Do combo attacks work in real life?

Well, video games and RPG combat systems tend to over-systematize such things and often organize such attacks into brand-name abilities in neat packages. That’s understandable up to a point, but many games exaggerate it and make it into a meta-game of its own. e.g. “Have you unlocked [X character/style]‘s Extra-Special Flurry Of Doom attack?” Which gets artificial and gamey.

In computer action games in particular, it’s often a matter of skill and timing to activate a routine and time it right against the routines of others so you hit and they don’t. That turns the game into a moves-and-timing thing, which is not very much like real fighting.

A combination of moves can be quite effective, but it’s not a pre-packaged thing like in many games. In real life, people have much different types of information, control, and options about how they move and respond to each other. Many actions and counteractions happen in split seconds and are unplanned and not thought about. Also, although for people who’ve trained fighting, some moves have been trained many times so they are near-automatic, but they’ll still be a little different each time. But what determines outcomes isn’t just having trained some super combo – it’s more about the specific interactions between the fighters.

But I think you can learn some things from some games that are applicable, if you think about what’s going on and what translates and what doesn’t. Of course, actually being in immediate physical danger is a very different thing from having a game character in danger.

In boxing matches there seem to be quite a few combos. If combos mean linked strikes or continued attacks. I wouldn’t, however, rely on any video game in existence to teach me how to fight, or even give me a hint how it’s done. Or movies.

Be careful, this can happen.

For the most part, combo attacks are the only thing that works in real life. Just about anyone can block/dodge a single punch or a single kick. The average person can also endure a hit or two (depending on where and how hard they are hit). That’s one reason so many styles include things other than striking techniques (e.g., grabs/locks/throws). It’s also why a lot of styles teach combinations. These aren’t flashy combinations that include shouting what you are about to do and then flying into the sky or shooting fireballs, but even armed combat usually requires more than one strike to get the job done.

Sure does. Ask any boxer. (Left jab, left jab, bob, right cross. Repeat.)

@SavoirFaire Interesting. I’ve always had an interest in martial arts, but not for studying them. So I don’t think I know what I’m talking about, but…I think what you say makes sense, like when you watch those UFC fights and all. Those guys can take a hell of a lot of punishment plus their attacks are always combos. Those dudes are trained for this though. If you watch a fight between two inexperienced people, it lasts like a second. Saw that once where a guy hit the guy in the face just once and he was down.
Either that or the fight stops after one successful hit because both opponents get scared, scared to hit or get hit. Saw these two guys fight once, one guy got punched in the cheek and he backed off, threatening the assailant and all, but the other guy didn’t press on. Well maybe more happened but I fucked off at that point.

The martial arts I like are more like kung fu and stuff. Those also never seem to last long if you watch “competitions” but I guess most of those, if used for real, are meant to stop an assailant as quick as possible rather than to make a show of it. Still, I love how some kung fu almost looks like dancing.

@Berserker Yeah, a UFC fighter can definitely take a lot more than an average person. Fights between regular people can be unpredictable, though. A hard punch to the face will down some people, but not others. That’s the danger of relying on pain-based submission techniques—some people will tap out the moment they feel the slightest discomfort, some people fight harder the more pain they are in.

“I guess most of those, if used for real, are meant to stop an assailant as quick as possible rather than to make a show of it.”

Yup. Given the likelihood of multiple assailants—some or all of whom might be armed—efficiency becomes pretty important. But that doesn’t make it any less cool to watch a long, carefully choreographed martial arts film scene!

You got that right! I love martial art movies, especially the older ones where they didn’t have much budget for special effects, so the choreography is even more impressive. I love that movie with Jackie Chan, Snake Under the Eagle’s Shadow.

Absolutely they do, why just last week I pulled this young ruffian’s woolly hat over his face & followed up with a swift kick in the nuts.
He should not have worn that camo jacket it reminded me of naahhhmmm!