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CHAPTER 2

How to Stay Safe on the Ground

Safety is our primary concern in ground defense training. This is true whether you are developing your skills on the mats or applying them for self-protection in a real street situation. This chapter covers a variety of principles and training practices that will help you learn what you need to stay safe on the ground, while maintaining safety for you and your training partners on the mats.

The Tenets of the Can-ryu Jiu-jitsu Core Curriculum

Before we cover the concepts that are specific to ground defense, it is important to understand the tenets under which we teach the core curriculum of Can-ryu Jiu-jitsu. These serve as guiding principles for what we teach our students for self-protection. These tenets all address the underlying idea that when attacked, people often undergo an adrenaline dump as they face that which threatens them, and that affects the way they move, think, and react.

1. Simplicity. Our style’s core curriculum is meant to be easy to learn. A student should be able to understand and learn the mechanics of a defensive technique in less than 3 minutes. If there are physiological reasons why a particular move is not practical for a person, the technique should be modified in such a way that it is usable or they should be shown a completely different technique that makes more sense for their body type. But ideally, our core curriculum is formulated to be comprised of techniques that will work for the greatest variety of body types and attack situations. The reason for this is that the harder something is to learn, the less likely we are to use it when under the affects of an adrenaline dump. Of course, the longer you train a technique and commit it to muscle memory, the more likely you are to use it when under attack, but if the technique is easier to learn in the first place, you are that much more likely to develop that tendency.

2. Commonality of Technique. We strive to use similar types of techniques in similar defensive situations. The purpose of this is to prevent brain stalls, which can occur under the pressure of an attack as a person tries to “think” of what to do. If the defensive technique that is taught is the same for all the different minor variations of the same attack, it reduces the chances of this. Also, when you train to defend against all the different variations of a type of attack with the same type of defensive technique, you spend more time committing that technique to muscle memory, making it more likely that you will use it when attacked.

3. Usage of Gross Motor Skills. In the interest of making our core curriculum easier to learn and apply, we emphasize the use of gross motor skills over fine motor skills. Gross motor skills are skills that use the larger muscle groups of the body. All gross motor skills come from things we learned from infancy to early childhood, including walking, crawling, maintaining balance, reaching, hopping, etc. By using defensive techniques that employ larger muscle groups, we are drawing on physical skills the body is used to using, ones that have been reinforced since our early physical development. This makes them easier to learn and use when under an adrenaline dump. The body already has a tendency to resort to movements it has already learned, so we are taking advantage of that by using gross motor skills for our defensive techniques. Fine motor skills, on the other hand, require a lot more training to get the movements ingrained in our subconscious minds. That is not to say they cannot be effective (we do include a variety of fine motor skill techniques at higher levels of training in Can-ryu), it just takes longer to develop the muscle memory to make them second nature. Gross motor skills include techniques like open hand strikes, eye gouging, scratching, biting, etc.

4. Awareness of Additional Threats. In all the defensive techniques we use in our core curriculum, we emphasize a constant awareness for the potential of additional threats to our safety. This means that we teach students to look around and be aware as though someone else may attack, even when they are defending against one person. This extends into other types of threats that may be actively or passively introduced in a defensive context including weapons and environmental hazards. This is an important skill to develop because our natural tendency is to tunnel-vision when under an adrenaline dump, causing us to focus on what we perceive to be our primary threat. Without training awareness, a person can be vulnerable to changes in circumstances and surroundings when in this psychological state.

The Importance of Making Exceptions

Bear in mind that while these are the guiding principles behind our core curriculum, the defensive techniques we teach may be harder for some people than others based on factors such as size, strength, reach, etc. We must always give ourselves the opportunity to make allowances.

For example, the “3-minute rule” might become the “10-minute rule” if a student is attempting a technique under more challenging circumstances, such as a bigger/heavier training partner. This is especially true for ground defense. They may need the extra time to learn how the mechanics work, and to make them work under more challenging circumstances. This is why it can be beneficial to first try things out with lower levels of resistance on someone who isn’t too much bigger. As for commonality of technique, someone may have prior training in a certain way of reacting to a particular attack. Even if it does not necessarily follow with this principle within our style, for self-protection purposes it may make sense for that person to use these previously trained skills because that is the way their body wants to react. When it comes to fine motor skill techniques, they can become equivalent in practical value to ones using gross motor skills when they have been trained enough. When they reach this stage of development, some people may be able to rely upon them as easily as simpler techniques.

When it comes to training and applying techniques for self-protection we try to remember the following maxim: “Never say always. Never say never.” There will inevitably be times when we break from the principles, so we must train ourselves to treat each situation as unique and to keep our minds open to alternative solutions.

