Groundfighting

A senior student was feeling unsatisfied with his groundfighting and had been asked by a couple of champion Shootfighters to show ‚real fighting‘ – Bujinkan stuff – at a new dojo they were opening. Eye gouges, kyusho, and other such tricks were no problem in the student's eyes, but he was concerned with getting into an advantageous position during the second you fall to the ground from Tachiwaza to Newaza. So practice started with the student and another rolling around muscling it out for position like groundfighters. Nagato watched and laughed for several minutes. After about ten minutes of having them roll around tiring themselves out with strength, Nagato made his comments: „You're plenty good at groundfighting now. If you want to get better at it, then just keep practicing. But you're still going to lose if you go up against someone who knows what they're doing. It basically will come down to how much you practice. You can't actually expect to beat someone who's been training six hours a day since they were fifteen or something do you?! Don't be ridiculous! Their nerve synapses will be so much more developed than yours. If you practice a hundred hours, and they thousands of hours, who do you think will win? Of course, they will. Don't be stupid! Do you think you can do sumo against a sumo wrestler or out-box a boxer? Of course, you can't. You need to do your own thing – fight your own fight! Takamatsu-sensei never saw a need to spend hours upon hours working on groundfighting, and he did well for himself. If you want to get good at groundfighting, practice groundfighting. It's that simple.“

„If you're down on the ground like that, you are still in Kamae. See? (Nagato lays down on the ground.) Try to get me. (The student tries to close.) I can still kick you. (Nagato kicks him right in the inside of the thigh, nearly knocking him down.) Don't forget, I can punch and kick. Grab some sand or rocks and throw it in their eyes. Or better yet, find a rock. That's the difference between a human and an animal. We'll use anything at our disposal as weapons. If your life is in danger, you bet your ass you will. Rocks. Sticks. Whatever. There are no rules when your life in on the line. This isn't a sport!“

„Here, I'll put you up against a tiger or an elephant and see if you survive. You can punch or kick it all you want. You're gonna be dead meat! You can kick an elephant in the balls and it won't even phase it. They're this big. (Holds up his arms, laughing, his hands a good couple of feet apart.) But if you use your head and use a gun from a distance, an elephant is easy prey. You see? That's what survival is about! It's about using your head!“

(At one point, Nagato showed us a full on blow to the jakkin that nearly tore off his uke's arm. It was so fast, you could barely see it, but you just knew that you were glad you were not on the other side of that strike, and subsequent „Gomenne“ when his uke's arm fell limp, never to rise again that night. Nagato roared like a tiger as his entire body went behind the punch. His subsequent comments had me laughing for days, but they rang extremely true in a humorous way.)

“When you punch here, this should be like, ‚Fck you!‘ Put a kiai into it. Things like ‚Eh‘ and ‚Yuhp‘ are Japanese kiai. Things like ‚Fck you‘ and ‚Asshole‘ are English kiai!”