Violence is a bad thing. But if you or someone who needs your help is attacked, you need the right skills to stop the threat.
Going to the ground is a mistake.
If you intentionally go to the ground, you give up many options, weapons, and tactics that you have when you remain on your feet. Your ability to maneuver, to evade, dominate and counterattack is greater when you are mobile, when you stay on your feet.
Knowing how to close the distance so that you take the advantage, and keep it, is a learned skill.
That skill can be overlooked in martial arts classes. What works in the dojo, with rules, commands to start and finish a match, timed rounds, referees, and limits on tactics, techniques and behavior, may not work in an uncontrolled environment. Training in a dojo or gym environment, with a smooth floor, few distractions and no obstructions, will be very different from dealing with one or more aggressors in confined spaces, filled with unknown objects, debris, obstructions, walls, furniture, glass, needles, weapons, and the possibility of multiple people appearing after you engage.
To go to the ground in the hope of restraining your attacker is a bad idea if his friends are close enough to pile on, or to kick you in the head, or use weapons on you. You have given up many options. There are ways of dealing with single and multiple threats – including evasion, concealment, tactical retreat, the use of improvised weapons, and surprise attack – none of which are available on the ground.
Being able to maneuver, strike decisively and evade counterstrikes, anticipating and countering the maneuvers, fakes and lunges of an aggressive threat, are essential. Training to stay on your feet and move with skill can accustom you to all of them.
The quality of training in different styles varies. There are schools which teach effective skills and there are ones that don’t. There are schools that may go deep into a narrow range of the spectrum of defensive skills, but in the controlled, greenhouse environment of the dojo, that people get used to, they may not notice that there are many aspects of violent confrontation which they never address or prepare for.
The design of the human body is optimized when we use the legs to maneuver and thrust, and the arms to throw and parry. The body is optimized when we integrate our power – uniting maneuver and explosive power in motion. The body is optimized to face the threat – our senses and our kinetic ability all work best when we keep the target in front of us.
You can do the most with what you have when you are on your feet. If you are taken down, you definitely want the skills to deal with that. But that skill set is only a small piece of the full defensive spectrum. And it is not where you want to be.
Whether we avoid, evade or engage, we train to stay on our feet, use what we have, and prevail.
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Post copyright © 2025 Jeffrey Brooks, MountainKarateNC.com, Yamabayashi Ryu, Mountain Karate Dojo, in the mountains of western NC.
Photo by Zoshua Colah via Unsplash
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read True Karate Dō by Jeffrey Brooks
“One of the best books I’ve read in years, inviting and compelling. Jeff Brooks moves effortlessly from martial arts to Buddhism to consciousness studies, self-transformation, and related fields in this wide-ranging and Illuminating study that has much to offer both novice explorers and veteran practitioners. A splendid achievement.”— Philip Zaleski, Editor, The Best Spiritual Writing series