Decoding Effective Modern Self-Defence Techniques
YouTube channel Hard2Hurt, run by Icy Mike, has carried out an intriguing experiment in the form of “The Ultimate Self Defense Championship: Episode 2”, in which various experienced martial artists showcased their strategies in a series of direct clashes. Let’s dissect the innovative techniques, calm minding, and quick decision-making exhibited during this unique face-off. Showcasing Realistic Reactions Seth’s instinctive reactions highlighted one important thing about self-defence: you won’t necessarily remember the intricate martial arts techniques you learnt if you are in real danger. He was seen reacting on a primal level, with visceral, “guttural”– as he puts it– movements (like panic writhing or throwing punches without much calculation), once a fight broke out. Adaptive Fighting Icy Mike, on the other hand, demonstrated adaptive fighting. He started off by going about 25% effort, but when he realized that his friendly sparring had swiftly morphed into a serious situation, he adapted quickly, switching to defensive mode. Realism Versus Sports Fighting Icy Mike and Ramsey share an interesting discussion about the difference between training for self-defense and training for sports fighting. A key point here is knowing when to use the techniques of each. For instance, while playing around may work in sports fighting, such a tactic could prompt one’s downfall in a real-life self-defense situation. The Psychology of Fighting They also highlight the psychological aspect of fighting. Icy Mike points out that shouting and cursing at your opponent can help you fight better. This can trigger an adrenaline rush, which can be harnessed to improve physical performance and pain tolerance. Endurance Wins One essential element that stood out was endurance. Seth, though showing strong advancement at the start, could be observed visibly tiring as the bout went on. His exhaustion resulted in a lack of technique, angling, and rapidly decreasing strength in his strikes and his defences. On the other hand, Icy Mike maintained endurance and standard techniques throughout the fight, showing how vital it is in a real-life self-defence situation. The Art of Distraction In some fascinating exchanges, Icy Mike demonstrated the art of distraction in self-defence. While engaging with one attacker, he threw a calculated strike towards another assailant approaching him, showcasing his developed ‘fighting sense’ of awareness.Lessons to Take Home
The key insights from this exceptional display of self-defence prowess are adaptability, situational awareness, psychological warfare, maintaining endurance, and remembering that a real self-defence encounter is far from a play fight. It’s gritty, it’s instinctual, and it requires you to use every ability at your disposal and push beyond your normal limits to ensure your safety. Remember that every situation will require a different response. What worked once may not work again in another context or against another assailant. While the strategies and tactics deployed in this event can serve as a guide, these skills should be customized to suit your strength, agility, and endurance. Icy Mike and Seth have given us a fresh, honest, and real look into modern self-defence. So remember: train hard, adapt, keep enduring, and most importantly, stay ready.Blablabla
Hard2Hurt is a YouTube channel owned by Icy Mike who shares engaging self-defense tutorials and martial arts tips. An experienced professional in his field, Icy Mike blends humor with vital self-protection knowledge, making his channel both fun and informative. He diligently addresses viewers’ queries in his easy-to-understand videos.
Self-Defence Block
You cut out the part where I said “I only felt like I wanted to quit for like 5 seconds” 😂😂 why does everyone keep cutting that?!
I can't wait for them to cover ep 6 because it was shocking to see everyone get basically butchered alive
I look forward to this every week. I love these. It really is something so special and creative, you are the first to do this and I really pray you are able to do more things like this. These are the fun things us aspiring martial artists want to see for fun for wind down time and for even thought provoking ideas about these real scenarios ! Much love man thank you for this I cannot imagine how much this costs 🙏🏼
Put me in there, i could definerly stay in there.
Dead on the floor
Mike is a great guy and someone I'd definitely choose as instructor. He got tons of knowledge and definetely know what it means to fight a bigger and younger opponent. I think he performed great, those challenges were hard af. In my ninjutsu days (Mike, I know you have a bad opinion on that, but I guarantee I had some good and usefull experience in there) we use to do some "test/games" similar to what I'm seeing in this self defence championship (not the one of the bus thought, that's really new xD) and Man… Fighting two opponents at once or face a weapon with empy hands is so hard and stressful to be close to impossible. I lost the count of the times I would be dead if it was for real.
I love what Rokas did there so much. Bringing all of you together into this format is the best thing on YouTube ever. I just hope there will be a season two, there are a few martial arts YouTubers missing.
Great stuff guys, truly. These types of training drills and scenarios are so much more necessary than people think. In my studios, we used sumo suits and had each participant, attacker and victim go full onslaught for 30 sec, round after round until "the Chaos Cycle" as we called it was broken. Ie; the crying, the indecision, the fear, etc. Once they got comfortable with this, then we dial it back and begin the training. I have loved each episode as well as each youtubers perspective afterwards. This provides more than a full year of training ideas and modules. Keep up the great work and Mike, I'm 51, no excuse for poor cardio. We teach speed and oxygen, learn em and live! God bless!
The knife talk aged well… 😂❤
I was gonna say Ramsay has some knees
1:18 nothing new here ,every anime fan know the crushing power of Talk-no-Jutsu.
