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TAKING IT TO THE GROUND
By
Morné Swanepoel
President JKD Unlimited South Africa
www.jkd.co.za
 The
end of the last century saw the birth of a new era in
the Martial Arts world. With the advent of events known
variously as 'Ultimate fighting', 'No holds-barred'
matches and 'Mixed Martial Arts', martial artists across
the world learned the value of learning more than one
art, and becoming complete in what does work and what
doesn't in the real world. The effectiveness of ground
fighting or grappling cannot be denied. In the concept
of Jeet Kune Do you always push towards totality in
combat.
There are a number of Martial Art instructors and
students out there that believe that no one will take
them down to the ground. Even Guru Dan Inosanto has
stressed the importance of ground fighting in his latest
video series on the Martial Arts. You must be fierce,
but have patience at the same time. Most important of
all you must have complete determination.
 The
worst opponent you can come across is one whose aim has
become an obsession. For instance if a man has decided
that he is going to bite off your nose no matter what
happens to him in the process, the chances are he will
succeed in doing it. He may be severely beaten up too,
but that will not stop him from carrying out his
objective. The main modes of fighting one will find
oneself in are weapons, Stand up, Clinching & grappling.
Whenever the skills and tools of fighters are equal,
victory will generally go to the person who possesses
the stronger will and most cunning strategy.
As with any form of fighting, one of the biggest
mistakes is to take the opponent lightly, and with
grappling the main mistake is to loose ones sense of
calm and to waste energy with inappropriate use of
physical strength. Opportunities will surely be missed.
Too many students & instructors train their techniques
without properly testing them under a full resistance
environment. How would you deal with somebody that's
goal is to take you down to the ground? No matter how
good you are, if your opponent wants to take you down he
will. Remember, the opponent is not only NOT
co-operating with you but he is very much out to knock
your lights out! In any encounter, one is always
searching for the advantage. Speed, angling, superior
technique and especially pain compliance are great to
have, and it is generally preferable to remain standing
on your feet, but, Murphy's Law.......If you should
loose your advantage such as slipping in the mist of
throwing blows, be pulled off balance in the process of
executing the best throw or take down. What do you do
then? What if you apply the perfect joint lock, and the
opponent doesn't react to it or counters it. Worst yet,
what if you are not afforded the luxury of having the
advantage in the first place and forced into a wrestling
situation. It is not the best place and time to get your
first grappling/wrestling lesson lying on your back in
the street with your opponent on top of you busy
blasting away. Fluidity of tactics and skill within all
the ranges of combat is a must.
 No
matter how good you are on your feet with or without a
weapon you must be equally proficient on the ground in
order to be a complete fighter. Especially when dealing
with a bigger, stronger opponent, or with someone who
can close the distance and force grappling, or might
just be better than you with stand up fighting skills.
Weapons training is to be included in your grappling and
overall skills. To round out your training, include
drills and sparring sessions that would pit empty hand
vs. various weapons, weapons vs empty hand and weapon
vs. weapon grappling.
With co-operation vary sessions from light to full
contact, lots of rules to limited to no rules. The
benefits will be many for all involved. You should not
be afraid to try different methods in your training, for
it is never complete (as much as we may believe it is).
Nature has shown us that all things evolve, therefore,
so should we. The only thing constant in life is change
itself.
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