Through the years I have grown a disdain of the use of the term “street fight” when specifically referring to actual personal protection. This is not to say that criminal acts (assaults, batteries, muggings, ambushes, pick-pocketing, murders, etc.) do not occur on the actual streets of your respective locale, but too often people envision “street fight” as personal protection outside of their comfort zones (i.e. the term “street fight” often does not give allowances to violent crimes that happen inside the home/apartment, the workplace, the daycare center, the grocery store, the movie theater, a friend’s home, doctors office, etc.) and in some seedy part of town.
When I use the term “street fight”, typically I am referring to the ego-based fights and scuffles people actively and willfully engage in. Typically, you will find “street fights” in a populated environment (bar, on the actual street, etc.) due to the ego boost and false sense of respect and street credentials. Using this basic definition, almost all “street fights” can be avoided through intuition, awareness, verbal defusing, and letting go of your ego. In Senshido you will often hear the phrase “Self-Defense begins with the Self” and that “We are our own worst enemies.” These statements are not to be taken as simple philosophical clichés. The approach of a “street fight” will challenge us to deal with our inner demons, emotional baggage, past experiences and potentially open wounded doors without allowing them to be shut. Our egos can cause us to destroy ourselves more often and more severely than any “bad-guy” can. That is why we stress personal evolution, honest introspection and evaluation. If you don’t like it, change it. Simply put.
Through the years I have grown a disdain of the use of the term “street fight” when specifically referring to actual personal protection. This is not to say that criminal acts (assaults, batteries, muggings, ambushes, pick-pocketing, murders, etc.) do not occur on the actual streets of your respective locale, but too often people envision “street fight” as personal protection outside of their comfort zones (i.e. the term “street fight” often does not give allowances to violent crimes that happen inside the home/apartment, the workplace, the daycare center, the grocery store, the movie theater, a friend’s home, doctors office, etc.) and in some seedy part of town.
When I use the term “street fight”, typically I am referring to the ego-based fights and scuffles people actively and willfully engage in. Typically, you will find “street fights” in a populated environment (bar, on the actual street, etc.) due to the ego boost and false sense of respect and street credentials. Using this basic definition, almost all “street fights” can be avoided through intuition, awareness, verbal defusing, and letting go of your ego. In Senshido you will often hear the phrase “Self-Defense begins with the Self” and that “We are our own worst enemies.” These statements are not to be taken as simple philosophical clichés. The approach of a “street fight” will challenge us to deal with our inner demons, emotional baggage, past experiences and potentially open wounded doors without allowing them to be shut. Our egos can cause us to destroy ourselves more often and more severely than any “bad-guy” can. That is why we stress personal evolution, honest introspection and evaluation. If you don’t like it, change it. Simply put.
Some proposed “self-defense” instructors use the term “street fight” in order to elicit the ego of young males. They teach “in a street-fight, you want to do…” when the real message ought to be “use your intuition and awareness to avoid ego-based conflicts”. However, this message is sorely lacking in many RBSD systems, traditional/modern martial arts and MMA systems. It’s simply a marketing ploy used to stroke the egos of the customers (i.e. you). Don’t allow your ego to make your choice for personal protection training…it can have drastically negative effects.
Violence has no home. It knows no one gender, ethnic, culture, socio-economic, or social group. It knows no one location or genre. It is a plague that can and does infect every avenue of our lives. Our homes, our work, our religious institutions, our educational institutions, our political and law enforcement institutions, our stores, etc. Albeit this may seem to be “common sense”, understand that using the phrase “street fight” may paint an unrealistic picture of the location of violence and you may let your guard down.
In Senshido, we teach 3 basic levels of awareness in a color-code system: Code Green (in your safe home, with family and friends that you are safe around), Code Yellow (typically out and about during daylight hours, shopping, at work, etc.) and Code Red (in unfamiliar areas, at night, around people who set off your intuition with negative vibes, hostile physical/verbal behaviors, etc.). You will fluctuate in and out of these different stages of awareness depending on a multiple of variables. For example, if you are in an abusive relationship, you might be in Code Red (hyper aware) in your own home, because your significant other is having a violent episode, etc. This is where real personal protection training should be focusing on, the normal person in their everyday circumstances. You can learn techniques until Jesus comes back, but if it is not holistic training and does not speak directly to you and your emotional/psychological makeup, then you are shortchanging yourself.
Instead of preparing for a “street fight”, I encourage you to become an active member in your own life. Learn personal protection skills, by all means, but let them be used as a vehicle to better you internally. Love yourself and love life. One of the mantras for Senshido Alaska is train realistically to survive reality – and that includes all the areas of one’s life.
Much love and respect,
Malachi
Very good info Brother!
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