LITMIR.BIZ

      To try and fill this void, I started doing some side training in BJJ and MMA, to learn new defensive tactics to combine with my Canryu skills. Over time, I developed a modernized, simplified approach to ground defense to cover the gap left by Professor Sylvain’s very open concept, one that was practical and adaptable for different body types that more closely fit with the self-protection tenets of our style. Having seen some of these defense methods, I was eventually asked by Steve Hiscoe Shihan several years ago to provide the foundation for an updated ground defense curriculum for our style.

      Before you ask, no I do not have a black belt in BJJ, nor a competitive record in MMA. My goal in training in these arts was never to achieve ranks, but to learn what I needed to equip my students for self-protection against the realities of modern ground fighting. I’ve trained in jiu-jitsu for over 20 years and hold the rank of 4^th degree in my style. Being a small woman, I’ve had to develop a set of defensive skills and tactics that make up for my disadvantages in size and strength. The ground defense system I’ve put together is designed with a “worst case scenario” mindset that is meant to be usable even if the attacker has a major size and strength advantage as most attacks don’t come from people who are smaller and weaker than you. That being said, I’ve also included variations in this book to address scenarios in which different body types affect the way a person can move.

      Who Can Use This Book

      I wrote this book with three types of martial artists in mind. Most BJJ and MMA schools teach their arts specifically for the competitive arena. If you’re a student in this type of school with a desire to learn to apply your skills for self-protection in a street-oriented assault situation, this book will teach you concepts and techniques you can combine with your training for application in this context. There are also many traditional martial arts schools that focus on a single stand-up striking style with little to no defensive techniques for the ground. If you’re a student at such a school and would like to learn a simple, effective system of ground combat you can combine with your stand-up defensive skills, this book has you covered. The last type of martial artist is the one most likely to actually use these skills, but oftentimes spends the least amount of time training. Because of the temporary nature of the physical defense training programs and their demanding schedules, many police officers have very little experience training ground defense skills. This simple ground defense system provides skills they can learn quickly and easily apply on the job.

      The ground defense system in this book is NOT a complete system of self-protection. It covers only one aspect to be partnered with other strategies and defensive techniques, including soft skills like personal awareness, conflict avoidance, and de-escalation tactics, as well as hard/physical skills, such as stand-up striking, throws, and takedowns, etc. Nevertheless, ground defense is an important skill to learn if one’s goal is to have a well-rounded system of self-protection.

      How to Use this Book

      This book teaches self-protection from the ground in a variety of ways. It provides information and concepts that help you understand the realities of fighting from the ground, as well as information on the defensive advantages and disadvantages that are inherent in different combat situations. It teaches you the basic tools of physical defense on the ground, body shifting /positional strategy and attacks to vital targets, which combine to give you a foundation that can be adapted for different situations, body types, situational factors, etc. It also provides detailed descriptions with photos showing you a number of examples of how the basic tools can be used to mount an effective defense. These examples help you consider different ways of applying your skills, but don’t let them bind you. Real physical combat is an entity in itself. Everything can change in an instant. Attackers don’t necessarily react the way you expect. You have to be adaptive and ready for anything. Your attacker could be so high or drunk that they don’t react to pain. Or your first strike could knock them out or simply dissuade them from pursuing further aggressive action. You may even find yourself reacting in a way that you never trained but made sense at the time. Keep an open mind, whether you’re training your defensive skills or your reacting to a real live attacker. As leaders in my style have said countless times in the past: Never say always. Never say never. There are no rules, only results.