by Brad Parker

It creeps into your training gradually.  Ironically it seems to affect more advanced practitioners than beginners. It’s style bias. That’s the gradual adoption of a style, tactics or overall strategy that seems to be "the best" for a person, group or team, even a country’s military.

Football teams do it all the time. A coach or players succeed with, say, a good running game. It has succeeded in the past and the team gradually adopts the running game as the "best" strategy. The team feels that passing is "bad" because the ball can be dropped or intercepted. It becomes committed to the run. Not surprisingly, football teams tend to have a strong defense against what they are good at. Keeping the example from above, a team that is good at running the ball tends to be equally good at stopping the run. Conversely, teams that pass well tend to defend the passing game as well.

Militaries tend to do the same thing. A country that has had success in fighting a major war of attrition is usually prepared to defend against a war of attrition, but not, for example, against a low-level guerilla war.

Martial arts are notorious for this. A certain style attracts practitioners that are convinced that strong kicking techniques are best because the legs are longer, stronger, etc., while another style attracts practitioners who believe all fights go to the ground.

Each of these styles tend to practice in a certain range of combat and develop the tools to become highly skilled in that range. Predictably, students become proficient at defending the style’s main range or emphasis.

Even within the same style, you also have "instructor bias." The style might seem fairly complete in its design, but the instructor leans towards a certain set of skills he or she prefers. Perhaps they are more flexible and prefer kicking techniques. Perhaps they are less mobile and prefer to counter punch.

Even firearms trainers run into this trap. They have become so convinced that the "answer" to the "problem" can be solved by being faster, more accurate or bringing more firepower to bear. I’ve seen highly skilled combat shooting instructors that are tremendously obese. These same instructors, who of course spend all their time on the range, have their duty belts rigged with magazine holders which expose the magazine for quick reloads. They are the first ones to tell students to abandon the closed magazine pouches as "too slow". What these trainers don’t know is that the cop on the street will be jumping over fences, wrestling suspects in the back of cars and doing more physical activities which would cause those exposed magazines to be either lost or hung up on things more times than would be needed for a "speed" reload.

The point is, "when the only tool you have is a hammer, everything else begins to look like a nail."

Practitioners mainly train with partners with a similar style or instructor bias. They get very skilled and comfortable within that bias. Therefore they are generally susceptible to other styles of combat.

If you watch the fighters who successfully compete in mixed-martial arts tournaments or competition, they have a variety of tools they can call on during the match. There has not been a style that has particularly dominated in these events, although there have been fighters who have.

Increase your chances on the street. Cross train in several styles or arts. Work with different partners. Learn something from everyone. Force yourself to get uncomfortable. Better to sweat it out in training now, than to bleed out later on the street.

The chances of you having to fight someone who is your "style" is remote, so get out there and train in other ranges and other styles to become a complete fighter.

One of our new female jiu-jitsu students is a former Tae Kwon Do student who told me that Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu "scares" her, so that’s why she wants to study it. Outstanding! One of my friends who is a high-ranking martial artist told me when his work relocates him to a new city, he scouts out the different schools, gyms and training facilities. When he finds one which scares him, he immediately signs up.

What scares you? Find out and go there. Train as if your life depends on it, because it probably will.