Peyton Quinn

In a barroom brawl, where your assailant doesn't care how pretty he looks when he blindsides you and then stomps you into a bloody mess, the formal training procedures and flashy moves you practiced n the dojo will be useless. Author Peyton Quinn knows.

As a bouncer in a biker bar, having been attacked by fists, boots, pool cues, and knives, Quinn has learned a thing or two about what goes down in a real fight. As a black belt, he has also learned that martial arts training is useful in a brawl, but it is no substitute for experience. An active prarticipant n dozens of fights and a witness to scores more, Quinn has separated fighting facts from fighting fantasy, and the result is a unique guide to self-defense that can save your ass in places where brawling is quick, dirty, and very violent.

In this book, Quinn draws on his experiences to reveal the psychology, strengths, and weaknesses of a sucker puncher, the charactersitics of a real fight (you might be surprised); ways of dealing with aggressive people; and tips and tricks for avoiding an ambush. He then presents the two basic defensive moves that can be applied to most every type of attack, the most effective counterstrikes that he has used dozens of times to defeat stronger and larger opponents, and the ins and outs of grappling, throws, and escapes. Quinn uses accounts of his own battles to illustrate key points and offers straightforward drills to perfect individual techniques as well as the all-important underling concepts that make them so effective. Finally, he takes a critical and practical look at the effectiveness of the most popular martial arts being taught in the United States.

Contents

Chapter One The ambush: Awareness & avoidance
Escalaton of the conflict
Why fights occur
The ambush
An adolescent strategy
Getting down to cases
Some fundamental elements of avoidance tactics
The seasoned warrior
Chapter Two The reality of fighting
Portrait of the sucker puncher
Some characteristics of real fights
Some observatins about martial arts versus real fighting
Chapter Three The tool box
The three components of speed
The vertical fist
The backfist
The palm-heel strike
The reverse punch
The shuto
The hammer fist
Open-handed throat shot
Elbow and knee strikes
The importance of having well-focused shots in your toolbox
Chapter Four Principles of defense
Principles of open-handed blocking techniques
The outside crane
The inside crane
Unifying concepts of teh inside and outside cranes
Continuous attack
Using common sense in your tactics
Keeping your eyes open
Blow percepton and angle of attack drills
Outside crane drills
Inside crane drills
Some observation about proper combat attitude
Creating options for yourself between normal and combat-kill modes
Chapter Five Mobility, stance, facing, and finer points of staying out of jail
The objectives of proper stance
Facing forward with your storng side
Controlling distance: The advantage of closing on your attacker
The eight angles of movement
The error in action/reaction thinking
Objectives of the sliding-up advance and slipping-back retreat
The sliding-up advance
The slipping-back retreat
Movement and facing drills
Chapter Six Grappling, thows, and escapes
Escaping from the bear hug from behind
Dealing with the grab
Escaping from the wrist grab
Escaping from the front bear hug
Escaping from the rear choke
The fundamental throw: Usoto gari
The head and elbow spinout
Running the mark
Chapter Seven Selecting an appropriate martial art for your personal study
Why are htere so many different martial arts systems?
The significance of body type
Conditioning your body
There's no 'automatic' self-defense value in martial arts
Martial art, its application, and the body of a rock
Weapons have always been the first choice
The most common martial arts systems at a glance
Dealing with the crowd and the use of weapons
A final word… (mere)

'The best preparation for an event is the event itself.'-Bruce Lee

In the best-selling book A Bouncer's Guide to Barroom Brawling Payton Quinn shared hard-won wisdom and proven techniques culled from his years of combat experience in the bouncer trade. Here he takes that to the next level. Real Fighting is the culmination of Quinn's efforts to develop an effecive self-defense training program based on his kind of real-world expeience.

Techniques learned in the dojo almost never work in a real combat situation, says Quinn. Why? Because none of the elements of a real fight are present in practice or tournaments, where full-contact striking is a serious faux pas, and the surprise factor is decidely lacking. In a real fight almost nothing is certain. But the introduction of adrenaline into the bloodstream is the one thing you can absolutely depend on. From start to finish, it is primariliy how you handle this innate biochemical response that will determine victory or defeat.

