Fight Lesson: Ground Fighting

WARNING this video contains violent footage and very foul language. Viewer dissection is advised.

On Your Stomach or Back with Punches Raining Down…

While there has been quite a bit of mythology about 90% of fights winding up on the ground, they don’t, fighting on the ground, being on the bottom of a large aggressive attacker can be a pretty scary place. It is imperative that a martial artist, combatives person, law enforcement, military or other self-defense-minded person be able to stay calm and effectively deal with this dangerous range.

With an aggressive attacker on top of them untrained people tend to do one of three things:

  1. Turn face down
  2. Push with their arms and stiffen up
  3. Close their eyes and cover their heads with their arms

I don’t think I have to explain why all of these are a bad idea. So let’s learn what to do instead.

How to Fight on the Ground

Rules for fighting on the ground:

  1. Stay calm – a cool head can make decisions
  2. Face your attacker – in order to react you must be able to see what is happening
  3. Off-balance your attacker ASAP – an off-balance attacker will have a hard time setting up attacks
  4. Clench your attacker as close as possible
  5. Know how to hurt them, roll them or both
  6. Get up ASAP

Staying Calm

Sure Brian, easy for you to say! Ok you are right, but you will learn to stay calm through repetition of training. Tension, stress, and panic all come from being in an unfamiliar place. Get your reps in, get comfortable and familiar with the ground positions and you will react instead of panic.

Face Your Attacker

If you turn your back you can’t see the incoming attacks to stop them. You are the proverbial sitting duck. Get on your back, turn towards your attacker. Get your hands up in front of your face. Have your hands occupying center line (keep the guards at their post watching the center gate.) Flare your elbows into a spear shape, this will stop the majority of the angle that can come in. But don’t stay here and try to block, that is madness.

Off-Balance Your Attacker ASAP

Get your feet close to your butt. Thrust your hips in the air (oompah) and throw them forward. This is like being bucked by a horse or bull, maybe not quite as bad but you get the idea. They will most likely fall forward. If they don’t just keep repeating it until they do. You may need to reach up and grab them and pull them down as you hip thrust.

Clench Your Attacker, Keep Them Close

As counter intuitive as this may seem for those new to ground fighting, an upright attacker has leverage and can deliver forceful punches. An attacker that you are hugging around the neck and even one arm simply can’t generate enough force to do as much damage. They also won’t be able to see as well and they are likely to panic and try to push away rather than attack thus giving you the chance to do your next move.

Know How to Hurt Them, Roll Them, or Both

At this point applying some simple Brazilian Jujitsu, Judo, Sambo, etc. you can tie up and hold their arm close to your body, and trap their same side leg using your foot, then you can hip thrust again and roll them to the side with the trapped limb. With their arm and leg trapped against the side of their body they won’t be able to reach out and stop themselves from falling to that one side, thus after your hip thrust you roll that direction and let momentum carry you to the top positions.

Sure there are plenty of nasty things you can do from the bottom position as well, many of which will instantly end the fight. I’m not going to teach them in this article as many of them are quite nasty and I don’t want that information carelessly floating around out there. If you would like to learn them contact me at my Aurora, Colorado Jeet Kune Do school. If I deem you a good moral person I’ll teach them to you.

Get Up ASAP

After you incapacitate your attack with whatever moves are legally, ethically, and situationally called for, get up on your feet as soon as possible. There might be another attacker you must deal with and believe you me, you don’t want to be on the ground against multiple attackers.

Sure there are certain circumstances where staying on the ground is appropriate. If you are at a party where you know everyone except this one guy who you are on top of then I doubt any of your friends of family will stab you in the kidney with a kitchen knife. If so you need new friends.

Final Thoughts

Guys, gals, thanks for watching and reading. If you would like to learn to fight on the ground to defend yourself or your loved ones then come visit Progressive Combat Systems, Aurora, Colorado’s premiere Jeet Kune Do school.

Until next time,
Brian