Not a day goes by without us seeing or hearing about horrific violent acts towards innocent people all over the world.
So it is simply plain foolish to think that something like that won't ever happen to you.
Although you can hope and pray that it doesn't, the truth of the matter is the chances are good that you can become a victim of violence at any given time.
When that happens, you need to be fully prepared and able to handle it in a way that will be most effective for your survival.
Although knowing How to Fight is a main part of Self Defense, it is true that the core principles of Self Defense is all about incorporating safety habits into your daily life and to stay clear of possible threats as much as you can.
As Self Defense students we learn to become aware of our surroundings and to notice signs of threats before hand, thus enabling us to prevent possible violence by getting out of there.
Unfortunately, getting away from violence is not always an option.
Sometimes the last and only solution to dissolving the situation IS to fight.
As ordinary people, we don't like violence.
It is chaotic, messy and many times totally out of control.
Violence is definitely not what Hollywood makes it out to be, nor is your personal protection against violence correctly tackled by 90% of martial arts schools and classes.
In fact, what too many of them teach their students is so dangerous that should they attempt to use certain techniques in a real life violent situation, it could get them seriously hurt or even killed.
In order for you to survive a real life violent altercation, you need to know how to fight EFFECTIVELY and win, nothing less.
Think about this for a second, how many violent confrontations do you think you will meet in your life time? If you are not involved in criminal activities, in a profession that works to stop criminal acts, or fight as a career then not a lot right.
You may NEVER find yourself in such a situation.
But what if you do find yourself in a situation where you will need to "fight or die"? Are you going to handle the fight of your life effectively and walk away victorious? Violence has only one purpose - to hurt.
The winner of any fight is the one who hurt his opponent the most.
In order for you to be victorious in any fight YOU need to be the one who delivers the most damage to your attacker.
You won't win and maybe not even come out alive by defending.
Your only shot at defeating your attacker is to turn the tables on him - by injuring or even killing him first before he is capable of doing it to you.
Focus your self-defense combat training on destroying your attacker, for the only time you will need to know how to fight, is when your life depends on it.
Fighting effectively consists of basically four main parts: Required State of Mind - First of all, you can have ALL the combat training in the world, without effectively controlling your mind in a hostile situation, that skills mean absolutely nothing.
Your body and mind will be taken over by fear and adrenaline, and it's up to you to control this reaction of your body to stay focused and react appropriately to the threat.
Least Detectable Body Movement - During a fight, your attacker must be unable to see the strike before it hits.
Do not violently swing your arms when you punch, or let your attacker see you kick from miles away because you want to kick him lights out.
Strikes need to be short, quick bursts of force, targeting specific areas of the body.
You want to minimise or even eliminate your chances of missing your target every time you strike, and you want to make sure it is impossible for your attacker to block or dodge your attack.
Perfect Timing - The timing of EACH strike of your attack is crucial.
Every time you strike, you want to make contact with your attacker's body in the area where you intended to (or at least in the immediate vicinity of the area).
Only your very first strike, which initiates the violence is pre-meditated.
You will wait OR create the perfect split second to land your strike.
After that first strike, each strike following will be placed as the body's target areas open up.
Everything will happen in seconds, not minutes.
You need to get in, finish the job, get out.
From the first strike, your attackers body will move various ways, opening up different target areas.
This movement of the body when hit certain ways will vary from person to person according to the situation, but the target areas stay the same.
It just depends on which areas open up as you land each attack.
Condition yourself to instinctively recognize and strike them as they appear in each situation.
- For instance: Your initial strike was to his nose with your palm heel, driving it into the base of his brain, snapping his head backwards and slightly moving him backwards as well.
This could open up his throat, solar plexus, groin, and/or knees.
So IMMEDIATELY after the first strike, you will follow-up with a POWER STRIKE to any one of them.
And another, and another, and another as they open up.
When that is the case, your attacker won't hesitate to do the worst to you.
This means you need to be willing to react by completely destroying him or them.
Rules don't apply that moment when it's kill or be killed.
- Go for his eyes - You want to blind him permanently by taking it out.
- Strike his throat - You want to crush it and make him suffocate to death.
- Break something - You want to break his neck, wrists, arms, legs, anything to permanently disable him
- Use a weapon - Anything and everything around you can become a weapon.
Use it when you can.
There are no rules that bounds you to fair fighting. - Etc...
Nothing else matters during those few seconds during the fight.
It is only you destroying your attacker, nothing else is occupying your mind and focus until you are absolutely sure he is not getting back up.
Only then do you walk away to safety.
It is your right to defend yourself by any means necessary when your life is under threat.
It is your responsibility to know how to fight effectively for when you need to.