One of the unfortunate ancillary effects of the popularity of Mixed Martial Arts is the rise of MMA as “the” way to train for self-defense. Exponents of sports-based fighting methods, because they must test themselves regularly against resisting opponents, forget all the other controlled conditions involved in this contest. As a result they tout what they do as the “best” means of training to defend yourself against an attacker in real life. They also uphold their training methods as the best means of acquiring these sports-based skills.
The reality is that the two are very different and, while they can offer certain things to each other, full-contact sports and self-defense against a determined attacker are not the same thing. The goal of the MMA exponents is to win, and thus their task is symmetrical. The goal of the citizen defender is to avoid conflict in the first place and to win with decisive, unfair force if made to fight. This asymmetrical goal contrasts most starkly with sports-based fighting where levels of training contact are concerned.
Put simply, there is no such thing as full-contact training. Training always involves a level of simulation — even that which we call “full contact.” You may have used the phrase before; I know I have. But if we look at the letter of the meaning of the term, it is impossible. A truly full-contact sparring session isn’t sparring at all; it’s fighting another person with the intent to do them serious harm. The only full-contact fight simulation that actually fully replicates full contact is… well, getting into a fight with someone.
Recognizing this, students of combatives — of reality-based self-defense, and of expedient, realistic self-defense methods — have long relied on Body Opponent Bags, or B.O.B.s. The term has come to be a catch-all for any torso-shaped punching apparatus. The idea is that you can better target your techniques on a freestanding torso dummy than you can a heavy bag. Both allow you to hit as hard as you are able without injuring yourself, yet the BOB lets you better visualize your attacks and their effects.
I’ve heard more than one MMA exponent sneer at the use of BOBs and similar training equipment for “training to fight.” Often, this is the type of knee-jerk reaction the MMA crowd seems always to project. They’re so convinced that what they do is superior to everyone else (and, let’s be honest, it’s superior to a lot of what passes for “martial arts” out there) that they automatically dismiss any training that doesn’t reflect what they do.
What’s the objection of the MMA folks to training on the BOB? I imagine it varies from person to person, but most often it’s because this is an object that can’t fight back. It has no arms; it does not move; it cannot counterattack. Training on a BOB therefore does not train your timing. It doesn’t teach you to gauge distance except against a static target (although I would argue that still has training value), but it absolutely will not help you find the openings in an opponent’s movements in order to exploit them.
This is absolutely true. But dry firing a handgun does not teach you recoil management, nor does it teach you to hit a target while you — or the target — are moving. Only live fire, and to a lesser degree, training with a simulator like a SIRT laser or airsoft gun, can do that for you. Yet firearms experts will tell you all day long just how important dry fire is for training your shooting technique. They are not wrong.
Unless you are working with partners wearing full padded assailant armor (which reduces their movements to ridiculous, plodding pantomime), the only way to strike ANY target at full force and with full intent is if that target is not alive. There simply is no way to train full-contact, full-power strikes, regardless of padding, against a living human being. Somebody is going to get seriously hurt if you do that. There are combatives techniques that, when executed, could conceivably kill. You’re not going to be doing that against a sparring partner unless the methodology is at least partly simulated… and that robs you of the experience of the full-contact strike in the first place.
No, training on a BOB is not “stupid.” It is not the ONLY thing you should be doing, but it is absolutely necessary to train full-contact strikes. Anyone who tells you differently doesn’t know what he thinks he knows.
Thanks Phil, well thought out and explained as always.
Very logical. I think that having a life size dummy allows people to actually see how they engage another person. They can practice a punch and then notice how close they are, which arm or leg the opponent might strike back with, or they can practice strikes and grabs on the dummy rather than just imagine that they are physically engaged and controlling, hitting or blocking a person’s body or limbs.
Most people take lessons, spar or practice with the instructor or other students and then they have to “shadow box” when they practice alone.
Another solid article rebutting the people who like to categorize others as overgrown children playing with dolls in the basement. The funny part is that I’ve never seen a professional MMA gym that didn’t have a BOB or Spar-Pro in them.
In any event, I linked this article over at my Blog in a short post of my own.
https://wwwblackthorn.blogspot.com/2018/07/more-on-combatives-training.html
Sorry, I think I gave the wrong link. This is the correct one (I hope).
http://wwwblackthorn.blogspot.com/2018/10/more-on-combatives-training-use-of-bob.html
I agree that the BOB and other similar accoutrements are primarily visualization. My dojang has a BOB and I’ve hit it occasionally; and my main criticism is that it doesn’t feel anything like a real human being. You have the soft tissues pretty well simulated, but once you get past the outer layers humans are pretty solid closer to the core (not to mention the varying thicknesses of the dermal layers across different parts of the body).
If I had to guess, MMA’s only means of testing skill are live contests – so natural law sorts everything out. The training methods of the winners would (conceivably) hold more water than those of the losers.
I’ve used the BOB for a variety of purposes beyond just as an impact dummy. One of the best things to add onto it is a set of arms, preferably the aftermarket variety sold by Century, although I have seen folks improvise with PVC pipes and padding to a great level of usefulness.
My BOB is also wearing a t-shirt, a wide web belt (to simulate a usable waistband), and a field jacket, all of which not only make it useful as a training tool for weapon searches and an additional level of reality in dealing with clothed assailants, but also adds one more level of protecting an already durable training dummy from wear and tear.
MMA is driven by the sport, not by real-world combat effectiveness.
They train to fight in a ring with forgiving chainlink walls, and a floor that is bouncy enough to absorb some impact if you go down. They wear padded gloves and even kneepads sometimes, but nobody wears street clothes. Opponents are matched by weight class, and certain moves are not allowed. Likewise there is a referee to step in at any time things get a little too spicy. No weapons are allowed. They only fight one opponent at a time. And everybody who steps into that ring KNOWS they are going to fight.
Real world self-defense takes place in the REAL WORLD.
The walls are made of brick, and the streets are made of concrete. The ground has broken glass, rocks, bricks, concrete curbs, exposed rebar, and all kinds of dangerous things that make going to the ground EXTREMELY dangerous.
The ring lets you play the grappling game without having to risk these dangerous elements. But going to the ground in the streets can kill you or injure you just from the dangerous crap on the ground.
Likewise, the presence of multiple attackers makes grappling on the ground EXTREMELY dangerous because that second attacker can attack you while you are busy trying to wrestle the other guy.
There was a recent case where a guy was wrestling an attacker and the attacker’s girlfriend grabbed the attacker’s gun and shot the wrestler while the two men grappled.
MMA’s over-reliance on grappling is damned near-suicidal in the real world. Yes, you SHOULD have some grappling skills, but real-world self defense should be emphasizing striking techniques and staying on your feet over taking it to the ground (which should be avoided at all costs).
In the real world, the attacker has the initiative. He chooses the time and place where the fight will go down. And the defender has no idea that an attack is coming; he must ALWAYS be prepared.
Likewise, self-defense takes place in dangerous places, and often with multiple attackers (even if it doesn’t always start out that way, bystanders sometimes jump in). Defenders must fight back with every unfair advantage they can muster, including lethal force if necessary.
In its current state, MMA is a game and a sport..
But it cannot be a true self-defense art until it addresses fights in the real world, instead of the safety of the ring.