vid, flippin cool...

[mbeach]

mbeach, so why do you think a guy in a bar fight has an advantage over this guy? In any athletic contest, I'd put my money on the BETTER athlete any day. That's not to say the better athlete will win everytime, but he will win more times than not.

Not to take anything away from this guy, he's a tremendous athlete.

However this stuff looks amazing in movies, but in the real world of dark alleys and bad neighborhoods, it just plain doesn't work.
I've worked as a bouncer off and on for over 8 years (I finally quit the biz for good this week -I'm getting too old), and I've never seen any showboating high-kicker win a fight in close quarters.
The guys you have watch out for are wrestlers/grapplers and those willing to smash you in the face with a pint glass.

[tomdietrying]

Agreed. You do need to watch out for the guys that take it to the ground (aka: wrestlers/grapplers)
Peace.
Tom

[transio]

MB and Tom,

That's not entirely true. I trained mixed martial arts most of my life, from wrestling and ju jitsu to multiple striking styles. Grappling has the advantage once you get a hold of someone, but a good striker doesn't allow you to get a hold of them. Granted, most strikers aren't good against grapplers, because they have only trained with other strikers, but if you watch any MMA tournaments (like UFC or Pride) you'll see a much better balance. Back in the day of Royce Gracie, grappling was king, but since then, strikers have learned that they have to study the ways of their opponent in order to have a chance.

The biggest disadvantage this guy will have in a real fight is size. Being that gymnastic, he's obviously very small. I'd put him at about 5'6" and 135# tops. He'd probably kick the snot out of most guys his size, but he just wouldn't stand a chance against a 275# bouncer. I don't care what they show you in movies, size DOES matter. Why do you think there are weight classes in all fighting sports?

That said, I wish I could flip around like that!!!!

[mbeach]

That guy is pretty small, all muscle and zero fat for sure.

For being a bouncer, I'm actually very small -6'2" and 190 lbs. I do have extensive close combat training and always fair pretty well when the going gets stupid. After all, most of my opponents are intoxicated .
I've only experienced 1 long/midrange attack in all of my encounters. Nearly every single one has been of the close range in-your-face variety (that I hate, because it's difficult to see their hands). Joint-locks and quick takedowns are the order of the day here. I prohibit all of my junior staff members from striking customers, there's simply no reason to go toe-to-toe with a drunk and turn a scuffle into a spectator event.
However, age is getting the better of me now. I have a bad back and I don't bounce back from injury as quickly as I used to. I got a rib bruised on Halloween and it took 3 months to recover.

[technocoy]

the guy isn't fighting, he's showing out. i think it jumps to a lot of conclusions to basically assume entirely how he might fight. i think all fights come down to a number of factors. a guy can be big as all ****es and if he can't move fast enough to defend himself from quick and effective blows, he's going down, i don't care how big he is. body blows are one thing, but throats, noses, etc, can only be covered by so many layers of fat and/or muscle. he only exhibits this one style of martial arts. to make assumptions on his skill in a fight and/or defensive training would be naive, and could get an overconfident person in a bar fight into trouble. i've seen some big bad dudes go down in some serious street fights with one well placed, calm and decisive hit. NEVER underestimate an opponent. NEVER. that being said, the video is really cool, and i like that it's not edited to make every move look perfect. it's pretty real.

[transio]

a guy can be big as all ****es and if he can't move fast enough to defend himself from quick and effective blows, he's going down, i don't care how big he is

Allow me to quantify my previous statement. This guy wouldn't stand a chance against aomeone twice his size, assuming both had relatively equivalent skills in martial arts. Obviously some fatass who knows nothing about fighting would get dropped by him, or anyone who knows anything about fighting. However, put him against a 275# fighter and he's dead meat.

Granted, there are exceptions. I saw Ken Shamrock (6'2, 220#) years ago take down a huge sumo wrestler (6'9" 600#) with about 100-200 consecutive blows to the head. He fractured his hands in the process, but he won the fight.

Nevertheless, I maintain my stance that size DOES matter in fighting. A little guy just doesn't harness enough energy to stand with a big guy.