Question about eliminating fear (by making the unknown known)

[Aaron04]

Hi guys, I just finished re-watching Paul Vunak's Ultimate Street Defense Tactics. It is a seminar video, and as such, it jumped around from scene to scene, so not everything is discussed in full detail. In it, Paul Vunak was talking about how to control your fear (and anger) while in a streetfight. To boil it down, he was talking about how most fear comes from fear of not knowing what your opponent will do to you in a streetfight. He then discusses how to know what your opponent will do to you, before he actually does it to you.

Basically, it goes like this; you potshot from long range (mostly feinting), and see what your opponent's reaction will be. You should throw a few things at him, and observe what he does in response. Then, you will pretty much know what he will do in response to what you do.

I have done this on a limited basis for quite a while now, with pretty good results. As an example, I recently sparred with a partner, and shuffled in and threw a (feinting) right jab at him. He immediately flinched, putting his hands in front of his face, and then immediately threw a lead hand jab at me in response. Before he could even throw the jab, I was already falling back into long range, rendering his counter ineffective. I basically just wanted to see what his counter would be. I was then back in long range, and used footwork to stay there, and shuffled in again and threw a left jab at him. His response was the same, he covered and threw another lead hand jab at me. At this point, I went in and threw another jab at him, and immediately positioned my elbow in front of my face, pretty much knowing what he was going to do, before he did it. Before he even had a chance to see it, his jabbing hand ran directly into my elbow, which was exactly how I had planned it.

In other words, what happened was is I threw a few things at him, totally feinting, to see what his reaction would be, while remaining very safe at long range. Once I closed the distance a little closer, getting into a more serious situation, I knew what he was going to do to me, before he actually did it. I knew he was going to go for a jab, as opposed to a double leg takedown, thigh kick, etc., and planned my game accordingly.

I have heard of fighters like Bruce Lee and Paul Vunak being described as "psychic". I understand how they got their "psychic abilities", by doing what I have described.

My question is, does anyone here know anything more in-depth about it? An example would be is there a certain thing I should look for, or throw first? I have a very slight "psychic ability" myself, and am looking to improve it. I pretty much know the concept, but am looking for some in-depth details, if anyone has any.

I guess a better title for this thread would be "how to develop your psychic ability", but I thought that was a little weird, lol.

Thanks guys

[g-bells]

he also states to spar with as many different people as you can because everybody brings something different and it will expand your abilities to deal with all kinds of styles/ ways of fighting

[Ghost]

I dont personally like this idea at all.

I wouldnt want to hang around testing the other guy out, ive never seen a street fight where the other guy does that anyway, it takes 2 to play that game. If the other guy just goes for you you cant just throw testing shots.

You run the risk of slowing the fight and allowing his mates to join in. check the video in the other thread about the quick bar fight, thats how to deal with it ideally, not stand there and test them out.

If you give him time, he might pull a weapon.

On top of that what are you going to find out? that either he is better than you or worse than you, id rather not know that he is better than me as that would induce more fear. If hes worse he will lose.

Ive really never seen anyone hang around to allow you to throw test shots, in my experience you have to at least match the other persons pace in a fight or you are likely to lose.

[Michael Wright]

Sometimes with Paul, its difficult to interpret what he is recommending as a training method, and what he would actually do in an all-out situation. I know the method you are speaking of, and its something we do in PFS – but only as a physical and psychological training method. It is good to get in and spar with quality people from different areas of combat, and certainly increase your confidence and awareness. However, if you watch something like “Anatomy of a Streetfight”, you will see what Paul does in an all out situation – and there is definitely no hanging around. Has he ever stood back and played with an opponent in a street situation? Most probably, but the important thing to understand is that you aren’t Paul Vunak.

[fire cobra]

Im with Ghost on this one,start messing around with feints in a streetfight is asking to get bottled of someone from behind etc.

[Michael Wright]

Originally Posted by fire cobra

Im with Ghost on this one,start messing around with feints in a streetfight is asking to get bottled of someone from behind etc.

You're definitely from the North East! I'm from South Shields originally Fire Cobra, where you based?

[g-bells]

me too!!!

why give the OP a chance to prove his skill, impose your will upon them and end it ASAP

[fire cobra]

Originally Posted by Michael Wright

You're definitely from the North East! I'm from South Shields originally Fire Cobra, where you based?

Hi Michael,

Im based in bishop auckland in sunny county durham(born in the toon though).

What gave me away he he.

[Michael Wright]

Originally Posted by fire cobra

Hi Michael,

Im based in bishop auckland in sunny county durham(born in the toon though).

What gave me away he he.

Cool mate, my family lives in Durham city. Born in the toon eh? uh-oh, you're a Mag I bet??! I'm a Black Cat fella!

[fire cobra]

Originally Posted by Michael Wright

Cool mate, my family lives in Durham city. Born in the toon eh? uh-oh, you're a Mag I bet??! I'm a Black Cat fella!

Durham is a beautifull city to live in isnt it Michael.

At least your not a sand dancer! and yeah im a mag,both teams are guna have to shape up a bit in the coming weeks eh!.

All the best brother.

[lucidmist]

Originally Posted by Aaron04

Hi guys, I just finished re-watching Paul Vunak's Ultimate Street Defense Tactics. It is a seminar video, and as such, it jumped around from scene to scene, so not everything is discussed in full detail. In it, Paul Vunak was talking about how to control your fear (and anger) while in a streetfight. To boil it down, he was talking about how most fear comes from fear of not knowing what your opponent will do to you in a streetfight. He then discusses how to know what your opponent will do to you, before he actually does it to you.

