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Street Fighting Secrets From Chad Lyman

Posted by Matt Bryers on

If you are looking for simple effective real world self defense training, Chad Lyman is one to follow...

Chad has combined his decades of operational law enforcement with his decades of Mixed Martial Arts and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu training to become one of the most sought after self defense trainers in the country. Chad began his law enforcement career and very quickly began to supplement his training with Brazilian Jiu Jitsu that same year. He originally trained under a Rickson Gracie affiliate that soon after switched to Rigan Machado. Chad received his Blue Belt from Chris Haueter, who himself is one of BJJ’s “Dirty Dozen”. Chad has been coaching Jiu Jitsu consistently since 2006, including being a head coach for various teams and being a current Black Belt instructor at Xtreme Couture.

Even though Jiu Jitsu is the HOTTEST sport martial art, especially combined with MMA skills - but it IS the ultimate street self defense martial art for police officers and civilians.

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Chad has made numerous appearances with Funker Tactical and Aperture Fight Focused showcasing his amazing real world Jiu Jitsu and combative mindset. While Chad may not be known for much on the BJJ tournament scene, that does not take anything away from his knowledge and teaching. Chad has been active duty police officer for 20 years teaching and training combative since the beginning and always supplementing his LEO training with Jiu Jitsu and MMA. Chad also has an instructional series called “Street Fighting Secrets” available exclusively on BJJFanatics.com. Let’s take a look at some of the videos you can find in this series!

Creating Angles In A Street Fight

When fighting in the street, the first thing to work on is controlling the distance. This is a core principle of street defense. When you control distance you allow yourself to set up a variety of angles which work to your advantage. You can use over hooks and under hooks to control your attacker’s limbs. You can create angles to control his head. Remember, where is he goes his body goes. Also, concepts like framing help you avoid punches, enter, and create angles. If you stand still you are in trouble. So stay dynamic, use framing techniques to close the distance, always push forward, and look to control your attacker’s limbs.

Foot On Hip Sweep To Get Up

In this scenario, you are on the ground trying to get back to your feet as your attacker follows you to the ground. Remember, if your attacker gives you any space, now is a good time to get up back to your feet. It is important to remember that if your attacker gives you any space at all it is a good time to get up. Chad kicks at his attacker’s legs to create space to post and do a technical stand up. Notice that he keeps his eyes on the attacker his entire time, and gets his hands up to protect from punches. In a situation where your attacker is pressed up against you and you can’t kick him you first want to establish a barrier by placing one of your feet on his hip. This is critical from keeping your attacker from mounting you. From here you can grab your attacker’s ankle on the same side as your foot on the hip. You can use your other foot to establish a hook behind your attacker’s knee or ankle, and use your other free hand to protect your face from punches. You can use a push and pull method to topple your attacker and get back to your feet. Another option Chad Lyman shows us is a sickle sweep, where you place your opposite foot on your attacker’s hip and get to your side. This gives you both hands to shield your head from punches. Now you can grab the ankle of your attacker and use your other foot to sweep your opponent, using a technical stand up to safely get back to your feet.

How to Get Up Using The Wall

Things happen in a fight. There are variables you cannot control. If you get knocked down and are now in a position of extreme disadvantage. In this type of scenario a wall can work to your advantage. In this video, Chad Lyman talks you through how to get back up as you fight along the way. Chad explains the basic goal for this technique: get back to your feet. To do this you need to get to the wall, keep your head above your adversaries’ head, and then work your way back to your feet using a wedge. Create distance between yourself and your opponent’s head. Notice where Lyman’s head it is located in this case. A common mistake here is for people and fall and grab, allowing their opponent to have a more dominant position, allowing him to go anywhere he desires, which you do not want. As you hit the ground you immediately want to get your head up, posting on a hand if you can and pushing away at your opponent’s head and neck. In this scenario it is assumed that you are in the presence of a heavy object or wall that you can get your back against. Again the goal here is to maintain a barrier and not allow your opponent’s head to get above yours. Notice Lyman keeps his head above his opponent, and by moving his grounded knee back and against the wall he is able to lift himself up. His other leg is physically pushing him against the wall. You want to maintain a tight connection to the wall to avoid your opponent sweeping you at the knees. Notice Lyman never lets up on his barrier to his opponent’s head and neck. He is always trying to force that head down into the ground as he uses his wedge position to get back up. Once you follow your opponent back up to standing against the wall it is going to be a fight for you to get your leg back. Continue to push your opponent’s head down and away from your body.

There are key differences in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu for competition and for the street. In a real life street fight scenario, you are at a disadvantage fighting from guard. If for some reason you end up on the ground your first priority should be to get back to your feet. This is made much more difficult by an attacker who is throwing punches or kicks. Creating space is crucial in allowing yourself an opportunity to get back to your feet. If you liked these techniques and want to learn more about street defense then be sure to check out Chad Lyman’s instructional series “Street Fighting Secrets” available exclusively on BJJFanatics.com.

Jiu Jitsu was designed to be the best martial art. The one that could defeat all in life or death combat. To this day, this remains relatively correct... but... most BJJ athletes are now ignoring the combative aspects of jiu jitsu to focus more on the playful aspects of BJJ. Chad Layman believes this is "not a good idea". A Jiu Jitsu athlete should have the skills to defend himself and protect others. If not, it's almost irresponsible. Thankfully Chad has a DVD / On Demand series on just that - how to integrate your sport jiu jitsu skills into reality based self defense.

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