To be fair the knife defence stuff wasn all that realistic either. For a start the knife person didn't have any fear of getting serious hurt, because of the padding. So they attacked without that respect. Sometime they counted stabs that wouldn't have penetrated deeply because of the defence. they only counted the fact you were marked.
The biggest mistakes was those trying to grappling the person down without having control of the weapon arm.
You guys got put into some silly situations and did well to adapt under the circumstances.
nci with the reactions! love the series of the championsship and this
Mike can you hear me?
Mike and Seth are cool!
“So do you “ truth of the day.
Come back to central park with MMA shredded we gotta meet
Hey Mike, just curious, do you still recommend those grey rev gear gloves you reviewed a while back? I'm thinking of getting a new pair and I remember you saying they helped give a bit of extra reach. Help a brotha out 😂.
Throughout the series I keep thinking the gear has a huge impact. Guys shrugging of punches and kicks that I think would make them step back or at least force them to move their hands if there was no helmet. How did you feel the ineffectiveness of 50% strikes through riot armour changed the scenarios'? (Not trying to offend, just saying if Mike hit me with 2 jabs I'm probably going to let go of him to put my hands between his fist and my face before the third one arrives)
Hey! Love your stuff! I agree with you on a lot of what you say. I have a request/idea for a future video. Could you talk about how to figure out what martial art gets "credit" for techniques or wins in the ring? It seems like there's a lot of confusion about this: ex. Anderson Silva, Machida, or Tony Ferguson winning because of kung fu or aikido. It seems like one should ask what someone has trained in and how often, rather than simply arguing from the likeness of a technique to a particular kata or something. Muay Thai has hand traps + elbow combinations, so why doesn't Muay Thai get the credit for the times that Ferguson pulls one off in the ring? Wing Chun doesn't have copyrights on handtrapping, any more than Tae Kwan Do has "dibs" on head kicks. I think you could clarify how to think about this. Thanks!
I did this in isreal (Krav maga) anti terrorism not self defense lol
Rokas singlehandlely keeping Aikido alive.
I would love to take part in a challenge like this-even though I know there's a good chance I would earn 0 points and at one point throw up inside the helmet
Respect…to the whole team.
One thing I don't understand: Everyone wears protective gear to be able to use full contact – which they do… but nobody simulates when a hard hit comes in. Like the scene where the defender punches both guys straight to the face and they just shrug it off and keep coming.
What is the objective?
One of the biggest things that ive noticed from the show was how important grappling is. It didnt matter if you're a karate expert, muay Thai expert. The wrestling is always important
After what Mike said, I am legit convinced that after a afternoon or two of mike training Jeff in weapons combat and real life self defense that police/military use. Jeff could be a real life BatMan lol
Guys, it would be great to add one more man to this event – Aaron (Krav Maga) from one of Your video
Great job guys, Ep 2 & 6 were the best
You two are the whole reason why I watched the series, and I have to say neither of you disappointed! It was great, and I now know that I have zero chance of surviving a knife attack, so thanks for that. 😂
3:55 "every one becomes grappler when scared" considering that gloves support striking even more(at the coast of grappling) and no one would be wearing them in a street fight. It only takes one punch to land wrong to result in hand/wrist fractures.
Awesome video
Matt Clinton honestly was a great practitioner of "swear jitsu", he hyped himself up to fight super well in later challenges
Make 1 opponent tap by kimura or a knee bar
Loved this series and seeing all of you in it. Can't wait to see more
You guys look so sloppy.
Put me in there and i'll get knocked out in the first second and gracefully sleep for the rest of the video.
Those helmets should have one-way valves so you're not constantly breathing your own fumes.
You guys were my absolute favourite through out the series! It would be awesome if you do a commentary on the second season once its out. Anyways hope to attend one of your seminars in the future. Keep up the good work! From Aus
Great walk through of what happened. l thought Matt did well, but after you guys I now realized he did amazing in the circle. Mike's knife kick is the only 2 things that worked against an attacker with a knife through out the entire USDC, the other one being rushing to control the knife hand, but that only really sorta worked once with Rokas, and he still got stabbed, just not critical.
Im actually super happy to see icy mike and ramsay dewey fight!
I know I'm a bit late to the party and I kind of assume the answer is "I was in a ring and wearing gear and was fighting hard for a week" and I know that adrenaline and fatigue and all of that… Anyway my question is or rather my comment is I was REALLY hoping that you would, in this video, bring up why you, of all the fighters, attacked the knife guy mugging you. When I saw that happen to Jeff I literally had two thoughts instantly: 1) I would just pantomime handing over my stuff and 2) I bet Icy Mike does that. I was surprised to see a couple of the others do it and then you, of all people, did not. This isn't a take down or anything so I hope it doesn't come across that way, if you (Mike) actually see it. Also on the off chance you DO see this, I wanna say I thought you did great in this and your zombie exploits were hilarious (and brutal).
Thanks for sharing and explaining an in-depth self defence on a knife attack. Very insightful. And extremely realistic.
That part where Sensei Seth voted for himself did make him look bad lol
So much learning. Epic ❤
I wonder if they had any kind of assault and battery laws in place in the ancient times when people still knew how to fight for real?
You guys had to go haaard on each other to treat this as a self defence scenario. Creds for that!