The answer: You better be a better fighter than him. Life isn't perfect and fights are far from. This is why it is always better to avoid confrontations bc you never know exactly who you are fighting and you can't judge a book by it's cover. Also... S--t happens.
There will always be someone bigger and stronger and if the person knows martial arts or not this is always a problem. It's how you deal with it. A mugger only wants my money and if he has fallen on hard times he will want no more trouble and will go away with my money. No problem. Nothing I carry on me is worth fighting for risking my health let alone my life.
Rape is a different matter and if he wants my life that too is personal. In that case I fight. I have a much better chance with my martial arts experience than I would without it. If I die I will at least try my best to do as much damage as I can or better take him with me. Martial arts is about bettering your chances.
I have been attacked by a martial artist who was much more senior than I was. The guy was an idiot and maybe that allowed me to slam him into the wall and pin him. So a higher rank does not guarantee a better martial artist and when you have to defend for real you may be amazed what you can do. Honestly I was. I know there are no guarantees but any martial artist who attacks another person for self gain is an idiot.
I had an 8th dan teacher who had fallen on hard times, lost his job and couldn't land anything but wash dishes for a friend who owned a restaurant. There was a bar down the street where he lived and had his dojo. We were going home one night and the drunks came out of the bar, getting in their cars and driving away. My teacher said: "One night I will be waiting for those guys and take their money." He was dead serious. He didn't care that they were driving home drunk, all he could think of was that they did not deserve the money and he did. Never mind that they probably didn't have any money anymore by the time they came out of the bar. I decided then that he too came under the idiot category.
No mugger that I know would ever had the consistency and perseverance to get a black belt.
Wristlocks are useless against knives in real life anyway.
If the black belt becomes a mugger - which is quite unlikely since most folks who have previously shown discipline, consistency and perseverance do not change their personality and morality overnight - then there'll be another mugger who can fight. Most of them can anyway. Nothing close to martial arts, but certainly effective and brutal.
People gets this crazy idea that practicing martial arts is suppose to guarantee that you’ll win fights. Not true. That’s like expecting basketball classes to teach you to win every single game. That would be ideal, but not always going to happen. What the classes (both martial and basketball) are design to do is to give the student best chance at winning. Without martial arts you’ll be in a bad place when violence happens. With martial arts you stand a better chance, but you’ll still be in a bad place when violence happens. Being the best you can be is what martial arts is about. It's not about being perfect.
Also the answer to black belt breaking into your house is the same one as any robber breaking into your house. Tactically blockade(at choke points) and seal the sections of your house to assure the safety of the members of the house. Call for back up. Arm yourself to attack the robber if they try to break through the blockade. Give yourself such a large tactical and arms advantage that it doesn't matter whether the robber is trained fighter or not.
Translated to English it means that you should have a defense weapon nearby your person in the house. You should have plans to access the young ones when things goes sour. Have a means to call the cops as soon as possible. You should have a seal on a choke point like a solid locking door to the safe room, hallway, or staircase. This means that the robber must break down this door to get to you and you’ll know exactly where to aim when they are trying to do that.
Edit: for mugging and etc. avoiding creepy places is the best line of defense. But even that isn’t fail safe. Just comply with whatever they want that doesn’t risk one’s own health(mental or physical). Only request that sounds innocent, but isn’t is request to move to a different location with them. They want to move you because you guys are in a very observable location(which is good for you) and/or they want to go somewhere more hidden because they’ll need more time or less witness with whatever they want to get away with doing(both of which will likely be harmful to your physical and mental health). Even if they are stronger you have to fight against them in these situations as the other alternative is… not so great.
Your Mugger pulls a Kimura while holding a knife? It all depends each situation is different. If I could get away that would be a good day, If I couldn't finding or creating an improvised weapon would be an equalizer. They had better catch me on a day I didn't have my gun (I live in Cali after all). At that usually no two martial artists are at the same level of training I consider mine to be a pretty high quality with a good mix of urban assault & MMA.
Of course and there is what is referred to as the "one technique" or "single technique" theory in Japanese/Okinawan karate that immediately comes to mind here in regards to your question. That theory has a critical place in answer to your question I think and let me explain what that theory first is so you have a better idea about what I am saying.
That theory among other things basically means that your skills and ability are so good that you only have to use one technique to defeat your adversary and nothing more beyond that. Now imagine a well trained and well skilled martial artist that has trained for years and developed many or most of his skills to that level. I am sure you would agree that such a person was a very highly skilled and capable individual. Each and every serious student of martial arts should be striving to achieve this among other things but way too many don't. For those that do though your question in some ways is answered by this because a street thug with little or no actual formal training then would not be very successful in their efforts against a well trained and well skilled individual.
There are flaws to this theory and its application and your question poses some of them I think which is why other things are also taught like awareness and avoidance even to those that have developed their skills to a high level. Have I faced someone with an weapon before and disarmed and subdued them before? Yes, on more than one occasion when forced into that situation but it is not one that I look for or embrace with the idea of proving myself or my skill and ability.
