There are a lot of martial arts myths and folklore that get taken as facts e.g. 95% of fights go to the ground, high kicks don’t work on the street etc. I’m not sure who comes up with these facts and statistics but they soon get treated as facts without questioning. Do 95% of fights go to the ground? I’m not actually in a statistical position to refute it, but neither are the persons/individuals who blithely make such statements. If you are a BJJ/Judoka who is skilled on the ground, it may be that you choose to take 95% of your fights to the ground, however that doesn’t mean it is true for everybody else or fights in general.
Whatever the number of fights that do go to the ground the majority certainly start from a standing position, and so there are a number of ways that you might find yourself on the ground: 1. You trip or fall (maybe whilst attempting a throw or takedown), 2. Your assailant trips/falls and drags you to the ground with them, 3. You deliberately go to ground with an assailant, and/or 4. Your assailant deliberately takes you to ground.
Environment plays a large part in you tripping/falling. If you are attacked whilst on a train, a moving platform where keeping balanced is difficult, the chances of you falling over are greater than if you are in a pub/club etc. If you’ve been drinking, then once again the chances of you falling over increase. The same can be said if you’re getting up from a chair, or out of a car etc. When you are in the process of getting a “base” you are vulnerable to being taken to ground. If you do fall, what are the chances that your attacker, will give up a standing position/advantage to follow you down to the ground? From my own experiences – and I accept that experience by nature is limited – pretty rare. If an assailant we were dealing with fell over and went to ground, would we follow them, or would we stay standing where we could kick, stomp and punch them, without them being able to return the compliment?
There are situations where you may clinch up and your aggressor falls pulling you down but in a real fight that may involves knives and third parties do you want to spend time searching for chokes and armbars or get back to your feet? The first lessons of groundwork, from a reality based self-defense perspective should involve how to go to ground safely, how to defend yourself against standing aggressor’s and how to separate yourself from someone when on the ground in order to get back to standing.
Are there times when you might willingly go to ground? Certainly. If you are losing a fight badly when standing, and you have no chance to disengage, and/or get an improvised – or get to your own – weapon then it might make good sense to take your assailant to ground, and finish the conflict there, however as a general strategy for survival you want to remain on your feet and if you do go to ground you want to try and get back to standing ASAP.