Isn't wrestling the most important skill in a street fight? So you can pin em down and punch em repeatedly?

Question

You always hear that brutal street fights are determined by who gets the first punch in. But from all the fights I have seen, the person who can pin the other person's arms to the ground and get on top of the other person and punch them in the face over and over and over wins. Because the other person usually cannot push the other person off of them. I have seen some brutal fights like that where the person just has free shots at the other person's face. Even worse, nobody breaks it up sometimes. You would think a person could get killed that way. Seems like most fights finish up on the ground.

I guess what i mean is when a person gets their arms pinned down and they can't even use them for a pressure point move.

Answer 1

The two baddest fighters around Matt Hughes and Chuck Liddell come from wrestling backgrounds. Both all-Americans in college. But you need more than just wrestling skills, but wrestlers who learn how to punch and apply submissions are the most dangerous not some martial artists that throw those wild kicks and punches that rarely ever connect, they are always the first to be taken down. Anything goes in street fighting though so watch out for weapons.

Answer 2

NO.
Any wrestler attempting to grab a good martial artist is likely to find themself on the receiving end of a two handed hammer fist to the back of the neck. Done right, this could end the fight.
Or a MA could use a joint lock to prevent the wrestler from doing much except calling for his mother.

Ground fighting is good, but there is a big differance between wrestling and ground fighting. Wrestling is a sport while ground fighting is often taught as both a sport and a defense (taking out eyes, biting, breaking joints).

And, interestingly enough, I spoke with a co-worker that does BJJ and Muay Thai. He said he was involved in a fight in which two guys started to fight and then when one was winning, another person joined in by kicking the winner in the head.
NEVER let a street fight get to the ground.

Answer 3

A street fight is way different than any other type of fighting. And that way is "anything goes". Eye gouging, groin attacks, knives, even guns. It's important to know when to walk away. For example, if you meet some dumb@$$ who's a "toughguy" and wants to pick a fight, he's probably with all his "homies" and they're all probably packin'. (It's always the toughguys who pack a gun or a knife). Walk away. As hard as it is, and despite what some believe, your life is worth more than your status. Use what you know as self-defense. And it is always good to learn some ground skills. Karate, Tae Kwan Do, okay whatever. If the fight ends up on the ground, what's all that chop-saki $#!+ gonna do then?
The fight goes to the ground. Get your fists; elbows; whatever you can in, look for an armbar; a kamora; break their f***ing arm. Walk away. Seem brutal? Not if they picked the fight. It's you or them.

Answer 4

If you somehow ended up on the ground under an assailant, there are other techniques to use to get someone off of you besides wrestling. Pressure points and gouging certain areas can cause enough pain to make someone want to get off of you. That is a last resort since the goal is not to get into that kind of situation. If your arms are pinned, you can also use your legs if you're flexible enough. They would have a really hard time trying to pin all your limbs while still punching you, though.

Answer 5

Not exactly. Are there more than one attacker? If so, wrestling or ground fighting won't do crap. The second attacker is going to beat the snot out of you with kicks while his buddy has you pinned down. The real answer, and all true fighters and students of the fight game know, that you have to be sound in all aspects of the game: The standup, the takedowns, and the ground (including escapes). Usually, every day blokes are sound in only one part. When put into an uncomfortable scenario, they get the snot beat out of them. If you are sound in the standup i.e. boxing, muay thai, sakate, bo fu, etc., it pays to know how to defend the takedown or how to escape from the ground so that you can standup again and be in a position of your strength.

Get it? Train clean. Eat Clean. Good luck to you.

Answer 6

This is a very amusing thread. I love how majority of people claim they can easily get out of any hold or locks and how easy it is to evade shoot. Also some of technique on where to punch or apply pressure point are very questionable.

First of all wrestler are extremely strong. I have never meet any wrestler that are weak. So it is very unlikely someone who stand in horse stance and punch air everyday would be able to generate enough power or speed to deliver a punch that will knock or cause wrestler to goes of balance.

Wrestler are also extremely FAST! They can easily close gap and make your punching or kick uneffective. They're also dangerous in clinch. So it's not like most people can just evade them without effort.

Wrestler also close gap to make it even harder to evade shoot. Most people who don't train in some kind of realistic ground fighting martial arts (bjj, judo, etc...) wouldn't know how to sprawl at all. Also a good wrestler could easily knock a person out or knock air out of them big time with a good shoot.

Even if someone can "evade" the shoot then the wrestler can alway suplex, throw, or sweep the person.

Also if you're under a wrestler and getting your face pound in, it's not like you will really think and feel around for spot to apply pressure point. You will most likely be trying to cover your face. Your legs will be pretty useless if you're lay on your back with someone on top of you.

So all of you who think that a simple evade, pressure point, chop, or whatever other tricks you have up yoru sleeve STOP talking about how other style are so damn easy to beat! Those who have no fear are usually the one that get their *** kick the hardest because they're so fukking cocky and have absolutely no clue of what other people are capable of! So until all of you learn some ground fighting and spar for real with someone who wrestle, do mixed martial arts, Muay Thai, etc... you should keep your mouth shut and stay in your gym where you're safe!

To answer the question, yes wrestling is a extremely effective style if you know how to use it correctly and othe other person don't know how to fight on ground. However if the person know how to fight on ground, you better know what the hell you're doing otherwise you will have a cast for months.

Answer 7

You're partially correct. But in a real, no rules, no intervention street fight, the most important skill is defending against quick damage. Let me elaborate.

Yes, each fighter is going to go for first clean hit. Some skilled fighters will try to attack with kicks due to longer reach and greater leverage.

If you can control ground, that's an enormous advantage.

But what you don't factor in is weapons. Not knife / gun, but available on hand - a bottle, a pipe, a bat, a stick. If one fighter takes advantage of makeshift weapons on hand, all the rest of the skills becomes secondary to minimizing damage and disarming the armed fighter.

Just my limited experience.

Answer 8

No, wrestling is not important in a street fight if you know kung fu or karate. if you know kung fu or karate then your opponent should be dead or KO on the ground within the first strike while you never took a hit. But that is just my own opinion. Some other people might think different depending on the type of martial art that they do. I take American Karate and they teach take-downs, arm locks, holds, pressure points, and vital area strikes, so that it doesn't take too long to fight.

Answer 9

Simple. End the fight quickly... if someone tries to spear you, open hand chop him in the neck or whack him in the eye with your thumb. That will put him up in a hurry. With a street fight you want to end it in a few seconds, rolling around on the ground with some stranger is never a good idea.

Answer 10

In the few altercations I've been in I have decidedly won them. It wasn't because of pinning them, but because I totally disabled them. One incident I threw a chair at someone. I didn't do much damadge, but shook them up enough that they couldn't think straight and I was able to make quick work of an off balance opponent. The big trick is, who is crazier, more creative and can create more mayhem in said brawl, not who's the better wrestler.