Reality based martial arts
What they are and how are they different to traditional martial arts
This article covers reality based martial arts such as RBPP, Krav Maga and SPEAR and how they differ from traditional, classical or sport based martial arts.
There is a new breed of martial arts coming to the fore and these are what are termed as ‘reality based’. Quite often they don’t even align themselves in the martial arts bracket, preferring to distance themselves from ‘traditional’, ‘classical’ or ‘sport’ based styles.
Reality based martial arts are systems that ‘do what it says on the tin’. They are based on what people will face on the streets today, not what they faced on the streets in the past. This quite often means that techniques are stripped down to a bare minimum with those that remain being either brutally effective, or remaining because they can be taught to absolute beginners in a matter of minutes.
Some have names such as Krav Maga (a generic term for a certain Israeli-based set of styles) whereas others use acronyms such as RBPP (Jim Wagner) and SPEAR (Tony Blauer). None use any terms that are ‘foreign’ to their students i.e. if they are teaching in England, they speak in English.
Reality based martial arts do not wear the usual martial arts gear. Students are encouraged to wear ‘normal’ clothes, often training in t-shirts, cargo pants and trainers (sneakers). Uniforms such as gis and doboks are not worn and indeed are not permitted to be worn during training. The reason for this is reality.
Training is often very informal, there is no bowing, no ‘I’m ready’ signals and no-one wears any rank insignia. Very often, once they have completed the initial warm-up and done some pad work the class then concentrates on specific scenarios. This is the greatest difference between ‘normal’ martial arts and reality based martial arts.
All the scenarios used are based on real-life scenarios that the students can expect themselves to be involved in at some point during their life, or know of someone who has been involved. These scenarios can cover anything from a homeless person approaching them for money through to a rape.
Another key aspect of reality based martial arts is that where possible, these scenarios are made as real as possible. This means that in the above example of a homeless person, the aggressor will dress, act and even smell like a homeless person through the use of make-up, alcohol on the breath and clothes that should have been consigned to the bin.
If you’re looking for self-defence lessons, then you should most certainly consider reality based martial arts. If however you are looking for a more holistic approach then stick to the more traditional arts.
