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Successful On the Streets: Tips to Win Street Fight

Although you might never be in one, part of learning how to fight is being prepared for the unexpected. Since it’s not an organized fight, you shouldn’t attempt to approach it like one.

When you least expect it, you might encounter a punk or two trying to instigate a fight. Although you have been trained to fight, it might not help you when you’re simply looking to defend yourself in a street brawl, where most people don’t tend to fight fair.

One of the key concepts to understand here is that it’s possible to get out of a confrontation before it even begins. However, if you do find yourself heading in the direction of a street fight, here are a few tips that can help you get out of it or ultimately—win.

Be Alert

Especially if you are about to face a possibly life threatening situation, either for you or for the people you’re with, it’s crucial that you’re alert. Not only does this mean that you should shake yourself awake, it also means to be conscience of the environment you’re in. Take note of what you’re surrounded by, whether objects around you can be considered weapons or identify ways that you can make a quick exit. The key here is to not win valiantly, but try and get out of there alive. If you are unable to leave or are unsure if the situation will turn to violence, Always make sure to keep the other person at arm’s length. Never allow them to get too close to you. You can raise one arm to use as distance and always move back or sideways the close the other person gets to you.

Talk Your Way Out

Before it gets physical, if you don’t tempt the instigator and instead try to talk her or him out of it, you might head towards a better outcome. If you were the offender, here is the opportunity for you to apologize and own up to what you did before it gets out of hand. One of the key aspects you learn in martial arts is to stay humble. Therefore, not letting your ego get in your way here is essential—this takes a lot of practice and discipline.

Talking your way out of it also includes using body language to show the girl or guy you’re not afraid of them—just unwilling to fight.

Take Your Leave

If talking does not work, you might have to simply be the bigger person and get out of the situation by walking away. In this scenario, if you’re leaving, still be aware of your surroundings. Keep an eye on the person at all times, just in case they’re going to have a go when your back is turned. If you can—walk backwards.

Get Into Position

If somehow the circumstances take an ugly turn, you might have to fight. If there’s nowhere else to go and you just have to buck up and fight, show them you’re ready and get into your fighting stance. Most street fights end up on the ground—so to avoid that, spread your stance to shoulder-width apart and keep your knees slightly bent so you can maintain balance. Just like guarding your chin, keep your hands up and since they’ll probably go for your face, keep your teeth clenched. If your mouth is open, it’s possible to break your jaw if they land their punch just right.

Go On Defense

In a street fight, the rules are different. You should be trying to defend yourself from a violent fight, however unfair it might become. Therefore, if you need to, to protect yourself, use objects as a weapon and go for those straight, deadly moves that will get the job done.

If you need to, go with shots to the groin, knees or abdomen. Use the bottom of your foot, which will cause the most damage. If none of those are working, headbutt your forehead to their face and hit to take them down with a K.O. so you can get out of there.

Take The Hits

Especially if the person is a better fighter than you or you’re outnumbered, the likelihood of you getting hit is pretty how. Although you should be fighting your hardest to avoid the situation, sometimes you just can’t win them all. In the less-than-ideal situation where you have to get punched, try to absorb them so they don’t cause as much damage.

If they throw a punch to the head: Move your head and body towards the punch, which may seem counterintuitive. By doing this, tightening the muscles in your neck and clenching your jaw to avoid broken joints, your opponent will most likely not expect the movement and miss their direct target. If you can, take the punch to the forehead since it is the hardest part of your head.

If they throw a punch to the body: Tighten your core as much as possible and use that eight-pack to your advantage. Don’t suck in your stomach trying to “absorb” the punch—it won’t work. If you can shift quick enough, get the punch to land on your obliques rather than your stomach or vital organs—that might take you down.

Make as Much Noise as Possible

There are a couple reasons why that is effective:

Causes Intimidation: Not only will your opponent think that they’re dealing with a less-than-stable person, they will also get distracted by your sudden outburst. Yelling will also cause attention to the scene, which might scare them off. If you’re in the middle of the fight, screaming will definitely distract them and give you a couple split-seconds to make your move or get out.