The other part of all this that I think also goes hand-in-hand with the single technique theory that is really critical in most any situation is this. Whatever it is that you do when confronted with the situations that you reference, you have to have the skill and ability to act and execute things perfectly and so quickly that your opponent does not have time to react to your actions and counter or stymie them in some way. I have alluded to the importance of that before in this forum and how critical that is as well but unfortunately many martial artists never achieve that level with many of their skills which is why in some ways your question does have some basis I think. Only once a martial artist achieves the level of skill and ability that I talk about here in regards to the one technique theory does your question and the arguments that it poses begin to fall away and not matter I think.
It'd be a good bet that your encounter would look a lot like one of your sparring classes. At least, without the uniforms. If you think your class sparring isn't realistic, then perhaps it's time to rethink going to the school. Just so you know... Houston's not gonna be much help, methinks. Just sayin. :-)
Actually, I don't think a wrist lock would be my first choice of strikes; I don't know what a kimura is; and I certainly wouldn't be whispering sweet little "jackie chans" in his ear.
Nevertheless, if he pulled a knife and demanded money, I'd give him the money - though I wouldn't know (or care) if he was needy or not. That's an issue for another day. It doesn't excuse his behavior, nor does it change my tactics, nor does it result in a different outcome.
So... yes, I have thought of it.
Just like any aspect of martial arts, it's entirely situational.
If I got mugged or jumped by another martial artist and was lucky enough to stay conscious after the first attack I'd respond in pretty much the same way I'd respond to any other person, trained or not, fight my way back to a neutral position then figure out what to do next. The chances of me staying conscious and fighting my way to neutral might be diminished because the assailant knows what they're doing but that's just the nature of violence.
I've pointed this out before but it fits here as well - Unless you're the one picking the fight you have absolutely no say in how skilled or capable or armed your opponent will be.
No use setting complex game-plans, just train to be as resiliant and capable as you can be and avoid situations that are likely to get you in trouble.
The chances of this is slim, but it is possible. But in our classes we teach our students not to assume anything. You don't know what the attacker knows are doesn't know. This is why you must know how to end it quickly. You must be aware of your surroundings. Being aware give you time to respond correctly.
Beginners focus on attack like you suggest. But more advanced students our attacks are surprised attacks. It can be with or without a weapon. It can be multiple attackers. You don't know if the attack is coming from the front, side, or back or how many attackers. You can be sitting, kneeling, or sitting in a chair. The most I have had to defend against in class was 5. They all started from behind. I didn't know when the attack was coming or how many. The attacker could do whatever they wanted. I could do whatever I needed to end the threat.
With that said we don't know what we are going to do until it is done. A kimura is not done like that. The most likely thing to happen is probably going to be a knife. In that case I'll probably shoot him since I carry a fire arm and my life is being threatened and I'd move away looking to see who is with him that is going to attack, but I'd give myself some distance. Then I would call the police and report it.
even terrorists are into martial arts! mob enforcers are into martial arts. Mike Tyson was a rapist. Ryan Gracie was a thug/asshole. Bruce Lee did martial arts to feed his ego and become famous. There are just as many assholes as there are "good" guys. Its a PC thing to state that the really good MAs are on the side of the angels. IF THE ASSAILANT KNOWS MARTIAL ARTS and you do not you are F*CKED! dont look at his face and just give your wallet and tell him you did not see his face.
The odds of that happening are almost nonexistent. You also probably would not know that he was a martial artist until he started fighting. But, for the sake of the question, you could try to defend yourself and hope that you're better than him, run, which is the safest option, or comply.
I have spoken to martial artists and all the classes they attend focus on defence. e.g a mugger, rapist etc....
however what would happen if your assailant knows martial arts and is a black belt then what ? duh? houston we have a problem? yes?
what if he pulls the knife out to mug you and before you can do a wristlock the mugger he/she puts you in a kimura before you can say jackie chan?
what then? have u thought about it
You always train as though he knows something so that you do not take anything for granted so it does not matter if he know martial arts or not. If he has fallen on hard time then that does not give him the right to cause someone else to fall on hard times by robbing them.
It's good to see someone finally thinking along these lines. It's kind of like people who have concealed carry permits--they think they are the only ones who are carrying a gun.
You have to take into consideration that the guy mugging you isn't some brainless, unskilled moron. Everyone has a past. You can't gameplan for a random violent crime, because you know nothing about your attacker.
If someone pulls a knife on me and wants my wallet I will give them the damn wallet. Even the most stupid mugger realizes that a petty thief will probably never be caught. But if someone abuses me or even kills me that guy is facing more then just taking someones wallet.
Besides who robs people these days? No one has any cash on them anyways.
If someone can afford the expense of martial arts training, I kinda doubt they will be mugging someone.
Then you should give up and never train just incase.
Also what if the mugger had a tank? Huh? What then huh?
The worst man is least troubled by his conscience. Those who use their art for bad aims usually do not have the discipline to be very good.
Take ninjutsu that puts you on the offense and it is not taught everywhere so you would be lucky to live near one
well the first thing i would do is run and ask for help. just basically leave the situation as fast as you could.
Its very unlikely, if so, that's when your gun enters the equation. Problem solved.
I don't want to imagine that.
