The Ultimate Guide
To Fighting and Winning

By Dr. Russ Horine, President, Fight-Fast Direct, Inc.

Part 13 

Dear Friend:

Target Awareness vs. Technique Focus

            Understanding the difference between “target” and “tool” (technique) is an important concept that goes to the heart of this book. Knowing where to strike (the “target”) is the key. How to strike that target is simply a matter of which “tools” you’ll choose.

            Learning flashy martial arts fight moves (tools) to make yourself a fighter is somewhat like buying a shop full of woodworking tools to make yourself a carpenter. It doesn’t work --  you’ve first got to understand the “big picture”.

            Here’s what I mean by that and it may help explain why some experienced martial artists (who may know hundreds of very cool fight techniques), can and often do, have their asses handed to a street fight.

            Here it is – the “big picture”.

            Your focus of attention must be on scanning specific targets rather than specific techniques. The reality is that you can have sloppy technique, but still win a fight because you had good target awareness. Because (like I said), a sloppy punch to the side of the neck is far better than a beautifully executed high reverse round-house kick that misses the target.

            Take the time to think about what I’m saying for a moment.

            You must throw away the idea that a certain punch or kick will solve your fight problem and instead embrace the concept that hitting certain “high value” targets (by ANY means), is what WINS fights quickly. You’re not trying to win any beauty contests here -- you’re only trying to defeat an adversary who’s threatening you or your family.

            It’s kinda like the beginning golfer who’s worried about what his golf swing looks like. He practices for months in front of a mirror to develop a gorgeous swing. Then one day he steps onto the course to play a real game against real people. Suddenly all that pretty swing stuff doesn’t matter one bit because the winner is determined by the lowest score… NOT the best technique. Ben Hogan was one of the greatest golfers ever to play the game – but by today’s PGA standards he had an “ugly” swing. To his credit, Hogan could give a rat’s ass what anyone said about his swing. He simply did whatever was necessary – pulled out every legal “dirty trick” in his bag – to get a low score. Because when all was said and done, that’s all that mattered. The officials looked at the score card and handed the money to the guy with the lowest score.

            It’s the same with fighting, but instead of a lower score, the winner is the guy who walks away. You need to do whatever it takes to end the fight as quickly as you can. If you’re busy thinking about what technique you’ll use, you’re behind the eight ball. The smart fighter sees his opponent as a collection of targets. He observes which ones are open and attacks them viscously by any means at his disposal.

            My extensive research has PROVED this over and over again.

            Few real world fights are won with “pretty” techniques. That’s Hollywood fantasy. Down here in the real world the fighter who wins is the guy who quickly and effectively attacks “high value” targets.

            As one fight expert put it… “the rookie baseball player is focused on the bat… the professional is focused on the ball”.

            But don’t get me wrong – technique is crucial. You want that “bag o nasty tricks” in your arsenal. It’s actually comforting when you realize you’ve got BOTH bases covered – that is, you’ve got a solid understanding of an opponent’s most vulnerable targets AND an arsenal of highly effective techniques to take advantage of them. Suddenly you’re the guy walking the streets in total confidence knowing you can “take care of business” if the situation arises.

            The idea is to concentrate on first things first. And the first step is to choose a target – the second is to choose which tool or technique you’ll use.

            I can’t stress this enough. I see too many guys endlessly practicing some silly move without ever considering the targets they would use it on. When “crunch” time hits – when they’re facing a real opponent in the real world – their mind races to remember that special technique. Just like the golfer learning to play in front of the mirror, this poor guy has never really learned HOW to fight. He’s simply learned some technique – and it’s given him a false sense that he understands fighting.

            Don’t fall into this trap. Instead, be the guy who’s instantly evaluating your opponent’s weak spots and looking for targets of opportunity.

            Okay… enough of my lecturing. Here are SIX high value targets (I’m giving you pearls on a silver plate here), some of which I’ve already covered earlier. But I’ve added a couple more.

            Here they are:

1.)        Eyes – The eyes are extremely vulnerable to attack. The good news is that – when it comes to eyes – we’re all essentially playing on a level field. I mean, a larger more aggressive opponent doesn’t have eyes any more tough than yours. Take advantage of this “equalizer”. Dirt in the eyes or a simple eye jab can be extremely effective against a larger, more aggressive opponent.

    Now when I mention “eye jab” a lot of guys immediately flash-back to the “3-Stooges”. Forget it – you’re not playing Moe here. There’s a specific technique that involves snapping the tips of your fingers as quickly as possible across his eyes. Believe me, it’ll instantly take the fight outta him.

    As Navy SEAL trainer Frank Cucci points out – “There’s some guys who can ‘hardcore it’ through some pretty brutal punishment… but nobody can ‘hardcore it’ through an eye jab”.

2.)        Throat – Another effective target is the front of the throat. A hard punch straight to the throat can often mean “game over”. On the other hand, throwing a fist to the throat can be somewhat tricky as you’ve got to deliver a fairly accurate punch. The fist simply doesn’t fit very well under the chin. A better solution is to form your hand into a “C” and deliver a quick shot under his chin and into his throat. He’ll be instantly on the ground gagging. Of course you’ve got to be careful – you can easily crush someone’s wind pipe and kill them with a shot like that. So I wouldn’t use this against a rude waiter.

3.)        Solar Plexus – This is the soft spot just below the “breast bone” or sternum. A well placed shot to the solar plexus can instantly “knock the breath” outta him because it sends the diaphragm into spasm. This is best used when he’s not expecting it (like while your opponent’s still talking crap), as a tightening of the stomach muscles will protect the diaphragm.

4.)        Neck – Here’s one I gave you earlier, but it’s a good one. The side of the neck has a bundle of “wiring” running to the brain, which means one good shot to the side to the neck can mean “lights out” for your opponent.  The shoulder and head offer a natural “funnel” that’ll guide your hand directly into his neck – which means it’s a “high percentage” shot.

5.)        Groin – Now you’d think this would be the number one protected spot on any man’s body – especially since every “self-defense” class on earth teaches you to kick for the groin. But amazingly enough, my research has shown that most guys are so interested in delivering or protecting themselves from a haymaker, they rarely pay attention to protecting the “family jewels”. Even a poorly executed kick to the groin – one that doesn’t “connect” -- will still often shock your opponent into an internal dialogue that “freezes” him.

6.)        Inside knee – The knees are a favorite (and “illegal”) target of kick boxers because they understand just how delicate the structure of the knee is. One good shot to the knee means “taking his wheels out” which means that even if he’s still pissed off and willing to fight, his knee won’t cooperate. It’ll continue to buckle on him like a broken crutch – and that puts him in a bad spot (which is exactly where you want him by the way).

7.)        Outside thigh – Another favorite target of Muay Thai fighters is to kick the nerve running down the outside of the thigh (lateral femoral cutaneous nerve). Even a well conditioned fighter can’t stand more than a couple good shin kicks to this nerve before buckling. Very painful… very effective.

Alright, these aren’t the only “high value targets”, but, this will give you a start.

Til next time...

                        Regards,

Dr. Russ Horine
Fight-Fast, Inc.