Tom DeBlass recently shared a no-nonsense message about what it really means to be able to fight.
In a strongly worded Instagram post, DeBlass challenged the growing number of people who believe size, aggression, or a handful of “street fights” qualifies them as real fighters.
According to him, that mindset isn’t just wrong, it’s also dangerously delusional:
If you have never trained for at least two years, you cannot fight.
That’s not an insult. That’s reality.
He added that the anger such a statement provokes only highlights how far removed many people are from the truth.
To illustrate his point, DeBlass compared fighting to organized sport, asking readers to imagine being upset at being told they can’t play ice hockey without ever having trained.
The logic, he says, should be obvious – but for some reason it isn’t when it comes to combat.
His frustration centers on the “street fighter” myth:
I don’t care how many “street fights” you’ve been in… Or how big your muscles are.
None of that equals skill.
DeBlass concluded with what many in the Jiu-Jitsu and MMA community view as the core truth of combat sports – fighting is a craft, not a personality trait:
Real fighting is a discipline. It’s learned. It’s earned.
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