How to Fight Drunk

How To Fight Drunk.  

Most fights involve alcohol it’s the way of the world. You lose you inhibitions and judgment and before you know it, you’re proposing to a house plant.

If you have chosen a path of 100% sobriety, then you don’t need to think about this, but for the rest of us who occasionally like to have a few then keep reading, but read fast, I don’t want you to pass out before the end of the article.

Even this guy can see an easy mark                 (man he looks a lot Forrest Gump)

If you drink and you’re serious about self defense, you better know how drinking effects your performance and endurance.

You can easily be impaired and too drunk to fight, among other things. We’ll call this “Whiskey Fist”. Not be be confused with, but often accompanied by Whiskey D!@k.

Not only does alcohol affect your judgement and your coordination, but it also impairs your body’s ability to get oxygen to your muscles and vital organs..including your brain. In short the effects happen faster and are far more debilitating than you think. This is mainly due to your lack of judgement.

Because your new found bravery is replacing your ability to actually fight, you don’t really know exactly how much until you can quantify it.

I first noticed this when I was younger and a few of us were drinking in my buddy’s home gym. Next thing you know, we are on the bench trying for a new max – not a great idea. Testosterone, alcohol with a dash of barbell – it’s a wonder no one died.

Needless to say, I didn’t hit my max, but I did learn a valuable lesson – while you may FEEL like you can take on the world – the world can come back to bite you in the a$$.

I’m no scientist, but I put together a drill to determine how many drinks it takes to render me useless.

So I combined drinking and training and it looks like this:

Note, this is best to do with a friend.

Establish your baseline:

30 Second 3 Count Chop Drill

30 second 3 count kick drill

30 second SDTS Ground and Pound top

30 second SDTS Ground and Pound bottom

Take a drink wait 10 minutes.

Do another round of 30 second bursts

Take a drink wait 10 minutes

Continue until you have to stop and catch your breath during a 30 second burst.

When you hit that point, there’s your threshold. Now you know how much you can drink and still fight well.

After that threshold is reached, it’s a steep decline (trust me on that one).

Oh before you ask – the record is 8 shots of bourbon. Now I’m not telling you to film your attempt and put it on Youtube, that would be irresponsible.

Life isn’t always dojo’s and gymnasiums.

You need to train for where and how you live. That’s why it’s important to train at home, even if you have a chance to train with an SDC Instructor.Because what happens is when you go to a place and put on a uniform you naturally get in the frame of mind to defend yourself. But as soon as you leave the gym, you relax.

We see this with cops and soldiers often.

The uniform goes on, the game face comes out but as soon as their off duty, they get taken off guard like everyone else. That’s why you need to train in your own and get used to the idea of fighting in places where you’re most likely to be attacked – where you work, live and play.

If you’re going to drink, well – know your limits. Having a few is OK, but keep count. You don’t want to be caught with your guard down, among other things.

How far can you take this?

The club is a disorienting and challenging environment.

I’ve set up a strobe light, smoke machine and lights to simulate a club atmosphere.

Be careful the strobe REALLY messes with your depth perception (note: wear face protection).

We’ve done car jacking simulations, parking lot scenarios and anyplace else you can think of, just get out of the gym and KEEP IT REAL.

Until Next Time.