehearsed (ideally with a partner, but even in your mind) so you know how things like cars, furniture, walls, buildings, curbs, trees, and so can figure in the fight.  One of the premier features of the Wong Shun Leung method of training Wing Chun is the use of mattresses and other wall pads.  When you’ve done a little training along these lines, you know how good technique can enable you to use that wall.  You can drive the opponent into it with punches.  You can trip, lock, and drive the head into the wall.  And the amount of power you can generate if you get the right angle is off the hook!

In this video, Icy Mike discusses and demos a lot of these ideas.  I had a number of streetfighters comment that in their opinion, my skillset would work great in a street fight once it was on, and that my main weakness was in that danger zone between its almost on and its really on.  That is a tricky, tricky moment.  And PS the difference between looking like a victim or the aggressor in the eyes of the law.