Teaching a punk

Sure you guys have heard this before.

Got a call today from a friend of my brother. Guy got in a fight last night (actually he started it ) and called me this morning asking if he can start "streetfighting" classes. Apparently he and his friend didnt fair too well in the "streetfight".
My brother says the guy is a nice guy generally but starts fights alot.

How do u guys normally deal with people like this. I have a feeling once he finds out that fights (punches, knees, submissions, kicks etc) actually hurt alot (through even light sparring) it might change his attitude on starting fights. Alot of these guys who start fights alot have never actually thrown a punch beside a sucker punch or been on the recieving end because the "fights" are usually a private school boy ego showdown where both are either ignorant (that real fight really hurt win or lose) or scared and putting up the "invisible late defense" as Matt put it.

Anyhow just thought i'd see what you guys have to say.

I teach a BJJ class and have a policy of not training thugs. If they want to be a streetfighter, a gang member, a dope dealer, etc. they need to look somewhere else for instruction. BJJ can attract a rough crowd and that is fine but I think an instructor has a responsibility to be ethical (if that makes sense).

I'm not so sure that teaching a streetfighter how to fight better is going to make them less likely to abuse their skills. Their attitude needs to change first, IMHO.

From a legal standpoint...You can be held at least partially responsible even if your student makes a judement error and misuses their skills out of uncertainty. Why would you put yourself under that kind of risk with someone who is LIKELY to use their skills maliciously or criminally?

not a bully or a thug though, just has a big ego, he's a well off private school boy, u know the type.

He won't last long OR he'll be humbled by u and your advance students. If he sticks with you and your teachings...he will realize real fights are not what they crack up to be=GLORY.

Bring him in, sit him down and get to the reason why he really wants the training. You may find that you can show him the other side of his behavior and by doing so, help him to turn around his attitude. He may end up becoming the best example of a student/teacher/coach you have because he knows first hand what it's like to instigate altercations. Sometimes the best saints are former sinners. Explain to him how you feel about situations like that, and find out why he felt the need to start the fight. It might reveal more than you both think. If it doesn't work, what have you lost, but you have a great opportunity there, so before you pass it up, do the research with him.

Bryan Smith

ttt nice post

train him. maybe he will see the light, and get a place to get rid of whatever makes him want to fight. at the very least he'll learn what will happen to him if he messes with someone that trains, and perhaps that fear will not make him want to engage in streetfights. maybe he'll want to fight in mma? who knows? At the very least, you will get a chance to educate him on the dangers of starting fights, and what can happen to him.

William Cheung was (and still is) a well-off private school boy who used to start fights and get out of trouble with his dad's help for yrs. You see what happened to him with the right money. So anything can happen. lol he has many followers too, not many leaders walking along side with him.

Every student has a free first class in most schools. that is unless the kid tells the instructor that he's had yrs in lethal death touch classes in the ninjitsu academy. lol Seriously, first impressions of the potential student and the first impressions of the class unto the student can help insecurities settle in the student and also help the school know what this kid is about. Of course with some insight by the instructor to the class about life and fighting maybe this kid will be influenced for the good. Hmmm...is streetfighting illegal in the rich part of town? Where is streetfighting legal? Someone needs to remind this guy that it is illegal.

Of course after being in martial arts for over 10 yrs I wanna pick fights really bad and stack up my numbers of streetfights. I gotta get my PS2, Tekken 4 and Soul Caliber 2...then I'm gonna be crackin skulls at the tourneys. Sorry had to add some last minute humor.

Give me 5 minutes with him in a locked room......I'll "educate" his ego.

LOL Ray i met him today he's way too fragile for you (so am i :) He's a good kid, he just doesnt knwo the realities of fighting and has been lucky so far.

Oh.....well if that's the case......

Give me 2 minutes in an un-locked room with him :-)

it'll be like a prison room shower scene.

just don't drop the soap

TTT

"it'll be like a prison room shower scene"

do not post pics!!

I agree with Bryan Smith. By turning people away are you not turning down a chance to help someone turn their life around? Marco H. www.academyjkd.com

Of course, sometimes MA doesn't make insecure people
more secure. It just makes them more dangerous with
their insecurities. I've never seen an insecure guy
who learned MA who didn't want to test out his new
found skills at some point in a streetfight. Sometimes
they cool out, sometimes they get into it, and
sometimes they end up hurting someone.

Nature vs. Nurture debate:

First, some people are just bad due to their upbringing or the decisions they make in life, while some people in spite of their upbringing or decisions, rise above it and are deep down decent people.

Secondly, you can only teach someone who has the balls to walk through the door, so if I get the slightest hunch that I have a badass or a demon child, I will make sure he is going to have an "extra hard workout".

Usually the goal is to try to make them puke on the first class and if they still come back with the same attitude, I will have no mercy and they will not be standing at the end of the second class.

Once I could tell one guy was a gang-banger with the jailhouse tattoos & attitude, he was really nothing after the first 3 rounds, I never saw him again. Another time I had rich boy with a "privileged attitude" and he lasted one class also. (Once they drop their hands you just "light them up").

On the other hand with some others that gave me the hunch they were going to walk through my class without breaking a sweat, and over the course of the class they showed they could be humbled, then I carried them through and encouraged them to come back. Some of these people turned out to be decent people who I could later call my friend.

It's just something that I find to be a good teacher, which is the real challenge; you have to try to teach what ever walks through your door. Sometimes you get lucky and train a decent fighter while your at it.

Dave Rogers

Classy Dave........very classy!!! :-)