Draw attention to the scenario. Normally, the more people that come, the heavier the pressure gets. If your attacker or opponent was just all talk, this is where it will shine through.

Get Out

The first chance you get—get out! This doesn’t mean you’re a coward and running away from confrontation, it just simply means you’re not stupid and you’re not willing to fight for no reason.

 

Street Fighting Does Not Equate to the MMA

Street Fighting Does Not Equate to the MMA

Even if you are trained for the MMA, a street fight is a fight in its own league. It is definitely not the same in any account, from behavior to “rules” (or lack thereof). Street fighting taps directly into your flight or fight mode—which will have you using tactics that you normally wouldn’t resort to in MMA or organized fighting.

For one, in a street fight, there are several instances where a combat can include deadly weapons or multiple people against one sole fighter. Since it is so unpredictable and can turn life-threatening in a split-second, it’s important to make that separation in your mind and prepare yourself for it. Ultimately, it’s possibly even just protecting yourself or your loved ones from harm and if that means lowering your ego and walking away—so be it.

A Street Fighting Breakdown

A Street Fighting Breakdown

You can sit there and study something all day but if you don’t have the opportunity to back it up, you won’t be in a good position to win a street fight. However, ultimately, knowledge is power and you can’t under-prepare for the unexpected.

Some facts about a street fight to know before you go into situations where it’s possible that something will happen, you will want to inform yourself to use these facts to your advantage and help you make rational and beneficial decisions. Especially when you’re under pressure or caught by surprise, it’s great to have some of these facts pop up in your mind.

It is not the same as MMA where it is regulated. Most street fights come with no rules and no enforcers. Therefore, prepare for a dirty fight where it will ultimately be unfair for one of the fighters involved.

Since it is so unregulated, it can be extremely dangerous and life-threatening. Especially if you are outnumbered or if your attacker is using weapons, it is possible that a street fight can end in death. Just like a car wreck, it is explosive and fast—injury-prone and lethal.

You can’t predict a street fight. Most times, you aren’t meeting Jimmy out on the courtyard after school. These fights take place when you least expect it, and that’s what makes it dangerous.

Throw some of those techniques you just learned in MMA out the window. Most street fights will have “illegal” hits and have your head and face be the target. Technical moves and kicking techniques aren’t used very often.

BJJ is one of the most efficient martial arts to learn when preparing for a real street fight, because these fights usually end up on the ground with grappling.

Be weary of spectators. They don’t only like the attention they might even join in and can come in when you least expect it.

 

Differences of Street Fighting and Conventional Fighting

Before moving forward, it’s important to distinguish the difference between both conventional and extreme street fighting.

In extreme fighting, what sets it apart from conventional fighting is that it is like a “death to the duel”. The main goal in a street fight is to stop the attacker as quickly as possible before it becomes deadly. Regardless of what you see on television, a street fight can be life-threatening and should only be used when your self-defense takes over. You shouldn’t transfer techniques from one type of fighting to another—street fighting won’t transfer over to a regulated martial arts competition and vise-versa.

Conventional Fighting

What sets conventional fighting apart from street fighting is that they are tailored to have a basic foundation in self-defense but are ultimately geared with rules in mind—designed with guidelines. In street fighting, it is a more, free-for-all nature. When you go through the paces learning conventional fighting, a lot of the training is based strictly on learning how to fight against an opponent under strict conditions and regulated guidelines.

Street Fighting

street fighting
As I mentioned before, street fighting is a whole other ball game. Conventional fighting has a good base to go off of, however, when preparing for street fighting, throw a lot of what you know out the window—your goal here is survival and not getting points for a trophy.

However, even the best street fighting techniques can’t help you even if you have the best stance. The idea here is the mindset. But I will go through the stance anyways.

