Did BJJ/martial arts make you fight less/more?

[BoxingFan653]

I'm not a street fighting kind of guy...4 years of boxing experience and I havent been in a fight since I was 20 (I'm 31 now). However, I'm just curious for those of you that got really good at BJJ if you found yourself getting into more fights because you know you can handle guys on the street easily now or if you walk away more?

The spirit of martial arts is to always be mature and walk away but then I watch guys like Bas/Rogan/Schaub/Eddie Bravo kind of gloat about how easy it is to destroy guys on the street...etc.

Also, do you feel BJJ is a great form of fighting for self defense? I'm doing mostly gi but also non gi and kickboxing as well. Would appreciate any feedback from you experienced guys

Thanks

 

[Gambledub]

I heel hooked the mailman for delivering letters to the wrong address.

 

[Steve08]

Idk if it made me more likely to seek out a fight (it's possible) but I definitely feel more confident in the idea of an unscripted physical engagement with another person because of it.

 

[lowdown1]

I think the majority of guys who train hard and put lots of time on the mat don't go out to bars very often or find themselves in those situations. I'm a 34 year old brown belt and I know if I have 4 drinks the night before Training the 20 something MMA fighters in my gym will smell blood and come after me hard haha. I happen to be in the beer business so that happens quite often actually. I also think with age and experience you understand the reality of a street fighting situation. I don't really want to double leg to mount and G&P someone for talking to my wife or acting like a jackass. I would rather get a good night sleep and be ready for the killers in the gym in the morning. However, if I find myself in a situation I know I'll be fine. It helps that I'm confident and have a gnarly ear. Most drunks or people looking for a fight pick fights they are confident they can win.

 

[Ivaylo Ivanov]

Growing up in Bulgaria, for me was natural to start with wrestling... just because every man in the family was practicing it.
Later on, the daily fights in school lead me to boxing.
Continued practicing different disciplines over time, with the idea of been street effective. And since Bulgaria is just that kind of a place, where you have chance to practice martial arts in all situations (including while waiting in line at the local bakery- pesky pensioners can be dangerous ), one can quickly realize what works and what doesnt.
As the time progress, young bucks become aware, that sooner or later, their time will come, because there is always someone better than you. Then people tend to calm down.
Before those humbling moments though, in my experience, everyone acts like a dick.
Here is this old dude in Bulgaria, who is drunk as hell in the video, but then proceeds KOing people left and right with one punch. Back home is a weird place... you can run into an old Olympic champ, whos wife has been nagging since early morning, so he will make you lay on your back and look at the stars, just because you cut him in the supermarket line...

 

[EGDM]

The more I know about fighting the less I ever want to do it for real. So many ways things can go sideways, and it's really easy to get seriously hurt. Also, odds of legal problems after hurting someone are very high.

 

[Forceof1]

Most people fight because they have something to prove.

If you train hard in the gym , you know what you are capable of and tend to have much less of a need to prove it to some random bar bro.

At least in my experience, the more I train (over 25 years now) the less I want to fight.

 

[Oldguy]

The longer I train, the more I realize there are tons of guys that can completely kick my ass. The worst part is I can never tell who they are by just looking at them!

 

[Ryoto Machida]

I think it's simply since doing boxing and BJJ, I simply carry myself more confidently and assertively. As it was said above, drunk douchebags pick fights with guys they're confident they can beat, and these days I guess I just don't look like that guy

 

[A Muse of Fire]

Growing up in Bulgaria, for me was natural to start with wrestling... just because every man in the family was practicing it.
Later on, the daily fights in school lead me to boxing.
Continued practicing different disciplines over time, with the idea of been street effective. And since Bulgaria is just that kind of a place, where you have chance to practice martial arts in all situations (including while waiting in line at the local bakery- pesky pensioners can be dangerous ), one can quickly realize what works and what doesnt.
As the time progress, young bucks become aware, that sooner or later, their time will come, because there is always someone better than you. Then people tend to calm down.
Before those humbling moments though, in my experience, everyone acts like a dick.
Here is this old dude in Bulgaria, who is drunk as hell in the video, but then proceeds KOing people left and right with one punch. Back home is a weird place... you can run into an old Olympic champ, whos wife has been nagging since early morning, so he will make you lay on your back and look at the stars, just because you cut him in the supermarket line...

