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A Breakdown of Effective Self Defense Training
A Breakdown of Effective Self Defense TrainingBy Christopher Roberts
Most people fail in their quest for truly effective self-defence (the means of defending oneself from physical attack; the right to protect oneself against violence by using reasonable force, especially when used as justification in a murder charge) training because they quite simply don't have any idea what effective self-defence (the means of defending oneself from physical attack; the right to protect oneself against violence by using reasonable force, especially when used as justification in a murder charge) training is, so they couldn't possible know what they should be looking for in the first place!
So, what should someone completely new to the brutal world of street violence look for in a training program?
Ok, I'll break it down into the major elements:
--What to do?
--How to do it?
--How to know that you should do it?
First of all, you need to know "what to do" if someone tries to mug, rape, murder or otherwise kill or cripple you. What does that entail? Well, if someone tries to damage you, my greatest advise would be to damage him first!
Damaging another human means two things--where you should you hit or crush his body and how to greatest and most destructively hit or crush his body. Notice the order in which I wrote that: first learn where to attack and then how to do it.
The reason why I first teach people where to attack and then how to attack is, if you know the most vital points that would produce the most effect when you strike or crush them, you can always select a way to do it, whereas you won't always be able to use picture-perfect striking form to do it. Believe me, if someone forces his way into your front door and tackles you to the ground and you are able to gouge his eye out, laying on your back and after you've lost your glasses, Bruce Lee would have been just as proud of you for protecting (shielding (or designed to shield) against harm or discomfort) your family as if you had jumped ten feet into the air, spun around and kicked him in the head!
Knowing where and how to hurt someone should make up the basis of your training, at least eighty percent. That would actually be all that you need to learn, but, for someone with no experience with violence, there are two other aspects that need to be addressed, without which, you would never be able to use those other skills.
You also need to know "how to do it," however I don't mean how to damage an attacker this time, rather how to deal with the mental issues of brutal, real-life, kill or be killed combatives. I had to learn a long time ago, back when I first started training civilians in self-defence (the means of defending oneself from physical attack; the right to protect oneself against violence by using reasonable force, especially when used as justification in a murder charge) that most "normal" people, when faced with real-life violence or very realistic training are either 1. too frightened to move, 2. unwilling to use their training because they "don't want to hurt someone" or 3. both unwilling and too frightened todamage an attacker.
Ok, I expected to see the fear that comes from inexperience, however was completely surprised that someone whom I had just taught to kill and maim with his or her bare hands and feet would choose not to do it because he or she didn't want to hurt the nice man trying to shoot, stab or beat him or her to death.
So the second part of the training should be exercises in dealing with fear and combat stress, as well as the development of aggression and the "killer instinct." Don't worry, that doesn't mean something out of a commando training camp or the film Full Metal Jacket, what I personally use for mental training consists of visualization and other mental exercises that will make you familiar with the stress you will be under and the reality of what you will have to do, including how to channel your fear to fuel you killer instinct, which will solve two problems at once.
Lastly, you should know "how to know that you should do it," or how to realize that you are being attacked before its too late to defend yourself!
One of the questions that I ask my students to drive the importance of this phase of the training home is: "Why is it that most attempted muggings and stabbings are successful?" The answer is that most of the victims didn't realize that they were in danger until after they were already beaten unconscious or stabbed!
In this last phase of the training, you should be learning how to read body language as well as mental exercises that make good situational awareness second nature. Situational awareness doesn't mean that you should be paranoid, far from it!
Situational awareness means that you should always be aware of who is around you and what he or they are doing, which will actually make you even more relaxed, because you'll know that you're safe, otherwise you'd have noticed the danger already!
If you take these three criteria and use them to judge every trainer, seminar and video you find, you'll notice that there are really very few good trainers out there. But when you consider the alternative, spending time and money on training that will not help you when you need it most, you'll see that a small extra time spent before you start training could very possible mean the difference between life and death when your back is to the wall.
Christopher "Bob" Roberts is an ex-soldier who relocated to Europe and now earns his living as a tactics and close-combat instructor for military, police and private security companies.
For more information and details about armed and unarmed self-protection, subscribe to his free newsletters at www.extreme-measures-institute.com and receive access to an exclusive video interview series, where he explains the fundamentals of truly effective self defense.
,Make Striking Your Self Defense Priority!
Make Striking Your Self Defense Priority!By Christopher Roberts
Self defence training should revolve around ways and places to hit an aggressor. Period.
