Perhaps the two biggest challenges faced by martial artists striving to maintain a high level in their art while building a functional level in self-defense pertain to finances and time management. Because Warren Buffett hasn’t gotten back to me on the finance question, I’ll restrict my advice to making the most of your training time—something with which I have decades of experience.

The Problem

Imagine that you’re about to engage in a fight. Your opponent is bigger and stronger than you, and he kicks and punches better than you. You decide to close the distance and wind up in the clinch. Oops! He’s skilled in that range, too, and now you’re tied up and unable to execute any of your sweeps or throws. No problem, you go to the ground, only to find that he’s a better ground fighter.

Executive Summary:

It’s a no-win situation for you. Your only alternative is to cheat. Which is where contemporary jeet kune do, the system Paul Vunak and I teach, comes in. Specifically, its cutting-edge street component, dubbed “filthy MMA,” provides the answers you need to prevail in such a scenario.

To get started, you need to adopt a streamlined approach to drilling and sparring that focuses on the JKD concept of economy of motion and applies it to the four critical components of a street fight. Then factor in the tactical advantages afforded by filthy MMA to tilt the odds further in your favor.

The best part is, you can accomplish all that in a mere 15 minutes a day five times a week. Why prepare for the worst-case scenario? Because it teaches you how to execute, under pressure, a game plan that virtually guarantees victory. Street fights are chaotic events; seldom, if ever, do they go the way you think they will. One thing you can be sure about is that they’ll always be messy. There’s no such thing as a fair fight. A fight is an all-out, anything-goes experiment in pure survival. With such high stakes, you need something to level the playing field.

The Solution

The solution to the problem is composed of five 15-minute segments that should be practiced once a

week. You’ll need two padded sticks, two training knives and a round timer, as well as MMA gloves, eye protection and foot/shinguards for you and your partner.

Because the drills last 15 minutes, you can do them as one long round or break them up into five three-minute rounds or three five-minute rounds. The sparring is designed to be light; the person doing the feeding should turn it up a notch if the action is too easy or back off if it’s too hard. The idea is to not trade blows but to turn your opponent’s blows into targets for your destructions. If you choose to rest between rounds, you can, but try to limit breaks to 10 or 20 seconds. Use the first round as a warm-up. Start slowly and let the intensity increase. Strive to peak near the end of each round.

STAND-UP: From the starting position for the drill

(1) The partner feeds Thomas Cruse a punch, and Cruse stops it with an elbow destruction

(2) The partner follows up with a low roundhouse kick, and Cruse effects a knee destruction

(3) When the partner transitions to a high kick, Cruse blocks and goes for his groin

(4) The debilitating nature of the groin kick, especially when used against a high kick, demands extreme caution during sparring.

The Components

When you’re on a tight schedule, you want your training to prepare you for anything that can happen in a fight: dealing with kicks and punches, dealing with the clinch and various traps, dealing with the ground, and dealing with blunt and edged weapons.

Kickboxing:

The key here is not to trade blows like you would in a bout; it’s to destroy incoming blows. Have your partner put on gloves and foot/shin guards. While you’re moving around, he feeds you kicks and punches aimed at your head, thighs and groin. Terminate each attack with a destruction that targets the relevant arm or leg. If he throws a high-line attack, use your elbow; if it’s a low-line attack, use your knee.

Clinching and Trapping:

From the Muay Thai clinch, maintain your hold on your partner’s neck while jockeying for the center line. Utilize pummeling and keep your base and balance. Once you have control of the center, insert head butts, elbow strikes, thumb gouges to the eyes and knee thrusts to the groin. Jump up to the standing guard and simulate a bite. (Use extreme caution with bites and eye attacks.) Next, have your partner try to take you to the ground with throws and single- and double-leg takedowns. If you fall, stand up and start again.

Ground Fighting:

Begin in the guard. Pin his arms, head-butt and simulate biting to create an opportunity to jump to

your feet. Then hammerfist his groin and pass his guard to the knee-on-the-stomach position. Punch your way down to the cross-side pin, then use your shoulder to block his mouth in case he tries to take a chunk out of you. Next, slide your knee through to the mount, punching him as you do so. Finally, your opponent, who’s on the bottom, traps your base and bridges, which places him on top and in

your guard. Now it’s his turn. (Remember that your main objective on the ground is to get back on your feet. The only reason for continuing the aforementioned sequence is to familiarize you and your partner with all the options.)

Weapons:

No matter what type of weapons are in play, you need only one technique: defanging the snake. Easy to learn and easy to remember, it entails attacking the attacking hand. Begin by having your partner charge you, launching strikes at your head and body with a training weapon. Step back and counter each strike with a disabling blow effected with your weapon.

Thomas Cruse (left) and his partner start in the clinch with each man struggling to gain inside position

(1) Cruse manoeuvres into a spot

(2) From which he can simulate a head butt to the face

(3) He then unleashes a series of knee strikes to the groin and abdomen

(4) elbows to the head

(5) and thumb strikes to the eyes

The Caveats

The time when you’re most vulnerable in a fight—and in the drills described in this article—is the gap between each range, the period in which the fight is in flux. You’re not in a range you’re familiar with, so you’re unsure what to do. Example: From long range, you rush in for a takedown but run into a well-placed knee or a series of punches. Stunned, you don’t know what to do next. You wind up getting beat down. Or you find yourself on the receiving end of a barrage of blows as you struggle to get back on your feet after fighting on the ground. Fill those transitions with nonstop strikes. If you’re standing, punch your way from kickboxing range to the clinch. Focus on simple punches like the jab and cross—a sequence Bruce Lee called the straight blast.

At close quarters on your feet and on the ground, plow through the positions with head butts, elbows, knees, punches and eye attacks. Work your way to your feet carefully, guarding against your opponent’s counters. You’re especially susceptible to knee strikes. When you’re struggling to get upright, it’s easy to run into a knee to the face, so be prepared.

The Package

In combat, you need to flow from range to range and tactic to tactic.

To develop that ability, have your partner tuck a padded stick and a training knife in his waistband or pocket and you do the same. From long range, spar with the sticks—only a hit to the hand counts. Drop the weapons and without missing a beat, pull out the training knives and continue sparring. Then drop them and transition into kickboxing with destructions. Punch your way to the clinch, jockey for the inside position and begin your filthy MMA attacks. Both parties should then fall to the ground, after which each side executes the ground manoeuvres described above. Work your way to your feet, watching for opportunities to strike.

You’ve just completed round one. If you spent 15 minutes doing that, fine. You’re done for today. If not, repeat until you hit the 15-minute mark. Your goal is to become so familiar with each range that you don’t experience any emotional spikes during the transitions.

The Spice

Listed below are several options and additions designed to spice up the drills:

• Change weapons. Fight stick vs. knife, two knives vs. two knives, two sticks vs. two sticks, stick and knife vs. stick and knife, and so on.

• Add a second opponent. Train for the mass attack.

• Allow submissions. Options include wind and blood chokes, arm bars, triangles, and leg and foot locks.

• Change the environment. Train on concrete and grass. Work out around the furniture in your home. Set up obstacles. And, for the ultimate in reality-based training, have loved ones stand nearby and role-play people who need to be protected.

GROUND: Thomas Cruse (left) is held in the closed guard

(1) He uses a quick bite to break the opponent’s concentration long enough to establish an upright posture that entails immobilizing his arms by holding his biceps

(2) Next, Cruse fires off a head butt to the chin

(3) He immediately stands

(4) Punches him in the groin

(5) Moves to his side

(6) Uncorks a few more punches

(7) and

(8) moves to side control

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