Here are a few questions to ask yourself if you are already training in a reality based self defense system. If you answer any of the questions negatively, you may want to reconsider some of your techniques or training strategies:
- Do any of your techniques take too much time?
In the reality of a confrontation you should have complete control and domination in three (3) seconds or less. Time is of the essence when dealing with a life-threatening situation. You need to neutralize the threat and remove yourself immediately. In today’s day and age, it is not uncommon to be faced with more than one attacker. The longer you are focussed on one attacker the more time the other attacker(s) will have to cause you harm. - Are your self-defense techniques too intricate, are there too many movements, or are the movements too complex?
Everything that can go wrong in a real-life violent confrontation, will go wrong. If your self-defense techniques are too complicated and rely on textbook-perfect movements and reactions, chances are that they won’t work when you need them the most. - Do your techniques depend on position or type of assault?
Your techniques cannot be reaction dependent. For example, if the basic moves are different for a right cross and a right hook you may find yourself waking up in a load of pain. It is important to minimize the “grey area” in your decision making as you simply won’t have time. - Is your arsenal based on the same basic motor skills?
Under stress the thought process slows down and your responses become mote automated. Your brain won’t be able to go through a thousand techniques and appropriately select the one that fits the situation at hand. Your brain will select the simplest techniques, the techniques that have been committed to muscle memory and can be executed instantly. The gross motor skills used to defend against a right hand assault should be very similar to those used for a left assault or an assault with a weapon. - Is pain reaction built into your techniques and training drills?
Your self defense techniques should incorporate how your attacker’s body will react. For example, imagine that at some point in your technique you punch low punch to the stomach followed by a high punch to the face. The attacker will likely buckle or bend over as a reaction to the low punch, leaving the top of the head exposed. If you train to automatically follow up with a high punch you may end up breaking your hand on the top of his skull instead of the anticipated breaking of his nose. The role of your training partner as the attacker is just as important as your role as the defender. Make sure your techniques consider how the body is likely to react. - Do your techniques consider the threat level?
It is important for both moral and legal reasons that your techniques have the flexibility to deliver a measured response to the threat level of the situation. You wouldn’t train to finish all one armed grabs by breaking the attackers knees and gouging out his eyes. However, if they attacker grabbed you with one arm and pulled a knife out of his pocket with the other, this type of response might be reasonable to save your life. You’re techniques should allow you to respond to an elevated or reduced threat level at any point in time.
How did you make out? Do your system and techniques live up to these requirements? If the answer is no, or you aren’t sure, you may want to take a deeper look into your training methods and see if you can work these concepts into your arsenal. Your life may depend on it.
