Self Defence

September 11, 2009 | Archive

What is Self Defence?

There are many aspects to the term “self defence”.   I have written this for a presentation I’ve been asked to do at a local authority however I have published it on the website hoping it may be of use to general readers.

 

In my opinion the four key areas of self defence are as follows:

 

1. Awareness – Principle and most important aspect. The ability to read situations and make calm logical decisions in order to avoid confrontation.
2. Tactical Thinking – Staying alert and thinking ahead. Head Counts, Exit Checks, Exit/escape strategy, obstacles.
3. Confidence. You are less likely to be challenged or attacked if you project physical confidence.  Do not appear to be a “victim” Non threatening but non capitulating. There is a fine line here with not projecting a challenge too.
4. Physical Skill base . The actual ability to fight IMO is the least useful of the four in terms of Self Defence although can give you much in the way of confidence.  This ability is widely misunderstood and is a mixture of skill, strength, physical conditioning, mental conditioning, nerve and intent.

 

 

 

I’ve taken these key points from the excellent book “Real Self Defence” by Geoff Thompson. Note that all of them relate to my first two aspects of Self Defence.

 

Basic Rules for Self Defence

 

1. Avoid: Areas/clubs/pubs that you know have a reputation for trouble (obvious but worth a mention)
2. Never take short cuts home if it involves going through sparsely populated or badly lit areas
3. Keep in company whenever possible
4. When you are alone walk on the edge of the path nearest the road away from doorways and entries
5. Face the traffic!! Any cars pulling up will have to reverse or turn around should you need to get away from a driver/ vehicle of potential assailants.  Do not take a more dangerous route to avoid one problem, if possible take cover in a public place
6. If confronted don’t fight if you have the option of walking or running away.  (This applies especially to men who tend to allow ego to get in the way of their common sense)
7. Never accept lifts from a stranger.  Obvious again really but I know women who have done it 2 girls, 2 guys etc etc
8. Empty House: Always check for signs of illegal entry before entering. Be sure if you are uncertain call a neighbour or the police don’t enter alone.

 

 

 

Martial Arts for Self Defence

The term self defence has become a catch phrase for those seeking to promote and sell their martial arts system but its quite often that people join a system under a misapprehension that what they are doing will give them a set of techniques that will make them better equipped for a “live” situation.

 

Often this is due to techniques being taught as a trick bag that can be delved into for any given situation.  This misapprehension can be at best misleading and at worse dangerous.

 

Unless your technical level is hardwired into your reflexes so that you do without thinking then usually when it comes down to a real situation you will pause, falter and lose.

 

Another misnomer is the idea of doing enough to “get away”

If you genuinely look at this idea then you must accept your first three levels of self defence have failed and you are into a physical confrontation. 

Therefore you’re fighting ability is now what counts. The idea of securing a release from a grab or hold in order to run is a low percentage situation and should be a small part of a wider skill base.

 

At Cyclone Wing Chun we practice many forms of “escapes” from many forms of attacks but they are in the context of a fight not the idea you then run.  This gives a truer indication of whether you can be successful and secondly if you are faced with a situation where to run might be the better option then you may chose to take it hopefully having thought out an escape strategy first. 

 

“A fight is a fight, period.”

Once into a physical confrontation the difference between fighting for self defence and say sport fighting is largely down to environment and mentality.  Again tactical thinking comes into play.  Your goals may change during a confrontation and you must think ahead but live in the moment.  Mental preparation for a fight involves becoming accustomed to the “roughness” of the situation.  Many nicely practiced seemingly sensible techniques practiced in the dojo fall apart in a real encounter due to a lacking in the appreciation of just how rough, fast and violent such an encounter will be.  So what’s the answer?

 

• Live sparring with reasonable to heavy contact
• Repeated drilling of techniques at varied speed and power levels.
• “Emotional content” (Bruce Lee, Enter the Dragon) The ability to control intent. I often refer to this as “getting in the zone”
• Realistic resistance.  Once techniques are learned using limited sparring drills focussing on applying techniques against unwilling partners whose goal is to spoil and be awkward not to comply.
• Conditioning.  A decent level of physical conditioning adding some physical stress to an already stressful situation will work wonders if placed into a real situation
• Desensitization.  Getting used to being hit, thrown around, grappled with and generally manhandled will over time reduce the stress of a real confrontation and allow your mind to become acclimatized to a live situation much faster. This will reduce the chances of you “freezing” significantly and allow you the chance to make logical actions under pressure.

 

 

Self Defence at Cyclone Wing Chun, Newcastle Upon Tyne

Although we don’t spend much time talking or emphasising self defence at Cyclone Wing Chun many of our students have found themselves in a physical confrontation and every one of them walked away uninjured having “won” the fight.  In some respects I deem this success however the real key in my mind is to avoid the confrontation in the first place and in this respect I have in some ways failed them.  Once in possession of a decent level of fighting skill the temptation is always to try it out when someone challenges you.  For martial arts students this can be dangerous in many ways both physical and legal.  In time a martial art should teach humility and respect for the skills you come into possession of learning that a fight is dangerous no matter how good you get.  For this reason the mental aspects of self defence are an important part of any martial artists training.