Pyramid of Fighting
By: Professor Brad
Songsofreality@hotmail.com
Basic:
Natural fighting; wild swinging; telegraphed; with fists or slaps; kicking on the ground or to the groin; fueled with anger; spontaneous; untrained; survival and hatred; meant to vent anger and hurt opponent until anger is satisfiedStreet Fighting
: This takes the natural responses and cultivates them into a system of using what works; techniques that are used have been effective for the individual in the past; these individuals have been in numerous fights to get this skill; there is no code of conduct, whatever is the most effective will be used; there is no fighting fair; every advantage will be used; every weakness exploited; these individuals are usually very quarrelsome and aggressive; brawlersSport
: Hand-to-hand combat put into a game with rules and a winner and loser; fighting is clean due to the rules; In a street fight there are no rules but these fighters use techniques that don't have that in mind; fighters like this are: boxers, wrestlers, judo, sport tae kwon do, kick boxers, etc.…; techniques used in the sport might be disastrous in the street (i.e. a boxer breaks his hand because he is used to wearing gloves, a sport tae kwon do fighter does a spinning kick that leaves him vulnerable, etc. ) these fighters are usually in tremendous shape though because their sport demands it; but effective street techniques and targets might be overlooked (i.e. groin, throat, back, etc.); there are no rules on the street and no real "winners" or "losers"; the goal is to win at that sportWatered-down Karate
: This is supposed to be self defense oriented but falls short; this system of fighting is usually taught by a teacher who has become out of touch of the comprehensiveness of the art he's trying to teach; (i.e. due to passing on to different cultures than where the art originated; lack of contact with original lineage of teachers and traditions); the focus of the art gets muddled; the teacher fails to teach all of the art and its intentions for whatever reason; this leaves the student with characteristics of the art but he is deprived of others and may fail to understand their true purpose; they may also cross train in a sport form of their art which confuses sport with self defenseKarate
: These are arts that have originated from a particular region and have stayed close to their roots; they are very close to practice and tradition to the original founders; the whole amount to techniques and intentions are taughtProgressive Fighting
: This form of combat tries to update the original methods of karate by mixing in the other arts that "fill in" the holes of the traditional arts; styles like these are mostly American; Jeet Kune Do is a prime example; the strengths of other arts are to be put together to form a new, supposedly, superior art; it is meant to deal with real street confrontation as realistically as possibleMystical Arts
: These are the legendary forms of combat where opponents are defeated with ease and deadly and swift skill. These arts are deeply rooted in tradition and are not easily obtained without a price. The students are selected very discriminatory; these arts are similar to karate but taking fighting to a whole new level; these arts are not meant to conquer opponents but to annihilate and master them; death is often the only way to defeat them; there is a lot of mysticism surrounding them; their methods are exotic but firmly planted in combat reality; these are usually updated constantly to maintain superiority; myths and legends become true with these arts; highly sophisticated; the actual fight seems to them like eating a meal or playing checkers.