Summoning and conditioning the adrenal response is what scenariio-based training is all about. In Real Fighting, Quinn reveals how you can learn to control the adrenaline rush that occurs in the fear, confusion, and intensity of a violent confrontation and channel it effectively to either shut down the bully's antics and avoid the fight altogether or pound him into the pavement when all else fails.

Peppered with the colorful war stories the author is famous for, including scenarios from his Coloraado-based training program and his years of working some of the roughest bars in the country, Real Fighting gives readers the low-down on what it takes to prevail in any violent encounter. You'll benefit from Quinn's insight on controlling fear and avoiding the 'choke' response, the ideal combat mind-set, the essential cowardice of the bully, why the karate guy often fears the boxer, the effectiveness of the formiable Gracie grappling system, what makes a true martial arts 'master,' how weapons fit into the picture,and more.

Whether you're a highly trained black belt or a meek and mild housewife, Quinn maintains that the biggest obstacle you will face in defending yourself effectively is dealing properly with fear. This book is about coming face to face with that obstacle-and realizing your potential to overcome it.

Contents

Preface
An important lesson in combat attitude
Enter the'carrot top'
First blood: The creepy crimson makes its appearance
The point of this schoolboy tale
Getting down to cases
Getting your mind right
Chapter One Perfect intent is more improtant than perfect technique
It's always later than you think
Some very important combat concepts
The fear factor-An example of having one's mind right; The essential cowardice of the bully; The bully often retreats in the face of a relaxed mind; Some interview techniques you should be aware of
The ideal combat mind-set-The experience of rage on the path to proper mind; Avoidance is always the best self-defense strategy; The karateka who fails to enter the fight; A familiar tale of a karate dancer; A brawl I witnessed involving more than a dozen black belts; Using techniques as tools for undrstanding concepts
Chapter Two $60,000 to the man left standing
The Gracie Brothers-Is the Gracie system the ultimate self-defense art?
The importance of the training method- Why does the karate fighter so often fear the boxer?; An effective training method must allow the student to discover and exercise his warrior spirit; On the path to developing a more effective self-defense
Chapter Four Scenario-based training
The critical role of the bulletman-Physical limitations of the armor; Commonly asked questions about the bulletman's role
The role of the fighter-Avoidance; Deconditioning the denial response; Striking preemptively; Attacking with full-contact striking
The fight scenarios engage involuntary biochemical responses-Freezing up; Controlling and timing the flow of adrenaline
Developing muscular memory-Learning that occurs under adrenal stress is stored in the brain differently and occurs at an accelerated rate; Adrenal stress-based learning stays with the individual forever
Why traditional martial arts training is incomplete preparation for an actual self-defense encounter
Chapter Five Toward a more realistic view of Asian martial systems
Classical martial arts as 'ancient and proven combat systems'-The uncommon quality of common sense
Are there really 'true masters?'
What makes a master?
Very few real fights are decided by subtle or master techniques
What the scenario training method achieves-Scenario training works for both black belts and untrained fighters
Chapter Six Scenario-based training with weapons
A pistol you don't have with you won't help
One learns to fignt empty-handed because most times, 'that's all you got'-Scenario training should be mandatory for police
There is just as much misinformation in firearms training as there is in the martial arts world-An exception: Jeff Coopers's principles of personal defense
The problem with experience and dogmatism-An experiment in adapting scenario-based training to the combat use of the pistol; Some observations about our scenario-based pistol training
The primary goal of scenario training with weapons: Develping the proper mind-set
Extraordinary martial skill with the weapon is not demanded to survive most real-world attacks
Scenario training using the stick-The dog brothers
A final note: The most dangerous assailants don't display their weapons before using them
Some final thoughts
Proper response to adrenal stress can be learned
All cruelty comes from weakness… (mere)