[GratefulCitizen]

In my experience, the training and reality were quite different.

My primary training was in Chito-ryu, though I dabbled a little in some informal Muay Thai, Wing chun and some others.
Most of the time was spent with me and my instructor (or with whomever I could find to spar) beating the snot out of each other sans headgear.

After dealing with the effects of what were probably serial low-grade concussions, I would recommend the regular use of headgear.


For the better part of 3 1/2 years, I worked security in a violent nightclub in western Colorado.
There were more conflicts than I care to remember; here is what I learned concerning the training versus reality.


I'll start with the 2 most important things:
1. Numbers. Whoever has (effectively) the most people on their side usually wins.
2. Situational awareness. Attacking the other person when they're unaware (however momentary) works best. Be aware and you won't be an easy target.


All of our staff had different self-defense backgrounds, different body types, and different levels of fitness, but everyone eventually used the same basic technique:
-We would keep enough distance from a potential threat (or threats) to prevent a sucker-punch.
-Once action was warranted, we would close range as quickly as possible, secure some sort of upper-body control, and immediately throw or sweep.
-From there, we would address the next threat or achieve dominance over the downed threat through numbers.
(as a practical matter, kicking a downed threat is quite effective, in case you lack numerical advantage)
-We would avoid going to the ground ourselves unless we had a buddy specifically watching our back.
It would probably be best described as Greco-Roman wrestling with tripping allowed.

The various forms of training we had mainly contributed to not getting hurt while closing range.
I have to emphasize there is a difference between "not getting hurt" and "not getting hit".

Arguably the best training any of us had was athletic rather than martial, specifically football and basketball.
The reason for this can be summed up in one word: balance.
I'm not sure of the reason, but people demonstrate awful balance when under stress.


I'm sure any of us could have used the various forms of self-defense in which we had been formally trained, but it would have been time-consuming.
Fractions of a second matter in close-quarters.
When someone is taken off of their feet, they are (relatively and temporarily at least) fixed in space.
This allows movement of your friends to you, you to your friends, or you to/from other threats.
Such movement effectively gives you the ability to outnumber the idiots (our term for "enemy").


Something else that merits mention is an idea best described as "initiative".
All of us went through roughly the same developmental process.
For the first half-dozen to dozen chaotic brawls, everything seems to happen very fast.
It's exciting/frightening, everything is reflex (no concious decision-making), and you have trouble remembering details afterwards.
Somewhere towards the end of that first dozen, some dramatic changes happen:
-Everything seems to slow down.
-Emotions are generally absent.
-You gain the ability to make concious decisions.
-Afterwards, you can remember details.
(and afterwards the emotions show up--usually anger/frustration at first...after enough events it's sorrow/pity)

The advantage this "initiative" gave cannot be overstated.
However, no amount of previous training gave any of our staff a pass on this developmental process.
Experience was the only teacher.


A few other things I learned:

Techniques are overrated.
Athleticism is underrated.
SA is your best defense, your body will protect itself automatically from a known threat.
Morale is very important. When there's no referee and you can't tap-out, people are often indecisive.

Keep your feet:
-Once on the ground, you lose mobility and SA.
-While down, your head starts to bear a strong resemblance to a soccerball.
-The real world is often not one-on-one. Keep your options open.

Keep your cool:
-"Raging" will intimidate the lesser threats. It will not intimidate a real threat.
-"Raging" will cause tunnel-vision. The threat you don't see is the one that will hurt you.

Keep your distance:
-If you are not actively engaging, make sure you have time to react.

Decisiveness:
-If delaying conflict will improve your situation, delay.
-If delaying conflict will degrade your situation, act immediately.

Force escalation:
-If you are going to engage in violence, be as violent as possible.
-Do not gradually escalate your offensive actions. It is an either/or proposition.
-De-escalate as necessary after you have achieved dominance.

Real world conflicts rarely happen in padded environments.
-Immobile objects (like the ground, doorframes, parked cars) make excellent improvised weapons.
-It's better to break your opponent on an object than break yourself on your opponent.


FWIW, there it is.
I hope it helps somebody.

<edit>

How do I know my self defense will work?
Everything I've experienced leads to one conclusion:
I don't know.

I do know that I will act.
Hopefully those actions will be sufficient.