“Winning isn’t everything; it’s the only thing“
When your life—and the lives of those you love—are on the line.
The Sumbrada Flow Drill
All respect to Sifu Singh. I used to train Sumbrada often back in the day—it definitely helped. But it doesn’t teach you how to fight strategically to dominate and win. It’s like trying to win the Super Bowl by only running tires, hitting tackling dummies, and running football drills—without a real game plan.
I understand it may be a teaching tool and for beginners, but, in my opinion, drills have become the new “kata,” and too many people are overemphasizing them while neglecting real fight strategy—how to actually win. Don’t get me wrong, drills have their place, but they can easily turn into flashy routines disconnected from reality.
Too many drills or too much kata can also become unnecessary overhead. There’s only so much time in the day, and overtraining leaves no room for your body to recuperate and come back stronger. At RAT Synthesis we drop the unnecessary overhead (kata, drills).
MMA tends to avoid this trap because they constantly test their skills in the ring. However, their strategies are sport-oriented, not combat-oriented. The focus isn’t on the streets—where targeting vital points and ending a confrontation quickly is crucial.
And it’s not just about vital points; whole sections of their techniques break down the moment you break the rules—like grabbing the groin when mounted. So all that time spent focusing on sections of sport technique is out the window because it no longer applies.
In RAT Synthesis, we approach it differently.
Our drills are fight drills that revolve around applying the core fight strategy: pain, pressure, terminate, follow-up, finish—whether initiating from defense or attack. We also work counters to the blast, and counters to those counters. No hubud. No chi sao.
Instead, we integrate everything within the fight drills, always focusing on the end goal: winning. We’ll also isolate specific areas—like Immobilization Attack or Trapping—to sharpen and refine them.
We incorporate the RAT Drill, where the attacker wears a motorcycle helmet to safely absorb the straight blast, while the defender works the main strategy under realistic pressure.
From there, we move to sparring. One student plays the “bad guy,” mimicking specific fighter types. The other plays the “good guy,” tasked with neutralizing and defeating them. This method sharpens strategy and helps keep egos in check—the bad guy is meant to lose. Of course, ego never disappears entirely, but this structure helps manage it.
Eventually, we remove the limitations and let things flow freely—though always keeping it at a level of play.
There’s a recent movement against sparring, highlighted in some popular YouTube videos. But the pushback is really against hard, knockdown-drag-out sparring. The solution, as Jesse Enkamp wisely says? Play with it.
Bruce Lee knew this too—hence his quote:
“A good fight should be like a small play, but played seriously.”
Check out Jesse’s informative breakdown here:
Why Everyone Stopped Sparring
Conclusion:
In this post, we examine the limitations of traditional martial arts drills like Sumbrada, hubud, and chi sao, emphasizing that while they can build coordination, they often lack strategic depth for real combat situations.
RAT Synthesis takes a different approach—cutting unnecessary overhead and focusing on practical fight strategies designed for real-world self-defense. We prioritize drills that revolve around pain, pressure, termination, follow up, and finishing, integrated with sparring methods that sharpen both strategy and ego management.
Inspired by Bruce Lee’s philosophy and modern perspectives, our goal is clear: train to win, not just perform.