Ground Defense Rules for Self-Protection

There are four general rules to follow when applying our skills for the purposes of self-protection and preservation:

1. Rule #1: Protect your head and neck. If an attacker is trying to immobilize you and eliminate your defensive capabilities, the most dangerous targets are the head and neck. While defending from the ground, you should maintain a protective guard to protect these targets whenever possible. To do this, keep your arms up to form a barrier around your head. Keep your chin tucked with the shoulders raised to help prevent strikes to the chin and jaw. This also protects against chokes. If being struck, try to keep your head moving to make it harder for your attacker to land a solid blow.

2. Rule #2: Find/create opportunities. Like in any defensive situation, you need to find, create and take advantage of defensive opportunities. When fighting from the ground, space is your friend if your goal is to escape. Space opens up more defensive options, allowing you to use more of your body, which is particularly important if your attacker has the size/strength advantage. Attacks to vulnerable targets, in combination with applicable body shifting techniques, can serve to create more space. The extra space can allow you to use more powerful strikes, apply body shifting more effectively, or simply give you the opportunity to escape.

3. Rule #3: Keep your limbs close. If an attacker can get control of your arm or leg, it decreases the number of tools you have to use in defense, also allowing them to more easily apply joint manipulation techniques. When your limbs are fully extended, it is also easier for an attacker to gauge your reach, further minimizing your ability to defend yourself. To keep this from happening, keep your limbs bent and retracted close to your body. This allows you to use your body as an anchor while still being able to use them to attack back.

4. Rule #4: Get off the ground! The ground is a dangerous place to be. You greatly increase your ability to protect yourself and escape a conflict by getting off the ground as soon as you have the opportunity to do so safely. As such, it is important to train yourself to get back on our feet once you have escaped a ground attack.

Challenges for Different Body Types

There is no “one size fits all” approach to ground defense. Differences in height, weight, and body type create different challenges for each person when it comes to ground defense techniques. The challenges also change depending on the size and body type of your attacker. Different techniques work better for different people. While in this book, we strive to present techniques that will work best for the widest range of people, inevitably there are exceptions that may necessitate an altered approach. Or you may find advantages that are unique to you that serve to improve your defensive capabilities on the ground. Whatever the situation, experiment and improvise using the materials in this book and any other useful resources to find what works best for your unique body type.

1. Petite Bodies. If you’re this body type, you are usually shorter, lighter, and weaker than the average attacker (for the purposes of this book, we assume that the average attacker is a man). Because your legs and arms are shorter, you are able to strike more effectively and move more freely when your limbs are not immobilized. If you try to use strength to fight strength, you will tire out quickly, making yourself less capable of mounting an effective defense. If you’re fully pinned and there is not an immediate and/or urgent need to escape, you may want to wait for opportunities in which you have more freedom of movement rather than fighting hard in a scenario that will exhaust you.

2. Tall and Lanky Bodies. If you’re this body type, may find it more difficult to use your limbs strategically because they tend to be longer and harder to manuever in the confines of certain types of ground defense situations. You’ll likely need to use strikes to create more space so that you can more effectively use your body. Fortunately, when you have the space, the extra reach that your body type affords can make it easier to access targets that are farther away.

3. Big and Broad Bodies. If you’re this body type, you probably won’t find ground defense very challenging when facing an average sized man without a skill advantage. You may not have the speed and flexibility that other body types are more likely to have, but you are more likely to be able to make up for that with mass and strength. Because of your breadth, you can more easily off-balance an attacker that is on top of you without using much strength. This is an ability that you should develop in your training whenever possible. Practice your ground defense skills against people who are closer to your own size (or bigger) whenever possible for the purposes of realism as this is more likely going to be situation on the street.

Safety Practices in Training

While we want to create as realistic an environment as practical when training, it is important to do so and still maintain the safety of all participants. No one wants to get an injury that will keep them from training whether it’s a small cut that interrupts their class in order to receive first aid, or a more serious joint injury that can keep them away for months. As such, we encourage everyone to follow the practices below to keep everyone safe.

1. Tap early, tap often. If your partner achieves a strong submission position, don’t delay in tapping in the hopes of muscling your way out. If they have superior positioning, you risk injury by trying to force your way out. The best way to tap is to tap the person’s body, or if that is not possible, you can tap the mat very loudly. If tapping is impossible, or simply not fast enough, you can do so verbally by saying, “Tap!” or “Stop!”