Why were these guys argueing?

 

[Uchi Mata]

I don't get in street fights. I'm an adult. My ability to win them or not has nothing to do with it.

 

[karma2burn]

The longer I train, the more I realize there are tons of guys that can completely kick my ass. The worst part is I can never tell who they are by just looking at them!

I was never someone who got into fights but used to think I could handle myself if necessary. Obviously my first experiences in a bjj gym helped dispel that notion rather quickly.

I'm in the same boat with you, even though I know I could handle myself for the most part, I'd be more reluctant to engage for this exact reason. Half the guys who murder me in the gym would be guys I wouldn't even give a second glance to on the street in terms of being able to kick my ass.

 

[SummerStriker]

I was an asshole in traffic recently and cut a guy off at a stop light. He jumped out of his car and strutted at me.

Having had my ass kicked so many times, winning or losing a fist fight with that guy wouldn't change anything I know about myself - only what I know about him.

I don't know that I would ever have been the guy to jump out and get back in his face, but when I drove off I had no sense of shame about it and let it go immediately.

 

[CYKO]

martial arts has nothing to do with it.

 

[Ivaylo Ivanov]

Why were these guys argueing?

Who knows...
They are just chasing the old brawler out of the bar (that's around 3-4 pm )
And finally he laid down the law, on his way home...

 

[n.diazismylife1999]

The spirit of martial arts is to always be mature and walk away

God, no, it really isn't the "spirit of martial arts." I'm singling out this quote because it's a tired and old cliche, straight from some 1960s bad karate movies with the wise old master.

The spirit of MARTIAL arts is to learn how to fight better. There is no spiritual mumbo-jumbo added by default, no ki master spiritual growth just because you're practicing how to kick someone's ass.

Martial artists tend to get into less fights because A) they look confident because they ARE confident and B) because they don't feel like they have anything to prove. There's no glory in laying out some street punk when you know you can hang with professional fighters.

 

[Patrick Jane]

I trained martial arts since my early childhood so i obviously was never in a fight before training.

 

[biscuitsbrah]

My personality is to avoid street fights at all costs. So before training I was very scared of confrontation but now I'm not as scared. I'd be more willing to fight someone I guess but never escalate

 

[Oldguy]

I was an asshole in traffic recently and cut a guy off at a stop light. He jumped out of his car and strutted at me.

Having had my ass kicked so many times, winning or losing a fist fight with that guy wouldn't change anything I know about myself - only what I know about him.

I don't know that I would ever have been the guy to jump out and get back in his face, but when I drove off I had no sense of shame about it and let it go immediately.

I think all of us have done stupid things in traffic. Good decision NOT to get out of the car.

YOU CAN'T ASSUME EVERY STREET FIGHT WILL BE JUST HANDS TO HAND COMBAT!

I carry a gun. Tons of people carry knives. It could go reallty wrong.

 

[jcandoitbig]

I think all of us have done stupid things in traffic. Good decision NOT to get out of the car.

YOU CAN'T ASSUME EVERY STREET FIGHT WILL BE JUST HANDS TO HAND COMBAT!

I carry a gun. Tons of people carry knives. It could go reallty wrong.

second the knife comment. I've been in 3 scuffles in my life, all before I trained, and in two of them I ended up spotting a blade and luckily got the fuck out of there.

and to answer the question, yes I feel confident in a fight however after training for years you realize you never really know who's a badass or not so I try to avoid at all costs (unless someone is being an asshole to my wife or aggressively hitting on her)