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REFLECTIONS WITH MASTER CLOD on the concept of Self-Defense
The goal of this blog is to provide realistic information about street fighting and self-defense. For me, it is essential to report exclusively from those who have real combat experience especially on the street and not from those who teach techniques without ever having tasted blood or experienced the stress of a street attack.
After having had the honor of publishing an article by Coach Martin ONeil and Master Joaquin Marcelo, I had the honor and pleasure of speaking with Master Claudio Alberton, better known as Master Clod, a person I consider among the highest experts in Italy and beyond on the subject of combat.
From that long chat and some reflections he kindly wrote to me came this raw and interesting article on the reality of street fighting.
Enjoy
In the course of reading you will find boxes like this one in which I have listed some of Master Cold’s Aphorisms
Master Clod, who is he?
As much as Master Claudio Alberton needs no introduction, especially in Italy, as this blog is aimed at an international audience a quick introduction is due.
Master Alberton has dedicated his entire life to combat sports.
- From 1978 to 1993 Shotokan karate with master degree 3 dan.
- Certified PFS (progressive FIGHTING Sistem) in California in 2000 by Paul Vunak.
- Guru 2 dan instructor in Kombatan Presas style, last exam given with Philippine commission: Ernesto Presas jr and Randy Ramolin; World President and European Head respectively
- Expert in daggers and knives. (Has been studying various systems from military to civilian since 1991).
- BJJ purple belt taken in 2005 with Master Rodolfo Amaro then Head bar Gracie
Ring sports:
President of the University of Fighting since 1991, he has traveled the world with a team that has brought home as many as 28 belts including European, World and Intercontinental.
The belts cover all full-contact disciplines. (P.S.: Half of the belts have been won abroad).
President of BTF (Born To Fight).
National technical director for FE.NA.SCO. 94-99 Shoot boxing.
D.t.n. FIKBMS from 2006-2012 and K1 from 2013 to 2018.
MMA:
He has been practicing since ’96 as a Vale Tudo.
In 2000 he trained under Roy Harris in California. In 2004 in Rio with Alessio Sakara in Brazillian top Team club where he stayed 4 months.
He has trained and continues to train with the best.
As a Master from 1992 to date over he has given over 300 seminars and internships. As events over 200.With the next one will be 7 editions of Milan In The Cage – MITC.
WTKA D.t.n. for MMA.
In 2016, CONI awarded him the VETERAN OF SPORT and GUANTONE D’ORO for sports merits.
In the street I must Fight if NECESSARY I cannot defend myself.
The very concept of defense in sports combat does not exist, the VALUES are Attack, Rematch (parry and counterattack) Encounter and Advance. They are directly proportional to difficulty.
In “street” passive defense can lead to unpleasant consequences. Then DEFENSE against whom? One, two, three, the
pack. Where, parking lots, bars, stations etc. armed? Frontal, Lateral from Tergo…
The unknowns are endless that is why it is called ASITUATIONAL. Constantly changing situation.
Combat Concept assumes constant training, technical and functional. Dedicating hours of training is necessary to acquire the right AUTOMATISM. Then the important emotional aspect is something entirely personal. Certain it is that by training contact in the gym with sparring sessions the habit of contact, distance, movement will be more concrete at the time of a possible exchange in a URBAN context. Then the technique (for purists) can be appropriate to the situation.
The fist in the gym, the HAND in the street, knee to the stomach in the gym to testicles in the street. I bite, I scratch, I use everything in the street, but if I don’t get to the right distance it’s trouble.
I think on the subject everyone has to have their say, each system has its own right PECULIARITIES, there is free ARBITRIO, what is important is that there is no INSTITUTION TO SUICIDE.
Master Clod you are a person who knows the way and its risks. Your position has always been very clear and realistic, I would like you to expound your views on what self-defense really is versus what is generally taught in gyms.
What makes a self-defense course effective?
I start with an assumption: I know the street well: I was born there, grew up there, worked there, with all the trappings. Without rhetoric, I will tell you why’ I do not believe in self-defense as it is interpreted by so many teachers who secondarily claim to be able to teach people of all ages and sexes techniques they would be unlikely to apply in an urban aggression context.
Stories of lived life
The street
I take a leap into the past, 1978 the first fatality. It was New Year’s Eve, I was 16 years old, outside discotheque 04 in Bereguardo in the province of Pavia just before midnight we heard some firecrackers, shortly thereafter we understood that they were not firecrackers. A convicted criminal from Rozzano killed after an argument the bouncer with 5 shots at point-blank range, the bouncer, I still remember his name was Nereo.
In those years Milan and its province were very violent: the Vallanzasca gang, extra-parliamentary politics from both the left and the right, and micro-crime in the suburbs made daily life decidedly dangerous.
The 1980s arrived: youth gangs, they divided Milan into neighborhoods to be managed.
I was a rockabilly, a teddy boy ahahahah beautiful girls, cars (I had the beige Mercedes 3000) and we used to wrestle every other day ahahah.
I used to train shotokan karate my hands and legs made them go great, then we all had blades. I was arrested for robbery, twice for unlawful carrying of a bladed weapon, and at the MILLELUCI Disco in Zavattarello in the province of Pavia in 1983 I was attacked by locals, one I stabbed in the hand, I ended up another time in the Carabinieri barracks with my brother and another friend. They beat us severely.
On the street: if you can avoid, if you can prevent, if you can apologize, if you have to give money give it, if you have to protect your family COMBAT
The turning point
Later the love of Mom, a black belt taken in 1985 and a surveyor’s degree led me to a slow change. It was the 1990s that I experienced the street in a decidedly stronger way.
I worked in a gym, and in 1991 I founded the UNIVERSITY OF FIGHTING club, which in a few years became the most emblazoned gym in Italy.
In 1996 three World belts won abroad in different specialties: full contact, kick boxing and Savate … over the years another 25 came between k1, shoot boxing, muay thai, MMA but especially in boxing.
I was working at the same time at the Shoking club and later at De Sade two of the most important Discos in Milan. From 96 to 2002 I managed the Casablanca disco in Tropea for the entire summer season, bringing my best men, all combat sports practitioners…they were pure beasts physically speaking.
I experienced a lot of violence, lost two friends were shot two others were kneecapped. (all written in my biographical book “I Wanted to be a Balkan”).
Those were the years of Milan drinking and pipping, the clubs always full and people more and more out. I was beating myself up in the gym during the day, beating myself up at night in the disco.
The 2000s
Mid-2000s I stopped working in clubs, limited myself to coordinating security at private events, exhibitions and fashion shows, all comfortable jobs.
Assaults have always been there and always will be, it’s the ways and the people that change.
Gangs have always been there, the fights were for territory management not for pure entertainment. Ethnic groups were few, Albanians and many Slavs arrived right after the war, very dangerous. I worked there in the clubs and in my neighborhood, Barona.
Well this long preamble is testimony of lived life not improvisation.
In the street all or nothing is valid as the concept of ASITUATIONAL applies as a rule.
It is forbidden by LAW to use a knife for both offense and defense, it is inferred that it is wholly inappropriate to DECADE the use and misuse.
Studies do not coincide with improper deeds in URBAN settings.
That said, I recommend that we be very careful with the I KNOW ALL.
Regarding the alleged knife defense I have amply, in the past, expressed my displeasure and denunciation of “incitement to SUICIDE.”
Recent years have seen the emergence of various self-defense courses that take their origin from various martial styles. Talking about defense with ordinary people the first thing they think of is KM and in wing chung.
I would like to ask you if you think that:
For self-defense, is there one martial art more suitable than others? Why?
Obviously, if there is demand (self-defense), the market becomes rich with improvised defenders of others.
I am not talking about systems (I think they are all effective) but about teachers or supposed teachers.
I have written quite a bit about my thoughts on the subject, I personally believe in Prevention not Self Defense especially the way it is taught. They do equal courses for everyone, not taking into account that each of us has our own physicality, our own psyche, our own past. We should do ad personam trainings/One-to-One (which Master Greco also advised us to do), train as combat sports professionals train, yeah because that’s what it’s all about.
On the street you avoid any kind of discussion but if necessary, when prevention is not enough you have to fight. Ugly to use this noun but unfortunately it is the truth.
Then have these gentlemen ever taken a beating? Have they ever witnessed fights with broken bottles, bars and blades? If so, they would be careful about teaching such nonsense.
Tip
My advice is to assiduously attend combat sports and MMA gyms where full contact, trained with technical progression allows a habit of contact.
On the street we talk about full contact, not epidermal.
Distances, movement, timing otre than technique combined with tactics represent the essence of combat.
Then one two three how many attackers can there be? Big big and pissed off maybe with blunt objects.
That’s the point, how can they train what in combat sports is called asituationality.
In the street there are no patterns, the location varies, they can be overt (frontal) side or backside assaults therefore sudden and unmanageable even by experienced people.
In conclusion
I think that before one relies on a phantom guru, one must inform oneself; there is the Web for research.
Courses of two hours a week, perhaps online are simply incitement to suicide and should be prosecuted by law.
Prevention and constant training “perhaps” give one more chance in an Urban Jungle context.
DO NOT TELL LIES.
The so-called, by many, Psychological part in so-called self-defense courses for WOMEN has alleged shortcomings.
First, has anyone who tells it ever experienced violence?
Second, every Woman reacts under STRESS in a different way.
Third, it is usually an IMPROVED assault.
Then there is the habit of CONTACT which they do not teach except in Combat sports and MMA. Not to mention Distances, Movement, Timing and of course TECHNIQUE.
Do not ILLUDE with two-hour weekly classes WOMEN who come to YOU in good faith. Fingers in the eyes and kicks in the genitals are old and obsolete things it takes more than that…even the INVASED know it well.
SELF-MATE, perseverance, commitment, sweat and sometimes a little BLOOD.
Of course they will not become AMAZONS but sure you the TRUTH have told them.
The psychophysical condition in street fighting
Psychophysical condition is a difficult goal to achieve in an urban setting.
The conditional part can be trained with commitment and perseverance achieving excellent results.
What is different is conditioning our mind under stress, especially sudden stress. Each of us reacts with different stimuli according to character and partly from experience in the field.
The importance of preparation and the tasks of training
The Fundamental principles in order to best train an Agonist or class are four:
- Functional training
- Tactical training
- Technical training
- Psychological training.
Let’s look at them in more detail:
In order to have any chance of defense in an urban context, it is necessary to start from a combat sports base with which to develop TIMING, DISTANCES, ABILITY TO UNCODIFIED COMBAT in addition to the whole part of athletic preparation. To this is added unconventional techniques suitable for an extra-sport context and aimed at defense.
Athletic preparation
Conditional part:
Strength, endurance and speed along with coordination are crucial in combat sports and MMA.
There are a variety of ways to train properly and functionally. Important is to rely on professionals. (See also here)
Translated in an urban context: the more physically trained you are the more likely you are in running (prevention). A small but effective example.
TRAIN to understand the dangerousness of the object in question.
TRAIN to improve
TRAIN for passion
TRAIN to not say and tell nonsense
TRAIN, train, train.
What are the main techniques to know?
Technical section:
It opens up a world of discussion about what to teach. My advice is to start with STRIKING.
Every school, every teacher has his or her own vision, so it becomes a very personal topic, and I don’t want to be arrogant at all.
I have expressed my opinion.
Tactical section:
How to be able to apply the most effective techniques considering various distances, location, number of attackers, viewing (frontal, side from the back), with white weapons and blunt objects.
Again, this opens up a world of assumptions that in the most intrinsic part are difficult to calculate and manage under stress.
Psychological preparation
The road in violent contexts such as assaults, fights and brawls is made up of basic but RAGE-laden actions.
If you don’t also train fear and pain at the promo slap you become chalk and the rest comes with it
Sports Combat Vs Street Combat
WATCHING, SHIFTING, DISTANCES, RHYTHM AND TIMING are fundamental aspects of sports combat. Of course, I am talking about full contact.
We find these elements in possible aggression. What changes?
The location, the asituation due to possible contingencies, the number of attackers, the no possibility of surrender, there is no referee only possible random bystanders.
The similarity lies in the Noun “combat” … unfortunately, the stark reality in a violent urban context is that the physical confrontation can be more or less quick and have unpredictable consequences.
There are no Punchinello’s secrets or easy solutions by opening Pandora’s box, Urban violence has its own unpredictable and asituational mechanisms that make it “unmanageable” in some respects.
Sometimes it can go right sometimes wrong, preventing the best thing to do but not always possible.
On the road, automatism is mostly needed
No sophisticated techniques but basic and effective
Then a good dose of HEALTHY naughtiness is indispensable
An oft-discussed and in my opinion undervalued point.
What to do if the aggressor is armed with a knife?
I did not address the issue of knives, blunt objects for the simple reason that to teach four techniques is to create the conditions for inciting suicide.
However, you can find an in-depth study here
The knife in the street differs from all systems, especially the military.
In the street there is the IMPREVED man not a schematic system.
When you use the dagger you necessarily need to know what the risks are for better or worse
End note.
Everything I have written is the result of a lifetime spent in the gym training and a part of life lived on the streets for work and in my youth for delinquency.
I have merely stated my beliefs and given some advice, but as I have maintained nothing is as it seems on the ROAD.
For any further explanation I am at your disposal.
MasterClod
THE BASIC, THE TRUTH ….
you must study bare-handed techniques because on the ROAD you don’t have time to put on bandages and gloves. You must know what a FIST to the face is in order to teach defense against it. If you do not know what BLOOD tastes like at the first opportunity SVENITE. If you have never stiffened from the “fear” of ending up long stretched out in the midst of DELIGHT how do you expect to EXPLAIN it.
There is no MORAL in this post but the simple TRUTH.
Do not be SUPERFICIAL with other people’s lives.
Conclusion
Well what can I say, I think I can add little to what Master Clod stated and I hope that reading the aphorisms helped to understand the reality of the street from those who have lived it.
Street fighting, or real as I like to call it, is unpredictable and teaching self-defense is the most abstract thing there is, no wonder you see so many fancy courses.
As stated in the blog introduction most courses and videos on the market have the same characteristic:
- They show multiple techniques that are not always valid in a real situation
- They make it look easy to deal with an assault. (assault, attack)
In most cases the main topic is missing because the reality is different and needs to be known.
Today thanks to the internet it’s possible to get information and try to figure out if the instructor is an improviser or not. Do not rely on chance and if you have the opportunity and/or the need look for customized courses.
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