2. Stay relaxed and avoid using strength. When tousling on the ground, the tendency for an untrained person is to use frantic movements to fight the person off. This tendency should be avoided in training. Staying relaxed and avoiding the use of strength helps you conserve energy, makes you harder to move, helps you to see more opportunities, and keeps everyone safer as they train in ground defense. While this is a general training rule, and in a real self-protection scenario, there may be cases in which using frantic kicks with less abandon, what we call “going alley cat crazy,” in a forceful, all-out defense makes sense, particularly when the defender has little to no ground defense training (a concept we regularly teach in our women’s self-defense courses).

3. Have fun and check macho attitudes at the door. Your training partner is your friend and is there to help you learn. Failing to get out of a hold or being tapped out is educational and will make you a better martial artist. Embrace these experiences and actively try to learn from them by asking questions and striving to improve your defensive capabilities. Having too much ego keeps you from learning and having fun.

4. Wear protective equipment. When training in self-defense oriented ground combat, the groin is an often used target. In order to train strikes to the groin realistically and safely, students, both men and women, should wear groin protectors. When doing more live training drills, wearing a mouth guard is also a good idea for preventing incidental damage to mouth area and for absorbing some of the shock of accidental blows to the head/jaw.

5. Keep your nails trimmed. Finger and toe nails can cause nasty cuts and gashes when doing ground defense training. Breaking a nail can also be quite painful. You should always keep your finger and toe nails trimmed and filed. A freshly cut nail that isn’t filed can be just as dangerous as a long nail.

6. Maintain good hygiene. While this may seem obvious, not everyone realizes how far they have to go for training safety and comfort. Keep your body sensibly clean and keep your B.O. under control. Pay particular attention to the cleanliness of feet because you are in closer proximity of them during ground defense training. If you eat strong foods, brush your teeth or use a mouthwash/breath freshener before training. Lastly, keep your uniform clean. Don’t just leave it in your bag after a sweaty session. The next time you open your bag, the smell will be appalling. If you had a light session, you might be able to get away with just hanging your uniform up to air out, but most of the time, you should be washing it.

7. Don’t train sick or when suffering from an infection. There is a lot of body contact in ground defense and if you’re sick, there is a good chance you’ll pass on your illness to others. You’re also more likely to tire yourself out and make mistakes that can cause injuries when you’re not in good health. It is also very important not to go on the mats if you have a skin infection like ringworm or staph. They are highly contagious and easily spread from person to person or from person to mat to person.

Live Training as a Learning Tool

When you first start training in ground defense, you usually stick to choreographed attacks and defenses giving you more opportunities to develop your skills and techniques. Eventually though, you’ll need to move on from this style of training and apply what you have learned in a more “live” training environment. Ground fighting can be fast and dynamic. Things can change very quickly on the ground, and if you’re not trained to adapt quickly, you may find yourself helpless on the ground if someone gets the jump on you.

Whether you do live training with a partner or in a training circle, you can train at different levels of intensity depending on whether you want to improve your technical applications or increase the difficulty level and realism of the exercise. I like to work with three different levels of intensity with my students, which are as follows:

Level #1: The attacking partner sticks to a single hold down (no striking is allowed). The attacker may resist the defender’s attempts to escape if ineffective, but must always return to their original attack rather than changing their attack. The attacker should loosen up or respond appropriately to the defender’s attacks to vital targets without changing their attack. This style of live training is designed to increase technical understanding and confidence with defensive techniques.

Level #2: Punching attacks are allowed and hold-downs are done with higher intensity. Defenders should strive to get back to their feet within 10 seconds of the start of the attack. If the defender fails to get to their feet, the attacker may change their method of attack. The attacker should still loosen up or respond appropriately to the defender’s vital target attacks without changing their attack. When attacking with punches, use appropriate protective equipment such as mouth guards and gloves. As an alternative to using gloves, light open hand strikes to non-injurious areas may be used. Whichever method you use, the attacker should strike at a power level that is safe for training. Not even MMA fighters spar at full power and intensity for safety reasons. You don’t need to in order to develop your skills. This style of live training is designed to give you a higher level of realism to help you apply your skills under greater pressure.

Level #3: Attackers may change their strategy based on the type of defense used by the defender. A higher level of intensity may be used. The attacker may take measures to resist the defender’s vital target attacks, but still responding appropriately if the defender lands a vital target strike. Again, defenders should still strive to get back to their feet within 10 seconds.

Live Sport-Oriented Ground Grappling as a Training Tool

Even if you have no interest in competitions or tournaments, it is worthwhile to train in sport-oriented ground grappling. There are more and more people training in BJJ and MMA these days and not all of them necessarily do so with honest intentions. If you want to be able to handle skilled sport grapplers in a self-protection scenario, you need to understand what they do. The best way to do that is to train in it. This will make you and your training partners better at playing that type of attacker, which makes you all better at dealing with it.

Here are a variety of ways to train in live sport-oriented ground grappling: