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Is it possible to avoid the ground fighting?

As we said (read Ground fighting), to opt for ground fighting is:

A bad idea – If we are not skilled in grappling (it is a totally different context) and / or in a self-defense scenario (read also Best martial arts for self-defense)
A good idea – If we are experienced in that kind of combat and in a 1vs1 situation (no further adversaries, not even potential)

Note – This article has been asked by one of our Core Course practitioners on Patreon (see how to attend our home study classes here Learn Kung Fu online: a beginner-to-expert course).

Our starting point is this: while it’s not always possible to remain standing during a self-defense fight (or any type of combat, read The 6 types of martial clash), we can certainly improve our odds through a bit of strategic preparation.

Remain standing: the basics

Do not go down “voluntarily”: the typical beginner / not practitioner error

Before seeing the best approaches to (try to) avoid the fight on the ground, we must first talk about why and how to not:

Fall involuntarily
Go down in a “voluntary” way

Let’s imagine a first simple self-defense scenario:

We have been attacked and we cannot escape (read also Personal defense: the S.A.F.E. method)
The clash is inevitable and we want to try at all costs to remain standing (eg. to be ready to exploit an occasion to flee)
The opponent we are facing is not a ground fighting expert
…

A note by Master Kongling – Before continuing, it is important to stress that, against an expert, it is hard to avoid moving the fight on the ground; the longer the struggle, the more occasions he / she will have to bring us down. In terms of combat (if we are very good at striking), we could try to end the clash quickly with rapid touch-and-escape movements but even this is not an easy way to go, not infrequently grapplers are also excellent settlers (ready to get hit in order to bind us to them). The point is that, if our adversary is trained, the only real solution is to be at least basically prepared for ground fighting (read Ground fighting basics: a secret treasure): in all the other cases, the solutions we are going to explain could instead make a big difference.

Tips and precautions

Let’s truly start from the basics:

Keep the distance – Let’s patiently keep the kick distance with a long guard (read Which guard stance choose), the close-range fight has not to be searched (read also Ideal distance from the opponent during a fight)
Keep the rooting – Let’s widen and lower our stance focusing on stability (read Kung Fu rooting: the pyramid concept); the closer we are (stably) to the ground, the more difficult it will be to throw us with violence
Don’t trap ourselves – Let’s pay attention to the obstacles of the scenario, we have to always walk in the direction of open spaces (preferably laterally, not backward)
Do not stop moving – We never have to stop moving, even slow but steady (let’s opt for circular paths, we have already discussed this in Forget everything you know about multiple opponents fighting);
If we fall – If we fall, let’s use the breakfalls (read Everything you should know about breakfalls) and try to immediately recover space / time to wake-up
Use rapid evasive movements with the upper limbs – We have to perform fluid but explosive movements to try to frustrate each attempt of stable contact (read also The 6 Dragons Kung Fu’s states of interaction); even for us grasping is not an option (in terms of trapping we should limit ourselves to pushing actions, read Trapping’s basics: move and hit);
Economize the energies – Let’s avoid wasting our strength, one of the main reasons why the improvised fights end on the ground is that we rapidly remain without energies
Try to prevent what our opponent is trying to do – Let’s keep under control the opponents’ body elements; the legs could try to toddle us, the arms to move us in unbalanced stances, the shoulders to charge us (etc.)
No hanging – Let’s never hang or let our adversaries hang on us, that is the starting point of a ground fighting
…

A note by Master Kongling – For the advanced level practitioners of the Core Course: the grapplers (more or less instinctively) always focus on the distribution of the weight in our body (especially in the legs), this could be an opportunity to deceive them or to resist to their action (we do not enter in this because being a much more complex topic it esulates from the goal of the current discussion).

How to manage the interactions

How to address the contact with the opponent:

Let’s limit trapping interactions (the most static ones) – The trapping skills (typical of Wing Chun, read Trapping) should be used only in case of a big advantage or lack of alternatives (and especially not before having tested the ability level of our opponent)
Move and hit, move and hit – To use our striking skills (punches, kicks, etc.) we naturally need to approach but always trying fast strike and withdraw movements
If we can’t push him / her away, let’s push ourselves away – If the opponent gets too close, let’s push him / her away trying at the same time to create a passive distance from him / her with our legs
Let’s hit like a spring – For each attacking motion, we have to rewind our limbs at the same speed (and if possible, using the shortest straight line)
Let’s deeply implement feints – Good quality feints (read The deception in combat: the feints) are some of the best tools to create controlled contexts of interaction; substantially, it is all a matter of inducing the opponent to strike where, how and when we want through a sort of provocation; this way, from a situation of infinite possibilities, we reduce the attack options to the apparently favorable one created by us (a sort of bait, we will deepen this)
..

A note by Master Kongling – These are only general ideas about how to avoid falling to the ground but obviously, entering in the tactical detail, for each specific technique, there are specific reactions.

In the next article, we will see how to avoid typical contacts that precede a fall and therefore, the fight to the ground (read How to avoid contacts that lead to ground fighting).

In-depth video courses

Basic free hand fighting techniques – All the basic fighting techniques of 6 Dragons Kung Fu
Basic 6 Dragons Kung Fu Exercises – The right practices to build stamina and a body suitable for combat
How to use feints in combat – An advanced video course about deception in combat

In-depth articles

How to improve balance: tricks and exercises – At the base of Kung Fu rooting
Self-defense: how to defend against a knife attack – The truth about an unfortunately not uncommon scenario of self-defense

Questions

Reply in the comments and share your experience:

Have you ever ended up on the ground during a brawl (even if not too violent)?

Author: Master Kongling

Founder of 6 Dragons Kung Fu.

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