Sure, there are guys in there who have trained in all sorts of things; the prison crowd is one that is interested in anything violent. But generally speaking, what they do is about as close as you'll get to "street fighting", insofar as there is such a thing.
To a street thug, the idea of a "fair fight" is completely ridiculous. Violence is part of their bread and butter. Hunters don't try to fight bears and criminals don't try to fight their victims.
What they do is very effective, but it hardly qualifies as fighting in the normal sense. When somebody has been marked for punishment, or they decide to do somebody in for whatever reason, they'll use whatever tactics are sure to work, and fighting "fair" is not something that'll get you far in that world.
They attack in numbers. They attack suddenly for the surprise effect. They hide weapons that they suddenly produce (sometimes a victim won't know they're being attacked until they feel a shiv between their ribs). They hold people down while somebody else does the damage. The homes of the habitual prison crowd is usually filled with hidden weapons that can be accessed at a second's notice.
They don't fight as most people understand that term. They hurt people. It's usually quick and brutal, it will require medical attention and it might leave permanent physical and psychological damage behind.
It's really not pretty the way these people "fight". You win by not being involved in that world at all.
(I knew some people from the wrong side of the track for a while, that's where I get all this).
Whatever they have learned from before...No one is born in a prison.
Now in relation with this, just to counter some overreacting impressions....:)
I was passing from inside an open type of a prison to go to a military guard every day for a few months. They stop allowing us to do so, because we were leaving our weapons (no bullets) in the side to get a cheese pie or something from the cafeteria of the prison, and the police guards were complaining about that, since the prisoners were actually sitting there...Lol!!!
The gun had no bullets anyway, since the bullets were in the guard and no one (open type of prison, prisoner) ever tried to go for the gun or try to become aggressive. They were actually quite friendly and some were always asking if we could bring them alcohol. Their main characteristic was that they had never finished high school.
Pretty much self-taught street fighter, or pick up by watching street fights. Some or Most already trained as Martial artist or Boxer and use it in prison for ill intentions.
Edit:
I heard that they'll just stab you with the prison made small knife.. before you realize you're too late. I don't think they use honor fighting system -shrugs-
Whatever ones they've practiced. Nobody's born in prison, and they don't have martial arts schools there, so whatever training they've brought from the outside world, plus whatever their fellow inmates may share with them. So, potentially any and all martial arts.
Some of them know boxing, kickboxing, muay thai, judo, jiu-jitsu. Probably few of them know krav maga. Prison is a place where you have to learn how to survive and be a man, after all you're surrounded by men who are murderers, rapists, etc. even if you yourself aren't a violent criminal, chances are some other inmate around you is one. So it really doesn't matter what martial art/fighting style you know, you just have to stick up for yourself and survive. You can be one of those inmates who enjoys lifting weights while another inmate can be one of those guys who just enjoys causing problems.
Be a man, don't become someone's b*tch.
It could be any martial art or fighting system. It could be none.
There is no requirements to go to prison. Most people are in prison because they made at least one bad choice/decision.
Any style, there are good and bad elements of people in all walks of life.
which ever they want, most are self taught brawlers with no martial arts background
Boxing, knife fighting, submission fighting
