Self protection is surrounded by many myths, and a whole lot of bad advice.
This topic serves as a guide for those new to self protection that dont quite know the score yet, so they can learn what we are all about, and how it should really be learned.

We have many experts in the field on this forum, and i would like to leave it to them to bust these myths and add to this thread to eventually produce something that can help our users who are new to Self defence.

eventually i will add each post to this one, and hopefully produce an article that can be navigated, with a link to each myth

enjoy

hey guys,
i would like to have a pop at the moral/legal implications of the pre-emptive strike in a SD scenario.
The myth that you have to firstly be attacked before you can launch a counter attack.
In karate we had the "in karate there is no first strike" credo which perhaps did not lend itself very well to bell green in the mid '80s...and although we did try to live by that we soon found out that action is better than reaction.I remember when Geoff first started to formulate the fence and the sniper option how a lot of the establishment at the time bemoaned how some of the more bushido ethics in martial arts were giving way to thuggery,myself i saw a realist who saw that we had a different moral code to some of the pondlife we encountered during that time.I know that in the eyes of the law the very flexible interpretation of "reasonable force" now includes a pre emptive strike if you can prove you felt threatened or in danger...as long as in the follow up you take care not to become the aggressor yourself....morally and ethically i think how the pre emp fits into your gameplan(for want of a better phrase) i think that is entirely up to you...remember that if you are aware enough and mindfull of your enviroment we are hopefully only talking about a "what if" situation.All i know is i would not wait for something to go down before i would react to it...proactive all the way in that situation...and if you have ever been in a real life situation...trust me the last thing you think about are legal implications...normally it's worrying about how brown your pants are
take care
mick x

Nice post Mick

The common one I hear from time to time, about self protection in general, is from people always asking Do I need a black belt to be good at self protection, is it something which is for beginners, or the aged, or something that you must study for 15 years to be good at.

People seem to be, from what I get asked more focussed on the level you need to be at to be proficient in taking care of yourself and your loved ones. As these guys, ( fair enough they ask the question ) as they dont know. but have always thought that you had to be super fit, and be able to learn moves quickly, efficiently and think they being physically capable is always the way.

Once it has been explained that self protection / Self Defence what ever we want to call it. Boils down to one thing. Awareness / Avoidance. It is something that not everyone practices, yet it is done automatically once we enter a car and set out on our journey. but not once walking the street unless you train yourself to do it.

Once these people are educated on the basics of awareness / avoidance and threat assessment, then most times they are willing to come and join in to gain the extra benefits from the lessons. whatever it may be for them, peace of mind, lose weight, get fit, have the tools incase something should happen.

But too many people think you need X amount of belts to be able to take care of yourself or others.

One simple statement, Switch on guys and be alert and aware, and avoid the places you know the S*** will hit the fan.

Craig

There is this myth that in self defence you need to know many many techniques from many many different forms/styles of martial arts. What you really need to know is very little and simple.
The important thing is you need to drill, drill and drill dome more the very few techniques that will help save your life instead of masses and masses of information that isnt really relevent and wouldnt work in a live fight situation anyway.

Keep your self defence simple and well practiced.

If I were teaching a short SD course I'd use the KISS method (keep it simple and stupid) with simple advice and tactics (but I refuse to teach them now), but for those in it for the long term I'd say pick a good principle based system and look long term. Learn good basic body and mind skills and be able to apply them in all manner of body movement and technique. What makes you strong, take away from the opponent and it makes them weak. Learn to 'sense' when you are strong and when the opponent is weak and to be able to instinctively take advantage of it. Where your movement is powerful and becomes 'technique' because it is trained in it's alignment and lines of movement.

I don't like the 'marketing formula' of 'one size fits all' in technique, these 'magic moves' will take out all attackers, these SD videos and instruction will be more likely to get you hurt or put in prison. Good SD cannot be squashed into a marketing package and the shortest cut is to learn the art or way properly.

There is no replacement for good health, fitness, personal development, skill learning and adaptability.

when i first started in Sd i trained really hard all the time, it became the most important thing in my life. to be honest it is what ended my first marriage, it was actually the only thing i was good at. i could do all of it, all the flashy stuff too, i was the dogs nuts.

over time the biggest lessons i have learnt are to lose your ego and use your mind, it really does not matter what system you fall into or choose, i honestly beleive that everyone has it in them to defend themselves at a feral level for whatever reason triggers that reaction. its how we escalate any situation to that point we need to think about.

All solid gold advice and observations guys! keep 'em coming! X

I wouldn't consider myself an expert by any means but I'd like to add something if that's allright?

You have to take your training and then apply it under adrenal load and in scenario based situations. Practice awareness/avoidance skills. If they fail, what if the guy trying to pummel you is your father in law who's about to pay the deposit on you and your wife's new house? What if it happens in a narrow corridoor? What if it's dark?

You have to do this training at heavy or full contact and with realism. As we all know, people don't punch and stop like in traditional classes, their weight follows through the tchnique. If you're not ready for the follow up, your initial reaction doesn't matter.

You have to train against the attacks that you're actually likely to encounter. Straight punches in walking stance? Hmmmmmm....

This doesn't mean drilling technique vs technique, it means understanding the nature of the threat you're likely to face.

And the thing that woke me up the most is the way an attacker can go from nothing to sudden and murderous violence in an instant, and how shocking that is to most people. Dealing with that without caving in is the first obstacle for self defence.

Hope that makes sense

Mitch

We train to become skilled fighters, we practice against other silled fighters, the more we train and the more realistic we make our training the better we become. In general skilled martial artists are not thugs. So when confronted with a drunken loud mouth thug in a bar, it is likely that he is not a highly trained martial artist so if you keep your composure you should be able to deal with the situation. However you should reflect on how you came to this situation, are you in a place where violence is commonplace? did your actions provoke any of this? and are you so drunk yourself that you've undermined your training?

terryg wrote:We train to become skilled fighters, we practice against other silled fighters, the more we train and the more realistic we make our training the better we become. In general skilled martial artists are not thugs. So when confronted with a drunken loud mouth thug in a bar, it is likely that he is not a highly trained martial artist so if you keep your composure you should be able to deal with the situation. However you should reflect on how you came to this situation, are you in a place where violence is commonplace? did your actions provoke any of this? and are you so drunk yourself that you've undermined your training?

Couldn't have said it better myself, if someone goes into somewhere knowing full well that there's a good chance it's going to kick off & then gets hurt, then in my opinion they deserve to get hurt.

I appoligse if that seem harsh, but it true; you woulden't run into a burning house unless you had to, so why do so many people persist in doing so when it comes to bars & clubs.

good comments guys