The Leopard and The Poodle

A wealthy old lady decides to go on a photo safari in Africa, taking her faithful aged poodle named Cuddles, along for the company.

Oneday the poodle starts chasing butterflies and before long, Cuddles discovers that she's lost. Wandering about, she notices a young leopard heading rapidly in her direction with the intention of having lunch. 

The old poodle thinks, "Oh, oh! I'm in deep trouble now!" Noticing some bones on the ground close by, she immediately settles down to chew on the bones with her back to the approaching cat. 

Just as the leopard is about to leap, the old poodle exclaims loudly, "Boy, that was one delicious leopard! I wonder if there are any more around here?" 

Hearing this, the young leopard halts his attack in mid-strike, a look of terror comes over him and he slinks away into the trees. "Whew!", says the leopard, "That was close! That old poodle nearly had me!" 

Meanwhile, a monkey who had been watching the whole scene from a nearby tree, figures he can put this knowledge to good use and trade it for protection from the leopard. 

So off he goes, but the old poodle sees him heading after the leopard with great speed, and figures that something must be up. 

The monkey soon catches up with the leopard, spills the beans and strikes a deal for himself with the leopard. 

The young leopard is furious at being made a fool of and says, "Here, monkey, hop on my back and see what's going to happen to that conniving canine!" 

Now, the old poodle sees the leopard coming with the monkey on his back and thinks, "What am I going to do now?", but instead of running, the dog sits down with her back to her attackers, pretending she hasn't seen them yet, and just when they get close enough to hear, the old poodle says: "Where's that damn monkey? I sent him off an hour ago to bring me another leopard!" 

Moral of this story.. 

Don't mess with old farts...experience and wisdom will always overcome youth and skill!

Street MMA

Since there are no universally accepted categories defining JKD Concepts (STREET MMA), and the MMA you see on TV today in events such as the UFC, I will try to make a distinction.

If your goal is to win matches in a game, then you train to that end. You train to fight in a ring (or cage) where you will square off against a single equally matched opponent. There is a referee to ensure all players hold to agreed upon standards and rules of conduct. These rules prohibit the use of concealed weapons, and attacks that are aimed a permanent injury, disfiguration, and death. In short, the sport of MMA eliminates a number of variables that can be present in a real world confrontation, and therefore will change your training methodology.

A responsible practice of STREET MMA must ask different questions and develop different scenarios. 

You Must Address:

• Handling multiple attackers
• Staying on your feet, rather than going to the ground
• Environmental dangers or advantages (falling on stairs, finding exits)
• Handling an armed assailant
• Making use of an available weapon
• Dirty Attacks - biting, eye gouging, finger locks, strangulations
• Moral and emotional elements

I'm not trying to make "which is better" comparisons, but make a distinction in training methodologies so you can choose the one that is right for you.  Many MMA athletes could ruin my day in the ring with superior conditioning, youthful vigor, and more tools designed to submit an opponent. My only hope against an opponent like that is to have a different bag of tricks, and that requires a different training methodology.

As the old proverb goes: Old age and treachery will overcome youth and skill

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