Am i well prepared to defend myself by taking Martial Arts/Self Defense courses? NO!!!

Would you know what to do?

A colleague of mine asked me if they learn a few tricks in Martial Arts/ Self defense classes would prepare them enough to defend themselves against any assailant? My answer is always  "well...that depends but mostly NO!"

In all of my previous blogs I've always stressed the importance of the teaching syllabus & the importance of learning from the right instructors. However by having those is only half of the equation, the other half is of course............

Obviously YOU!!!!! 

Think of this as if you are learning how to cook for the first time. A 1 1/2 hour session is not going to prepare you to make the perfect spaghetti bolognese. You need to practice & practice, trial & error, study the flavors. You need to learn the cooking techniques and timing, sometimes even looking at ethnicity styles of all the above. And above all else Learn some more. Then with all the understanding will you be able to have the confidence to even start serving this to the public.

That goes the same for learning Martial Arts/Self Defense courses.
Ever heard of the term....

(Amongst many other Martial Arts)

"Martial Arts is the way of Life"

Surprisingly not many actually understood the meaning of the above. Some may confuse it to be a new "mystical life" they are entering. Which to some may devote their entirety of their life in pursuing the meaning behind it. Strictly my opinion it is essentially a commentary of yourself and your everyday 'way of life'. If you slack on your training, chances are you are slacking on other activities you say you would do. like.....going to the gym to loose weight.

You do what you do, you put the effort into perfecting your craft, you follow through with your heart or through rationale mind thinking. You do the things you say you will do or you are just a slacker are all reflected in the way you train in your Martial Arts/Self Defense...or any other craft.

"How you do anything is how you do everything" - T.Harv Eker

So if you learn a technique to defend yourself and not review it and practice it and going through trial and error, chances are a 1 1/2hour course on escaping from chokes is not going to prepare you for someone with a knife. 

So to followup on more useful tips which i think maybe useful to my colluges to prepare themself of a situation is to understand the importance of the vital points or specifically where its going to hurt the attackers when you try to escape an attack.

*Disclaimer - the video below is just for educational purposes in understanding human anatomy. The information is for to be used on SELF DEFENSE purposes only. By no means should anyone purposefully strike these weak points other than to escape life threatening assailants/attacks. No one (me included) will take responsible of any legal damages other than the person doing the strikes.*

Take the info above as you will. Understanding such fundamentals can help in situation in many tense situations. So with constant reviewing, practices trial and error and gain as much common sense knowledge as possible, then that will answer the question whether you will be well prepared to defend yourself on the streets.............. Maybe.

Victor Marx - how to defend against the most commonly used punch

The man in blue is everyone's favorite all around nice guy, Fastest Gun Disarming man on the internet.
Victor Marx had a very rough childhood growing up and with his past almost behind him he is taking upon himself and go on a journey to help other kids who had similar problems as he does as a kid. I won't cover much on his background for i am just reviewing him on his videos on self defense.

If you want to know more about him feel free to check his own website in the beginning of the video.

Lets start the review off the bat.

"there are tons of martial arts out there - most of them are good but not all of them work"

i cannot stress that enough that there are too many misconceptions of practitioners believing what they learn can help them defend a street fight or defense themselves. What is most important is the understanding of what Martial Arts are and what are the practicalities of the Martial Art's technique.

"never leave your hand down, keep your hand up and keep it a distance, don't hold a fist"

I like the segment where he mentions the importance open palm than fist because creates a psychological effect to the third party when they look at who are the aggressor & defender at a glance. This is an interesting point that we don't see very often in the internet, so extra points to Victor Marx for pointing that out.

"most common type of punch is a Right Hook/Haymaker/etc."

This isn't a debate wether he is right or wrong about the most common type of punches, majority of the people are right handed so your chances of getting attacked by a right hook are higher. Especially to untrained people. The main point he is trying to make is for you to keep your hands up to create a shield, physically & psychologically. Any form of defense is better than getting a fist straight to the head.

