What is "Practical" Personal Defense?

Self Defense - Practical Fighting Skills

Understanding what "practical personal defense" is is critical to building a foundation of true safety and security. 

Note that I do not use the term"self-defense" when referring to physical defense skills. Why? Because most immediately relate "self-defense" to martial arts and what we teach is not martial arts.

In fact, as you'll understand by the end of this article, while martial arts have many positive purposes, its likely not what you think it is. 

Let me preface the core content of this article with this:

The best way to defend yourself is to never be in a position to have to defend yourself! If you're not there, you cannot be hurt. 

However, when you fail...when the fight comes to you; when you have done everything that you can to escape, retreat, or not be there and you have no choice but to fight, you need to have the best chance of "winning and going home". 

So, what is "practical personal defense"?

It's really simple - "practical" personal defense is "defense that actually works". It's defense that you already know and are already good at. It's defense that doesn't take much time and effort to learn and master. It's defense that is effective for its intended purpose. 

I always tell our students that mastering personal defense should never require you to get out of a chair and, because I know this will be immediately questioned, yes, that includes even the physical aspects of personal defense - like fighting! Why? Because if you have to get out of a chair to learn or practice defensive weapons then you are likely being taught technique and, technique works great...in controlled environments where your "training partner" (not a real adversary) is allowing it to work. 

Side note: Many times people say that when you have to fight, defense should become offense. I just want to establish that, when it comes to use of force, or deadly force, protecting yourself from criminal prosecution or legal liability is an unrecognized, yet critical aspect of personal safety and security, in fact, it's just as important as any other aspect. Here's what you need to understand - The second you consider your position in a physical confrontation to be offensive, rather than defensive, is the second you become considered the primary aggressor and the need to bring additional harm on your opponent has likely evaporated. At that moment, and what you do thereafter, may be considered (by law enforcement, judge, jury) unnecessary force. This is the primary topic of another article that you can read here. 

It's critical that you understand this:

You have what it takes to "win and go home"...right now! Regardless of how old/young, big/small, strong/weak, or what gender you are!

Let me give you some perspective:

You have likely heard of UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championships). If you haven't, two people get into a cage and the goal is to either knock their opponent out or get them to submit. It's like a boxing match but you can do much more than just punch, you can punch, kick, use physical restraints, etc). It's considered the most realistic organized fighting in the world. So, imagine that you are going to fight in one of these matches in 6 months. You are told who your opponent will be and, for the next six months you spend 100% of your time preparing for this fight.You get into top physical condition, and...study your opponent. You know everything that you can about his/her strengths and weaknesses and start to prepare and perfect a game plan on how you will exploit their weaknesses and defend against their strengths. And, then...it's fight time. Everything you have done over the previous 6 months all comes out here. You step into the ring and, when you do, you know that until you acknowledge that you are ready and the bells rings, your opponent cannot do anything to hurt you - there are no surprise attacks in organized fighting. Now, when the bell rings you know that there are many things that your opponent cannot do to you:

• They can't bite you

• They can't gouge your eyes out

• They can't rip your hair out

• They can't kick you in the groin

• They can't scratch your face off

• They can't pinch you

• And on-and-on

Again, this is the most realistic organized fighting in the world! If you can't use it here - there's a reason! Why? Because it hurts! And...it's highly effective. Think about it...If the competitors in this "sport" were allowed to do these things there would be people maimed, disfigured, blind, and even dead! The sport would be illegal. 

Now, think about this:

If your in a fight for your life, or the life of someone that you love and care about greatly, what types of things do you think you might want to be using? 

How about the things that are so effective, harmful and dangerous that you're not allowed to use them even in the most realistic organized fighting in the world? Biting, scratching, eye gouging, pinching, etc. In fact, right now, if you've never had any training whatsoever on how to defend yourself, and you got into a fight to defend either yourself, or someone that you love and care about greatly, you would likely use all of these things - with no training whatsoever. And, they would be highly effective if you had the right mindset (which is another topic of a separate discussion). 

The question then really becomes how do we perfect and make these natural defense weapons more effective? Thats easy and all things that you can learn without getting out of a chair. All things that we will teach you or, more accurately, just make you realize because, as I said earlier, you already know these things. 

Now, Let Me Explain Muscle Memory

In martial arts training, techniques are typically designed to achieve a purpose. Let's use a technique that is designed to break and arm. These techniques typically require multiple elements in order to get your opponent in the appropriate position and gain the leverage needed to break the arm. So, in a controlled environment, you practice this series of movements, or "the technique", with a cooperating training partner who is just standing statically in their place while you complete this series of move until ultimately they get right ot the point of the techniques intended purpose, to break the arm, and they stop. And they do this over-and-over again, hundreds and maybe even thousands of times and it works perfectly every time - right up to the point where they stop short of the techniques intended purpose. I completed a training course in which there was a blackbelt (with numerous stripes) martial arts instructor. He came up afterward and said that he loved the training but didn't agree that martial arts weren't practical. I asked him what his argument was and he said that his 10 year old daughter could come up here and break my arm in a matter of seconds. My reply "have her come up here and do it!". This was not meant to be a real challenge as in "let's fight". He said that his daughter had perfected this technique after practicing it over and over again. I asked him exactly how many arms his daughter had actually broken. His answer: none. So I said, how do you know, for a fact, that your daughter could break my arm if she's never actually done it. At this he admitted that he saw my point.

There's more to this. If you practice the same thing over and over again, hundreds or thousands of times and stop at the same point every single time (like right at the point of the reason that the technique has been developed), do you think that it's reasonable to believe that when you really need it that you might stop at this same point - as a result of muscle memory? 

More perspective: I've seen this happen!

In "tournament karate" your goal, via a sparring competition, is to "score points" You don't score points by actually hurting and/or destroying your opponent, you score points by simulating that you have demonstrated a strike, move, or technique that, had it been real, it likely would've had it's intended impact on your opponent. There are rules, sportsmanship, etc! So, when you are a "tournament karate fighter" when you punch or kick your opponent, because of simulation, you are pulling them back just at the point of contact. And you do this over-and-over-and-over again. How does muscle memory impact a real confrontation? You have likely answered this yourself - you will pull your punches and kicks! 

I've seen it happen! A multi-level black belt, tournament karate fighter, losing a street fight to someone who had zero martial arts training. Why? Many of the reasons I've explained above and to the untrained opponent, there were no rules, edicate, or sportsmanship! 

Now, what IS practical?  

Effectively using what you already know and not having to practice it. Remember Stomp the Feet? How many of you had to practice that? How many of you don't have that mastered by little more than reading about it?

That's what we mean when we say "practical". 

Stand by for a whole bunch of "Practical Personal Defense Tips".