Basically, it goes like this; you potshot from long range (mostly feinting), and see what your opponent's reaction will be. You should throw a few things at him, and observe what he does in response. Then, you will pretty much know what he will do in response to what you do.

I have done this on a limited basis for quite a while now, with pretty good results. As an example, I recently sparred with a partner, and shuffled in and threw a (feinting) right jab at him. He immediately flinched, putting his hands in front of his face, and then immediately threw a lead hand jab at me in response. Before he could even throw the jab, I was already falling back into long range, rendering his counter ineffective. I basically just wanted to see what his counter would be. I was then back in long range, and used footwork to stay there, and shuffled in again and threw a left jab at him. His response was the same, he covered and threw another lead hand jab at me. At this point, I went in and threw another jab at him, and immediately positioned my elbow in front of my face, pretty much knowing what he was going to do, before he did it. Before he even had a chance to see it, his jabbing hand ran directly into my elbow, which was exactly how I had planned it.

In other words, what happened was is I threw a few things at him, totally feinting, to see what his reaction would be, while remaining very safe at long range. Once I closed the distance a little closer, getting into a more serious situation, I knew what he was going to do to me, before he actually did it. I knew he was going to go for a jab, as opposed to a double leg takedown, thigh kick, etc., and planned my game accordingly.

I have heard of fighters like Bruce Lee and Paul Vunak being described as "psychic". I understand how they got their "psychic abilities", by doing what I have described.

My question is, does anyone here know anything more in-depth about it? An example would be is there a certain thing I should look for, or throw first? I have a very slight "psychic ability" myself, and am looking to improve it. I pretty much know the concept, but am looking for some in-depth details, if anyone has any.

I guess a better title for this thread would be "how to develop your psychic ability", but I thought that was a little weird, lol.

Thanks guys

I thought Bruce Lee mentioned throwing "test strikes" as a 'hypnosis' technique? So that you'll know how the person will respond, then do the actual strike in a totally different way suddenly.

The way my friends and I try to work on it is by endless sparring, but I'm not sure if there's another more effective way to do it. I wanna learn too if there is.

[fire cobra]

Feinting to work out your opponents defensive/offensive move to your (false)attacks and drawing to make your opponent attack your purposely exposed target area in order to counter etc are great methods for sparring/ring fighting.

However on the street especially when other people are around you(ie in a pub)there will rarely be time to work out your opponents reactions(which will probably be to walk towards you arms splayed and a chicken neck or just to stick one on you first,
i belive its better to be straight to the point and hit first,hit fast,hit hard,and keep hitting till the jobs done.

[Aaron04]

Thanks for your replies guys. I think most of you are misreading what my intent is here. Most of you seem to feel that using this strategy is a waste of time, due to time constraints, lack of room for moving around, or dealing with the type of fighter who simply walks up and gets in your face, and the fight is on. This isn't what I'm referring to.

The type of situation that I'm referring to is a worst case scenario. This type of scenario would be where you are dealing with someone who is in a large open area, who is in a good fighting stance, moving continuously, not allowing you to simply throw punches, kicks, take downs, etc., because he is constantly in motion. In this situation, you could use those techniques, but they would most likely miss because he would be out of range for them. A few good examples of this in the boxing world are Muhammad Ali and Sugar Ray Leonard. They largely avoided trading blows with opponents who were a threat to them, by using continuous footwork to stay just beyond the range of their opponent's punches. If you watch some of their fights (Ali vs. Frasier or Sugar Ray vs. Marvin Hagler), you will see what I mean. They were always falling back, always backing up, mostly avoiding contact with their opponents, then hitting when they had an opening.

When you are fighting someone who is skilled, in a stance with his hands up, using footwork to move continuously, and has a whole parking lot worth of room to utilize that footwork, you are dealing with someone who is a pretty serious opponent, in my humble opinion.

In this situation, a simple 1-2, a quick double leg take down, a well placed thigh kick, etc., are not going to be as effective as they would be on someone in a bar, who walks right up to you and starts a fight.

So this is the situation that I'm referring to, and that's what my question is based on...so does anyone have anything good?

P.S.-Michael Wright, you are so right when you say that sometimes it's difficult to know when Paul is talking about something to actually do in a street fight, and when he is referring to a training method. I know exactly what you mean. If you haven't seen them, his new Enigma videos are pretty good at clarifying the difference between the two. Also, didn't you say you are a PFS instructor, or train with one? If so, I would be interested in hearing more about your opinion regarding the original topic of this thread.

Thanks guys.

[g-bells]

so let them dance around and tire themselves out, protect yourself and when they come into your comfort zone and the opening presents itself unload on them. don't chase, become unbalanced, reach or over entend. you need to know your surrounding and what your capable of and thereby you should impose your will apon them not the other way around

[HERQ454]

In his PFS video Knife Fighting Tactics Tape 3,Vunak goes over the example of how you would perform a 'pre-fight analysis'.First off you would keep your distance while at the same time obvserve how your opponent stands and moves.ie A boxer stance,wrestler stance,karate stance,etc.Then you would throw out a jab and then take note of the response to that.The jab being thrown due to it being a relatively low risk move.All this is due to the situation of it being a one-on-one fight with it starting at a descent distance.
In another one of his tapes he goes over how if the fight starts to kick off right next to you is to go Headbutt,Knee and Elbow.Which is where you are trying to get to in his method of fighting.
Thats the jist of things I get from watching his vids.