Self Defense

Beginners in the martial arts often mistakenly think that because they are doing some form of martial art, then they are learning self defense. The reality is that very few martial arts equip their practitioners to defend themselves in real life violent encounter.

The reality of violence

In a real life violent encounter there are no rules.

Things that you may have to encounter are:

• Multiple opponents
• Weapons
• A bigger, stronger opponent
• Your own emotional state of fear and surprise
• An awkward environment

As the above scenarios are very common let’s explore them in more detail.

Multiple Opponents

The nature of violence today means that people are rarely attacked by a single individual.

Many martial arts techniques are not very effective against multiple opponents. 

For example, many of the ground grappling techniques seen in mixed martial arts competitions, such as an arm-bar or a triangle choke, are not very effective. These techniques can be impossible to pull off when you have a two opponents.

When faced with more than one attacker it is a good idea to use a basic technique, such as a strike to the eyes or groin, to incapacitate opponents quickly. This may buy you enough time to escape.

Superior attributes developed through proper training methods will ensure that the basic self defense techniques are executed in the most effective manner.

Click here to find out more about the importance of attribute training in the martial arts

The use of weapons

Unfortunately, the use of weapons has also become more common in violent encounters. Weapons can include guns, knives, swords, batons and even nunchuku.

Although your options are very limited when you are faced with an opponent who is carrying a gun, you can increase your chances of survival with most other weapons by having an understanding of how they are used.

For this reason, it is important to practice the use of weapons when learning to defend yourself. I recommend becoming familiar with the use of blunt weapons, such as a long staff and a short stick (standard Kali stick), and edged weapons, such as a sword and a knife.

These weapons cover the basic ranges of combat with a weapon. An understanding of these ranges is important because it allows you took pick up most everyday objects, such as an umbrella, fence paling, baseball bat, pen or broken bottle, and use them as weapons.

It is unlikely that you will find a Kali stick or a Samurai sword when you really need it!

A bigger, stronger opponent

Most martial arts competitions are divided into weight classes. This makes the competition fair and more interesting for spectators.

Although competing in this manner is great for martial artists who enjoy competition, it is unlikely that you will meet an opponent in a same weight class as you in a real life violent encounter.

The reason for this is that violent criminals are cowardly and tend to pick victims who they feel they can easily dominate.

A good self defense system should incorporate confronting larger, stronger opponents. This means teaching individuals to find and use as ‘equalising’ weapon (such as a chair, bottle, cue stick) and how to incapacitate a stronger opponent quickly, with a combination of superior attributes and simple self defense techniques.

Your emotions during a violent encounter

A violent encounter can occur at any time. It can occur while walking to your car, in an elevator or even in your own home. Most people will be overwhelmed with a sense of fear and surprise when violence suddenly breaks out.

Years of traditional martial arts training can ‘go out the window’ if your emotions take over in negative way.

Learning to understand and control your emotions in a violent encounter is very important when training to defend yourself. Unfortunately, many martial arts do not deal with this extremely important part of training.

Dealing with an awkward environment

Most martial arts training halls are spacious, pleasant areas aimed at making training comfortable and injury-free. Although this is as it should be for everyday training, the reality of where and when violence can occur means that you should be prepared for almost any environment.

Some scenarios to keep in mind are:

• On a busy road with lots of cars
• Confined spaces such as in a stair well or in an elevator
• Inside your car
• In a crowded bar with little room to move

In addition to the emotional elevation of a real-life violent encounter, awkward environments can mean that many techniques practiced in a spacious martial arts training hall will not work.

A complete self defense system incorporates regular training in different reality based environments to maximise the chances of survival in a violent encounter.

Can you really defend yourself?

As mentioned at the start of this page, many martial arts styles do not adequately teach self defense. They either ignore or do not train realistically for many of the aforementioned factors. As a result, some martial artists, after years of training, find that they are not prepared for a real life, violent confrontation.

There are many reasons why people do martial arts. If you are doing the martial arts to defend yourself it is important that you consider some of the factors covered on this page to ensure that you are prepared for a real life violent encounter. 

More related information on this site:

Return to Home Page