Street Fighting Moves – Interview with Norm Bettencourt – Why you don’t need a black belt to fight

Charlie: I am interviewing in this article Norm Bettencourt from Vancouver, BC Canada, who is an expert in reality based street fighting, and Norm tell us for those who are not familiar with you and your background. What is your experience and what is your training?

Standard: Well, I have a black belt in karate, and I found out the hard way that black belt did nothing for me when I was in a street fight, and I actually got beat up pretty bad. What I did was I started researching and training with different people and people who had spent time in prison and people who had had military experience.

I learned from them what was applicable when it came to street fighting. So, I created the TACT Self Defense System, which is a real scenario-based street fighting system. Half of my training center is set up as an alley and the other half as an apartment. And I teach people how to fight in real-world settings. I also have 15 years of experience in the security industry, from bouncers to bodyguards.

Charlie: So what are some of the reasons why a person who really wants to learn how to fight in a reality-based situation doesn’t need to spend years and years to get a black belt?

Standard: Take a look at the Special Forces when they train or any military or police personnel when they train. They don’t have years to train to be proficient in their skills. They only have a few months. And that is the difference between martial arts and combat or street fighting. You don’t need those years because it’s not an art form. What it is, is to aim and do certain simple techniques that will work for you personally at all times. So when you enter a martial arts academy, you learn to fight in a certain way or in a certain style. Where you become so familiar with it that you expect people to fight you in that way. Now when people change that fight format, you get confused.

So let’s say you fight karate or jiu jutsu, and someone fights you in a different format, what happens is you get confused and you don’t do as well anymore because that person is fighting out of your element. So when it comes to martial arts and stuff, what’s happening is that you’re being taught a set of techniques that the rules apply to. In a street fight, there are no rules. There is no such thing as a dirty fighter, just an educated one.

So for the street, if you’re going to learn a system that’s applicable for the streets and for personal protection, you can’t have rules attached to it. And it has to involve real-world settings. So it has to teach you how to use the environment around you, like tables, chairs, drinks, all those kinds of things where there are no restrictions on techniques. It is an all against all. Goes anywhere: low blows, low blows, anything goes. You bite. Your eye gouge. Stab someone, or stab someone in the eye with a pen if you can. Where there are no rules, anything goes, and flows freely. Now that’s the difference.

Charlie: Now that we see and have established that a black belt is not needed, what would be your suggestion for a person who wants to learn how to prepare for combat? How much time would that person need and where should they go?

Standard: People who train with me only take 3 months to train this system if they come once a week with me. Some people will fly in for a weekend crash course. So it’s 8 hours on a Saturday and 8 hours on a Sunday, and you can learn my entire system, which is customized to fit your body type and size. Therefore, it is individually customized to suit them.

The way I fight is not going to be the best way of how you fight because I’m short. I have a certain weight where some people will be taller and weigh more or weigh less. Therefore, your self-defense techniques must be personalized for you. In addition, people more in different ways. Some people move in a more awkward way, and you need to incorporate that into the equation.

Charlie: So, at your school, they don’t give out black belts, right?

Standard: No, there are no belt schemes. It’s all primal and instinctive fighting that’s natural, that’s why it’s so quick and easy to remember. You couldn’t train again for 6 months and still have all that information inside your brain and inside your muscle memory and still be able to apply it effectively in an all-out street fight.

Charlie: So there we have it. A black belt. There’s no need. Thanks again, Norm.

Standard: your bet