Going to Ground

This is one of those things I discarded in my early years of practicing karate. I always felt going to ground in self-defense was stupid. I still feel that it is right. I also allowed my training to discard ground work because I was a "stand up karate-ka." That was stupid, a mistake. After all, even if going to ground is the absolute last thing one should do in self-defense it does not mean that some MMA or BJJ inspired adversary is not going to try their very best to drop you to the ground as fast as they can.

It would be a mistake to remain static and true to a system that does not address every single aspect of fighting, combat and self-defense. If your system does not have it and you feel it should not that is ok but you should still add it to your overall package. You can teach it separately or as a whole while remaining true to your core system. You can practice them separately and then have time where you train using all of it holistically as a single whole system of defense. 

You may be saying to yourself, well doah, that is just how I do it but you would be surprised how many still hold true to the ideology that one system is the ultimate all you need system. Even those who incorporate stand-up with ground work are not that ultimate system. Oh, there is no ultimate system.

One warning tho, don't think you can get it all and make it work by attending a few classes or seminars. Don't think you can get it all and make it work without taking time and effort to train and practice - with regularity. Not once a week and not necessary every single day but give it the time and effort and due diligence to make it work. 

It's like working with a UNIX computer system. If you know it and work at it that stuff is easy to maintain but if you stop for a period of time it will get lost and you will have to relearn it. That is just the way things are.

Going to ground is a fact of life and you should spend the time preparing for it. You also have to make sure of the reasons why you are learning it. There is a difference between the sport aspects and the self-defense aspects. One does not necessarily work with the other (there is going to be crossover but do you want to bet your life on it?).

The more time you spend on things like this the less time you need to refresh it later in the game. What? Oh, that means if you dedicate the time and effort up front learning, practicing and gaining experience the less time you need to spend refreshing it. Let me explain, if you spend adequate time for say about five years learning well your self-defense system then you could actually visit the dojo once or twice a week to keep up with what you know and keep it fresh. This means your not trying to add anything but is dependent on your establishing a solid system that works for you. If you want to add things or teach then you need to remain diligent and frequent in practice and training. 

I mean this to qualify that if your not a martial artist dedicated to your practice, system and growing knowledge, etc. then you don't have to spend all your time in the dojo to keep your SD aspects fresh. If you want to practice for life, continue to add to your repertoire and teach others then you have to spend the time and dedication of open-minded practice, training and applications to remain fresh. 

Make sense?