BUT! – 100% of ALL those fights started standing; and in order for the fight to get to the ground, contact had to be made standing. Ground fighting is great and an absolute necessary when it comes to having solid self-defense. But, just because ground fighting is vitally important, does not mean you should ignore standing techniques and standing grappling techniques. But, I’m going to be completely honest with you… unless you know what you are doing once you are in this range, don’t bother even attempting to fight. The standing grappling range has it’s distinct advantages AND is basically inevitable when it comes to a real fight, but if you don’t know what to actually DO there… you’re screwed.
Note: Size does play a factor… If you are big and get a hold of someone smaller… you should be able to do “something” instinctual. But, if you are smaller and grappling with a larger opponent, you will need to do something more technical. The cool thing about it is that most techniques that we teach and use are simple and effective against both larger, smaller, and monstrous opponents.

Standing Grappling Techniques

As far as I am concerned, one of the most important ranges of combat is when you are grappling or engaged in a clinch with an opponent and both of you are on your feet. This is not only my favorite range of fighting, but one where I feel it is easiest to capitalize on and the easiest to gain an advantage, AND the easiest to actually end the fight.
When you are in the standing grappling range, you have some distinct advantages.

1. Ability to cover and defend yourself against “brawling” strikes
2. Ability to inflict close combat or dirty boxing strikes
3. Ability to transition to a quick takedown or throw to end the fight
4. Ability to control your opponents movements and actions

Crash in to defend

One of the biggest problems with getting this range and inflicting damage is actually getting into this range. One of the most effective ways is a simple crashing technique. This is elaborated in the H2H Self Defense system, but we will also be providing additional information and posts here. The basic principal of it is to create a shield with your elbows, arms, and hands over your head that allows to protect your whole head and face, while entering into the standing grappling range safely. Some common mistakes people make when trying to get into the standing grappling zone are…

• Reaching out and exposing head and body
• Over extended body and stance which creates unbalance.
• Keeping head too low and facing down
• Trying to “block” strikes and punches
• Attempting to “weave” around strikes and punches.

The beauty of crashing in and creating this shield is the simplicity to it; the simplicity is also the hardest thing to teach about it. Students tend to over-think the principle and try to over defend the situation.

Take them down

Obviously once we are in the standing grappling range, we need to finish the fight and take our opponent out. There are 4 basic techniques I like to do in the standing grappling range.

• Outside Leg Reap
• Double-leg Takedown
• Rear Throw
• Neck Throw – Click Here for Video

All of these techniques are relatively easy to learn and can become “readily available techniques” for you to use in any situation. The beauty of these techniques is that they can be used in most types of situations. You can use the outside leg reap in a grappling, defense against a punch, against a kick, against a knife, a gun, a club… etc. It’s a very, very versatile technique. So once you understand the principle on how to use it, you can use it anywhere. And that’s way makes solid self-defense approach. Simple and effective.

One of the most annoying and ridiculous things for me to watch is “fake” martial arts schools teaching “fake” techniques and at a very “non-fake” price. I remember walking in to a martial arts school who was advertising MMA and Jiu-Jitsu back in the mid-1990s when MMA and Jiu-Jitsu was just coming out. I thought I hit the goldmine! I watched one of the adults classes first while there were a few brown belt students preparing for their black belts in some sort of jiu-jitsu / karate style. I am not sure WHAT it was, but it definitely was NOT the jiu-jitsu that I know and have studied. The instructor was teaching a LONG series of techniques that were just ridiculous. I could not tell you exactly what the flow was or how many actual “moves” the student performed in the series, but I do remember a lot of spins, quick hits, and flailing around, BUT the cream of the crop was the finish: he bent over in front of the guy and tried to hit him in the face with his heel. NO BS – I can’t make this shit up!

Long story short, I briefly talked with the instructor out of respect – he knew I was coming to watch his class. But I never signed up nor ever took classes from him. A few years later, the same instructor walked into the ju-jitsu school I was studying at the time. We had a chance to roll and I wiped the floor with him. I was happy about my choice of not taking his classes.

The Moral of my story

I’m not trying to prove or show you how great of a fighter I am, because honestly I’m not! I’m a better teacher and technician then I am a fighter, and I’m happy with that. I just love martial arts! But, the moral is that wasting your time and learning LONG and DRAWWWNNN OUUUTTT sequences for self-defense is utterly crazy! How can you expect to remember any of that crap when you really need to! In fact, relate self-defense technique to learning a subject. Remember studying like crazy for a really hard test. You memorized all the necessary elements for the test and “learned” what you needed to… but did you really LEARN. I doubt it, you just used some space to in your brain to temporarily store what you needed to and after that it was gone. But, I bet you can remember how to add, multiply and subtract, right? That stuff is easy! It’s basic, it’s ingrained in your brain. You’ll never forget it.

And that is the way self-defense should be. Simple. Easy. Unforgettable. When thinking about self-defense: ignore the complicated, focus on basic and simple techniques that have a high percentage of effectiveness.
And please, if anyone tells you that you need to bend over and kick your opponent in the head with your heel, get the hell out of that school.