Well, it’s happened again…
My 11 year old YouTube video on “Why you should NOT punch your attacker in a real street fight” has gone viral AGAIN with over 1.5 million views in just the last month!
Now I realize this bunched up a LOT of panties in the butt cracks of many a martial artist, boxer, and MMA fighter out there when I released it.
In fact, to date, it has over 23,000 comments on the video – both FOR and AGAINST my reasoning.
So this week, I’ve pulled out 7 of the most legitimate arguments against my “never punch” theory and I’ll give a common sense reply that will hopefully FINALLY convince the doubters out there…
Here Are The 7 Most Common Arguments Against My “No Punch” Street-Fighting Principle – And My “No B.S.” Responses To Each Of Them…
Here’s What You’ll Discover In This Week’s Episode:
- What the “weapons junkies” get completely WRONG about deploying a gun or knife in a real fight!
- The hard “street fight” lesson learned by one of the top boxers of all time!
- The common “strike-to-target matching” snafu blindly followed by traditional martial arts… that fails miserably at guaranteeing the promised effect!
- Tough knuckles! The pros & cons of hand conditioning to develop stronger punches for real fights!
- The lost “ground-fighters” who are betting their skills on a failing street-fighting tactics!
- And much, MUCH more!
In 11 years, no one has yet convinced me that I’m wrong in why you should not punch in a real fight.
Hopefully these 7 reasons will convince others to change the way they train and fight.
Being an elderly man of 68 I tend to think that striking to either disable or kill an attacker to defend myself is a good idea. Not having the stamina for a drawn out fight is a primary reason for this.
I’ll bet with a name like “Stephanie” you grew up to be pretty tough!
I’m 66 and don’t at all consider myself elderly. Nor do I think two more years will make me that.
May we all grow from strength to strength.
Yitz in Pittsburgh
I agree with you. Open hand striking, elbow striking, and knee striking is better. Also get close. Anyone trying to fight wants distance for power, but you can accomplish harder strikes and throws faster In close up fighting.
-I will say this again: if you carry a weapon, it attracts an attack. Best to carry a tool that could serve as a weapon if need be.
-I have a girlfriend with strawberry blond hair. I tell her that if I wouldn’t look ridiculous with that hair color (I’m black), I would snatch her bald. Then we laugh. Those people talking about your hair are jealous.
-You need a script for these videos. You talk a lot and in a manner that doesn’t quite get to the point fast enough or tends to digress a bit. I believe you know what you’re talking about. But you don’t really sound like it. Love the topics though.
Agree with you. Heavy hands striking is done openhanded, and has been known to dislocate elbows and break collar bones both of which will end a dispute quickly.
Where is my bug out bag??
Get a half a clue before chipping your teeth at someone. Jeff is not speaking to ‘boxers, martial artists or any other specialist.’ He is speaking to EVERYONE in EVERY SITUATION. You may punch and win in every fight you have been in. But it only takes one time for your bones, muscles and ligaments to let you down in a critical encounter.
I will not get into the ‘what if’ stuff. You can make up anything to counter anything.
In ALL INSTANCES, a non-punch strike leaves MORE OPTIONS OPEN than a punch strike. Because “what-if…everything doesn’t go perfectly?”
Brother your skills and common street sense are spot on. I’m a 65 year old disabled Veteran who sports 3 cervical neck surgeries, loaded up with nuts & bolts, 2 compression fractures in lumbar and a stage 4 cancer survivor who was told as I lay quadriplegic that I had less than 6 months and that was 9 years ago. Dudes like you encourage me to where I stand strong like I’m 21. Keep this stuff coming you’re truly an inspiration and life saver. Semper Fi, Robert K Martin
Most of us growing up are taught that men fight with their fists, and trained strikers/boxers can be very effective. Ask Ronda Rousey. You are 100% correct. For most boxing is not a practical form of self defense. How many train to slip and counter, or condition their wrists hours a week on a heavy bag. Also, fist strikes are more likely to impair dexterity especial without proper conditioning. I’ve always liked Kung Fu, basic meaning is free style. You can strike with palm, edge of hand, or even the back side of your wrist. These striking methods reduce the chance of injuring you hand and give you the option of adding a gouge, rake, or grapple to the motion.
Groin kicks: we were taught to use flat foot (top of foot). But on most videos, it’s always the “ball” of the foot (as a football). What say you?
At least you still have hair. Mine used to be sandy red. As lead singer for Darby O’Gill is fond of saying, “I have a hair replacement plan that’s working pretty well. It’s called scalp!”
There is a space between leg and it in Koito rob’s comment, so it would be leg it as in run (with a bum knee, not an option for me) not legit as in on the up and up.
you have to punch a little to let your opponent know you are not scared. most of my fights were 3-5 seconds or less. anything longer than that i knew the fight would be taken to the ground. i have broken my hands/wrists 13 times over the years. the last time the emergency room doctor whom had treated me a few times before, told me ‘ the next time you come into the emergency room we may have to amputate your hand’! wow this was a big wake up call. i changed my fight technique to avoid losing a hand in future fights.by experience i know where to hit and cause the most damage. my first two punches are love taps before a heavy blow to a fatal point on the body. this takes discipline to not throw your hardest punches which you probably can’t control because of your anger, fear or adrenaline flow! whenever i got into fights later, i knew exactly how to control the fight and where to hit. if i were to go against the ‘ROCK’ i would love tap him then hit him 3+- inches below his heart. you will break your hands head hunting guys with thick necks from weightlifting! so you must control the power and target area to be hit. unfortunately, most people will never have the experience and mental body control of over 80 fights. my advice is to run if you can. against multiple attackers, resign yourself to killing at least one attacker and being killed, too. i’ve never had to defend my family. that is a totally different situation. i just know that i would have to kill as many as i can before getting killed myself to buy my family time to get to safety. no fight method is guaranteed so don’t train for that. good luck and be safe!