The simple reason for the importance of striking is that hitting an opponent is the easiest and fastest way to hurt an attacker and, in a self-defence (the means of defending oneself from physical attack; the right to protect oneself against violence by using reasonable force, especially when used as justification in a murder charge) situation where someone is trying to hurt you, the only way for you to survive is to hurt him first. The sooner you hit him, the sooner you hurt him and, the sooner you hurt him, the less odds he has to hurt you first.
Compare what you've just read with the belief that most self-proclaimed self-defence (the means of defending oneself from physical attack; the right to protect oneself against violence by using reasonable force, especially when used as justification in a murder charge) instructors promote. You know, "just use these simple moves to control an attacker without hurting him and then wait for the police to arrive." Ok, that sure sounds good, until you realize that those "simple" moves are pretty hard to actually make work, even with a willing training partner and under the watchful and helpful eye of the instructor. Just believe me, when I say that joint locks, throws and grappling won't work when confronted with a real street fight, mugging or rape attempt.
Sure, there are "holds" that can be worthwhile to learn for self defense, however we'renot at all talking about the typical holds that are taught in most self-defence (the means of defending oneself from physical attack; the right to protect oneself against violence by using reasonable force, especially when used as justification in a murder charge) courses or combat sports. The holds that we're talking about are really just techniques for grabbing, squeezing and, eventually crushing the vital areas of an attacker, however even they can only be effectively used in certain situations. Because it will almost always be possible to strike, that's where you should concentrate your training time.
In a close-combat situation, striking always has and always will provide the most return on your training investment.
Christopher "Bob" Roberts is an ex-soldier who relocated to Europe and now earns his living as a tactics and close-combat instructor for military, police and private security companies.
For more information and details about armed and unarmed self-protection, subscribe to his free newsletters at http://www.extreme-measures-institute.com and receive access to an exclusive video interview series, where he explains the fundamentals of truly effective self defense.
,Two-Step Self Defense - Emphasize the Martial, Ignore the Art
Two-Step Self Defense - Emphasize the Martial, Ignore the ArtBy Christopher Roberts
I remember seeing a video about "self defence masters" where one karate expert said: "For me, the difference between karate and a street fight is philosophy. If I take a garbage can and hit someone with it, there's no philosophy. It's just a way to hurt someone."
Well, I'm not a karate expert by any means, so I'm not going to even discuss the truth in that statement, however I am an expert in self defense, which is why I feel qualified to protest that comment being broadcast in a self-defence (the means of defending oneself from physical attack; the right to protect oneself against violence by using reasonable force, especially when used as justification in a murder charge) video in the same way that a cancer foundation would protest an action hero smoking in his movies. Both the action star and the karate master are role models and, just like its not acceptable to teach children (young people) that smoking is "cool," its not acceptable for a role model in a self-defence (the means of defending oneself from physical attack; the right to protect oneself against violence by using reasonable force, especially when used as justification in a murder charge) documentary to rate anything as being more important than hurting an attacker in a self-defence (the means of defending oneself from physical attack; the right to protect oneself against violence by using reasonable force, especially when used as justification in a murder charge) situation.
I've been in and seen real fights and attacks as a disco doorman (yeah, a bouncer) in Europe and have seen what kinds of damage the looser of a street fight must endure. Some were rushed to the hospital, some just patched up and sent home, however all victims of real violence have two things in common--they all wish they had not lost and they know that the only odds they would have had to win would have been hurting their attackers first.
Philosophy is a great thing, however it unfortunately won't help a single bit whenyour back is to the wall and you're being stabbed by some degenerate with a knife that you felt before you saw it!
That's why instructors of practical self-defence (the means of defending oneself from physical attack; the right to protect oneself against violence by using reasonable force, especially when used as justification in a murder charge) tend to teach effective target areas first. Like I'm always saying to my students, if you're attacked in a restaurant bar while sitting in a booth and if all you can do is take a salt shaker and slam it into the bridge of the attacker's nose, just be happy that you were able to take him out before some innocent person got hurt!
Ok, maybe you couldn't assume a proper stance or use a picture-perfect striking technique, however you were able to save yourself and your wife from a lengthly hospital stay or even a one-way trip to the morgue.
Where's the belief in surviving an assault by just concentrating on hurting the man trying to hurt or kill you? I don't know, maybe just "better you than me."
I don't care about philosophy, I just care about teaching you to survive.
Christopher "Bob" Roberts is an ex-soldier who relocated to Europe and now earns his living as a tactics and close-combat instructor for military, police and private security companies.
For more information and details about armed and unarmed self-protection, subscribe to his free newsletters at www.extreme-measures-institute.com and receive access to an exclusive video interview series, where he explains the fundamentals of truly effective self defense.