How to Street Fight:

How to Street Fight

During the fight, you should engage in a stance that will enhance the protection of your center line (the imaginary line through the center of your body and head). This center line theory, as I just mentioned, is technically defined as the vertical (up and down) line that divides your body in half. Located on this line are some of the most vital anatomical targets that you must protect in a street fight. In this vertical line, it will touch all vital body parts that when your opponent targets them—can be lethal. The targets involved on this line are: the eyes, nose, chin, throat, solar plexus, and groin. Therefore, use that center line also to your advantage. Here is a video explaining the theory:

You want to know how to fight and win? Aim for his or her center line—it is the most effective when in a street fight because if you land these hits, they will have an immediate effect—in your favor.

Also, having a proper weight distribution with your body is an impacting factor when street fighting. Instead of worrying about form or technique, just try and commit to a proper weight distribution so you have the possibility and stability of reacting or getting out in a matter of seconds. You’ll also need this balance when trying to defend yourself.

As for form, still maintain that defensive stance you learn in conventional fighting with your chin down to square off your attacker. As I just mentioned with the center line theory, the most vulnerable parts of your body are also ones that take the hardest blows. Therefore, although it’s a small movement, if you lower your chin, you are lessening the chance that your attacker will be able to target your eyes, nose, and throat.

Although you can learn how to defend yourself as much as possible, regardless of what’s been said in American football games—defense does not win “championships” in street fighting. You need to throw a few offensive moves in there to really be effective.

The Three Combat Ranges to Focus On

Especially since the main thing here is that a street fight is really unpredictable, you have to have a strategic plan to deal with whatever happens in the fight. There are three different distances in a fight and in a street fight, all of them are possible so you have to be ready for any type of situation. Here is a video on the ranges of street fighting:

Kicking Range

When you are street fighting, this is the furthest distance that you can have from your attacker so that you can still be able to make contact with him or her. In this range, you would be able to use your legs in striking and kicking. Since your legs are the biggest muscle groups in your body, if you’re a strong kicker, this is where you want to be.

Punching Range

In street fighting, if you want to land a few punches to the center line of your attacker, you’ll need to be within this mid-range distance or punching range of unarmed street fighting. If you are at this range, you can easily throw punches and strikes with your hands to cause damage to your opponent.

Grappling Range

Ultimately, most street fights end up on the ground. Therefore, this range is one of the most important to be ready for. However, grappling doesn’t have to necessarily be done on the ground. While grappling, you can be horizontal or vertical. If you are vertical, you can initiate elbow and knee strikes, head butts, gouging and crushing tactics, biting and tearing techniques. Horizontally, this is where you resort to ground grappling techniques like submission holds, locks, and chokes.

 

Factors That Determine a Street Fight

Factors That Determine a Street Fight

When you’re fighting on the street, there is an everything-goes feel to it. This fact might overwhelm you and possibly even panic you. However, if you are approaching this situation, to get focused and concentrated by shutting everything less critical out, here are three essential factors to consider what to pinpoint when approaching a street fight:

Distance From Your Attacker to You

One of the first things to gauge when approaching an attacker is recognizing how far away he is from you and from other things surrounding you two. Recognizing these ranges and putting an identity on it will help you standardize the threat and make your next move.

What Kind of Confrontation It Is

Since there are no rules and guidelines, unpredictability and life-threatening danger opportunities, fighting on the street can look like so many different situations. Knowing what you’re dealing with before you get into it can help you survive and have success.

Whether Your Attacker is Armed

Just as I mentioned before, you have to know and identify what kind of confrontation it is. However, sometimes, you might not realize that your attacker has a weapon or access to one. Therefore, don’t worry about what you can’t see and resort to what your immediate threat is. (Of course, if it’s a shady guy or situation, try to avoid confrontation at all costs).

When I talk about a weapon, I don’t just mean a gun. I mean anything that can hurt when it hits—chains, baseball bats, metal bars, etc.

If you see your attacker with a weapon and still are in the fight—all is not lost. Weapons can be negative because:

  • Since they are an extension of the body, they are difficult to control, rather than having full control of your body.

