Real-World Combat Stand-up Techniques

In real life, fights are different from fight scenes in the movies. They are not choreographed and there are no rules. If you find yourself in one, you want to end it quickly and decisively. If you sense a fight is imminent, there is a huge advantage to landing the first blow. One place you don't want to wind up is on the ground. If you can remain on your feet long enough to deliver the decisive blows, you'll be able to walk, or run, away without enduring much harm to yourself.

  1. Strike First, Strike Fast

    • Bruce Lee believed in using your front-most weapon to strike your opponent's closest vulnerable spot. Often that means lashing out a low kick to your opponent's knee with your leading leg. This sort of kick is best when delivered almost as a horizontal stomp. If landed well, it can disable or hinder your opponent long enough for you to get away or to deliver a follow-up strike.

    Strike Through Your Target

    • The boxer Mike Tyson was fond of saying that he never tried to hit his opponents in the head. He tried to punch the space that was behind their head. If you get in a fight, you want to strike your blows through your opponent. This will give them more impact and hopefully allow you to land a decisive blow and end the conflict quickly.

    Keep Moving

    • A stationary target is easier to hit. Stay light on your feet and move around your opponent, evading his blows and landing yours when you see an opening. Bruce Lee was good at this, but Muhammad Ali was a master. He seemed to dance around his opponents and often they had a hard time even laying a glove on him.

    Watch Your Opponent, Time Your Strikes

    • Bruce Lee was fond of saying, "When my opponent expands, I contract. When he contracts, I expand." What this means basically is that when your opponent strikes, get out of the way and when he is recoiling from his strike, hit him hard. Often a fighter is at his most vulnerable and extended when he has just finished launching a strike. That is when you should try and hit out at an extended chin or an exposed flank or perhaps sweep a leg out from under him while his balance is slightly off.