"big difference between a fighter & self defender"

Check out some of Victor Marx amazing demonstration in gun disarming for it is definitely cool to watch

Self Defense Tips by Discovery Bear Gryll

Edward Michael "Bear" Grylls (born 7 June 1974) is a British adventurer, writer and television presenter. He is best known for his television series Man vs. Wild, known as Born Survivor in the United Kingdom. In July 2009, Grylls was appointed the youngest-ever Chief Scout at the age of 35.

In 2010, Grylls' came out with a new project titled Worst-Case Scenario which aired on Discovery in the USA. It is based on the popular books of the same name. Unfortunately after 12 episodes the show was canceled. I've come across one episode where he showed essential tips that are rudimentary to self defense & self protection in a survival situation on the streets. 

*Have an open mind of the video and not fall under the trap of a choreograph scene &/or practical situation*

Note: ignore the first 40 seconds - its only an unrealistic staged choreograph.

Essential Tips by Bear Gryll

"Self Defense is part instinct but mostly training & preparation"

Training & Preparation is the key in protecting yourself. Instinct only works if you educate and trainedunder the similar situations. And with such preparation only then you can act instinctively. One of many examples of preparation is to pull out your keys before heading to your car/always have your self-defense tools readily accessible when caught off guard.

"Rule of Self-Defense, to create distance or close distance"

This rule varies on situations & individuals - Not everyone are trained to do an arm lock or know hows what to do when closing in the distance. My rule of self defense is to create as much distance as possible for better survival. Having a long stick as a weapon to create distance raises your chances of survival is better than giving the assailant the chance to reach you by getting close to them.

"Learn to always walk away"

When the chance presented itself always walk/run away from the person/scene. For all you know there may be a group of his friends in the area that would come to help your attacker and the situation escalates to worst when there are a group of them ganging up on you.

"Don't need force to hinder an attack"

(Hit with something sharp & hit weak points)

As seen in video, hitting your assailant with something sharper than your fist is more affective than trying to pull a big fist to knock someone out. Goes back to the above tip, having a car key is enough to make the assailant flinch away hard. Should you know where to hit is most affective and don't require a lot of energy. As thought in the video those are the weak spots of hitting.

In the end, trust your instinct and avoid confrontation all together if possible. Interested to find out more in any self defense tips feel free to check on the other post of Street Fight Zero Rules. to further understand what can be done to protect yourself against dangerous assailants on the street whether you are an adult or children .

 

Street Fight Zero Rules

What is going through your head right now?

Imagine yourself were forced in to this situation right now, what are things that are going through your mind? What are the noises you hear in your head, was it the aggressor yelling and screaming? or was it drowned by the noises of your own thoughts? Can you think fast enough to handle such situation or are your legs shivering that you couldn't even move an inch? Who's faces are you seeing at that moment, was it the aggressor with the weapon? or was it the faces of your loved ones?

Those are floods of emotions and questions you will feel upon the split seconds of you realizing that your life is being threatened. Some of you may have many years of Martial Arts on your belt and may think your way to diffuse the situation and......BANG! all the hard training & the emotions all gone in an instant.

In your eyes and in your heart are telling the aggressor that you "are going to Kung Fu your way out of this situation" and that is all the aggressor needs to pull the trigger on you.

STREET FIGHT ZERO RULES

Street Fight Zero Rules is a blog that will beat you with information into understanding the core reality of a Street Fight scenarios that may occurs anywhere and anytime, often times unprepared. Providing you important and straight-forward information on staying safe. We want YOU to be more aware of your surroundings, how situations developed into violence, and how to handle a serious confrontation when you have no other choice. No more of the 'i know kung fu to protect myself' that the misconception that Hollywood placed into us. Often times I come across Martial Arts or Self Defense schools that taught about the great techniques available, however it was at a safe environment and was not trained to handle real unexpected dangers.

Street Fight Zero Rules one goal is to bring an awareness of Self-defense Self-respect, all for the sole purpose of going back home to their love ones.