A Taste of Reality

Over the past few years, there has been much talk about one of the newer ‘kids on the block’ — reality-based training. But what does the term really mean and where does it fit into the overall scheme of martial arts training?

Combat-sport skills can be applied for self-defence

At heart, the concept of reality-based training (RBT, or RBSD — reality-based self-defence) is to address training in a way that helps us best prepare for the reality of assault and how it unfolds in the actual world, as opposed to a sporting environment. This should be of interest to anyone who is interested in the application of their martial arts training for self-defence. And there are many facets to this approach to training.

Reality-based training, in its purest form, should include strategies and training methodologies for dealing with weapon-based attacks, multiple-assailant attacks, tubular (confined) environments and perhaps even firearms training. It should also take into consideration the corrosive effects of adrenal-dump and a whole swag of environmental considerations, such as crowds, furniture, cramped spaces, lighting, etc. The landscape is vast and extremely variable.

There are many different approaches and models of training that consider some of these things, but I’ve never seen one that encompasses them all. As always, the more we do and the more situations we try to cover, the less expert we become at any of it.
In my view, as part of any serious undertaking of self-defence training, we should spend some time covering the main themes: weapon-defence, multiple attacks, adrenal-response conditioning, etc. These things are all worthwhile and can serve to keep us motivated and interested in the larger landscape of what martial arts are all about.

I must say that the top people I know — those who deal with ‘reality’ on a regular basis — are generally serious people who train seriously in the fundamental skill-sets that a good fighter should have: things like, boxing, kickboxing, grappling, etc. They understand and train for the effects of adrenal-dump; they understand how to defend against weapons; the have a strong working knowledge of the psychology of confrontation and are intimate with the mechanics of how conflicts unfold. But, importantly, they are also highly competent fighters.

Becoming seriously skilled at actual fighting is one thing that the champions of so-called reality-based training should not fail to do. I’ve heard and seen quite a few of the lesser-skilled RBT fanatics make ridiculous and disparaging comments about MMA, BJJ, boxing and kickboxing training — spouting that these styles aren’t ‘real’ enough for them. Of course these approaches aren’t ‘real’; they are sporting applications — but most of them can also do the job!

To make comments like ‘I don’t want to kickbox or grapple because reality is all about gangs of kids and screwdriver stabbings’ is just another excuse for not wanting to get serious with training. I would rather be a competent MMA fighter and supplement it with some RBT or scenario training, than someone who just talks about the reality of combat yet doesn’t ever acquire any real skill-sets at all. Ultimately, we should be about the actual training; the sweating, the hitting, the grappling, the tapping, etc. I’ve seen one too many so-called reality-based fighting instructors who would have a very hard time handling the ‘reality’ of even a competent boxer or BJJ Blue-belt.

All the serious people I know (and I know a few) are seriously good at fighting. Many of them work at and address the many peripheral skill-sets that are important for real-world application, but they are also very good at some core fighting art.

Unfortunately, many people with no real qualifications can start a business by calling themselves a reality-based trainer, or an MMA coach. When asked what actual training they have done, these people often reply with comments like ‘Oh, I’ve done some kickboxing, some karate, some BJJ, some weapons training’, etc. but when pushed on the subject, it’s often very difficult to get an explicit answer. Beware of such people. If you were in an executive position and you were hiring someone for an important position and you asked them where they had worked before and what their qualifications were and they answered, ‘Oh, I’ve done a bit of everything’, is that going to inspire confidence? I don’t think so! What if they said, ‘I don’t believe in all those degrees and work-experience stuff; they don’t mean anything in the real world’ — would you give such a person the position? I doubt it. At the end of the day, when seeking out an instructor, look for someone with lots of experience and have them explain to your satisfaction, what training they have done, with whom and for how long. There are too many people out their just waiting for the next sucker to come along.

John B Will is head of BJJ Australia. For more training advice, go to www.bjj-australia.blogspot.com to catch his regular blog.