  • They don’t necessarily mean effectiveness. Just because you have a weapon, you won’t always win a fight. Resorting to a weapon may cause your opponent to lose sight of a few crucial concepts.

  • When using a weapon, your attacker will be slow in retraction and follow through—especially if they want to use it repeatedly, which is your opportunity to go in or get out.

  • When the attacker is swinging their weapon, it leaves their body open, exposed, and vulnerable for a counter.

  • Especially if it isn’t a straight weapon like a plank of wood, flexible weapons, like chains, can get tangled up and become ineffective.

 

How to Street Fight: Defense

Some fighting tips and techniques that adhere to defensive skills (since they are just as important, if not more than offensive skills) include seven different aspects:

Distance

Just like an offensive aspect, recognizing the range and distance from you to your opponent is an important spatial factor of a street fight. If you’re engaging in the fight, this is one of the first things you should do to manipulate your advantage.

Stance

Right before you get into the fight, assume a strategic, defensive posture that will best keep you protected. Not only is your stance important according to which offensive moves you can commit to from but also how effective it is defensively speaking.

Mobility

Keep your balance—which will mean that you need to have good footwork and always be aware of the best range you need to be in for the particular fight (factoring in weapons and other people).

Blocking

Not only does this refer to physical blocking, it also means you have to strategically be on defense with all parts of your body. Make the conscious effort to keep your chin down, eyes open and try and gage the timing of the blows of your attacker to best evade them.

Evading

As I just mentioned, there’s nothing wrong with getting away from the fight or danger as quickly as possible—which transfers to defensive evasive maneuvers. This will get you quickly avoiding your attacker’s attempts to make contact.

Parrying

This is where you are redirecting your attacker’s striking attempts.

 

How to Street Fight: Offense

Ultimately, have the confidence and know what you’re working with. If you are able-bodied, you are already at an advantage, even if you have no prior fighting experience. You have fourteen different natural weapons at your disposal that you have used on an everyday basis and have complete control of.

These weapons, when used properly can result in effective street fighting moves that can incapacitate your attacker and be used to know how to win fights quick. With these weapons—your own body parts—you can cripple or even kill your attacker. But first, you should know how to use them as best as you can to get the most out of them as possible.

First and foremost, never forget to breathe. During any kind of fighting training, breathing is essential and will keep you under control of your movements and will make you feel like you have control of the entire situation.

One of the ways that you can learn how to win a street fight in seconds is to simply strike first, fast, and firm. Most guys (or girls) out there are all talk and are just looking for a reputation boost, confidence boost or are trying to feed their ego. It is highly unlikely that they have any capabilities of being a formidable adversary.

On the offense, you need to simply throw a strike that finishes the fight right then and there.

Bottom line: if you are looking for any of these things: street fight tips, fight tips youtube, fight to win pro, 100 win tips, bet win tips, go fight win, how to win a fight at school, how to fight or how to win a fist fight, if you just remember one thing—hit hard.

To effectively throw a strike that will stop the fight in its tracks, you have to know the anatomical targets that will be delivered most effectively and incapacitate your attacker. They are:

Target zone one

The head, and the vulnerable parts of the center line theory: the eyes, temples, nose, chin, and back of neck.

Target zone two

Also along the center line but below the head, these parts are effective to target on your opponent: the neck, torso, groin and every body part that is related to your attacker’s breathing. This means, aim for the: throat, solar plexus, ribs, and groin.

Target zone three

The last parts on the body to target is on the bottom half of the body: the legs, feet, the attacker’s thighs, knees, shins, instep, and toes.

Although I never want to think that you have to face a street fight, if you do—you should be
as fully prepared as possible. Regardless if you have martial arts training or not, I hope that this guide has helped you get the most out of preparation and knowledge. Know that knowledge is
ultimate power. Even though you might not be the strongest, the fastest or the hardest hitter, if
you are aware of certain concepts of street fighting, you can still come out on top.

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