| Most people fail in their quest for truly effective self | | | | frightened to move, 2. unwilling to use their training |
| defense training because they quite simply don't have | | | | because they "don't want to hurt someone" or 3. both |
| any idea what effective self defense training is, so | | | | unwilling and too frightened to damage an attacker. |
| they couldn't possible know what they should be | | | | Ok, I expected to see the fear that comes from |
| looking for in the first place! | | | | inexperience, but was completely surprised that |
| So, what should someone completely new to the | | | | someone whom I had just taught to kill and maim with |
| brutal world of street violence look for in a training | | | | his or her bare hands and feet would choose not to |
| program? | | | | do it because he or she didn't want to hurt the nice |
| Ok, I'll break it down into the major elements: | | | | man trying to shoot, stab or beat him or her to death. |
| --What to do? | | | | So the second part of the training should be exercises |
| --How to do it? | | | | in dealing with fear and combat stress, as well as the |
| --How to know that you should do it? | | | | development of aggression and the "killer instinct." Don't |
| First of all, you need to know "what to do" if someone | | | | worry, that doesn't mean something out of a |
| tries to mug, rape, murder or otherwise kill or cripple | | | | commando training camp or the film Full Metal Jacket, |
| you. What does that entail? Well, if someone tries to | | | | what I personally use for mental training consists of |
| damage you, my best advise would be to damage him | | | | visualization and other mental exercises that will make |
| first! | | | | you familiar with the stress you will be under and the |
| Damaging another human means two things--where | | | | reality of what you will have to do, including how to |
| you should you hit or crush his body and how to best | | | | channel your fear to fuel you killer instinct, which will |
| and most destructively hit or crush his body. Notice the | | | | solve two problems at once. |
| order in which I wrote that: first learn where to attack | | | | Lastly, you should know "how to know that you should |
| and then how to do it. | | | | do it," or how to realize that you are being attacked |
| The reason why I first teach people where to attack | | | | before its too late to defend yourself! |
| and then how to attack is, if you know the most vital | | | | One of the questions that I ask my students to drive |
| points that would produce the most effect when you | | | | the importance of this phase of the training home is: |
| strike or crush them, you can always find a way to do | | | | "Why is it that most attempted muggings and |
| it, whereas you won't always be able to use | | | | stabbings are successful?" The answer is that most |
| picture-perfect striking form to do it. Believe me, if | | | | of the victims didn't realize that they were in danger |
| someone forces his way into your front door and | | | | until after they were already beaten unconscious or |
| tackles you to the ground and you are able to gouge | | | | stabbed! |
| his eye out, laying on your back and after you've lost | | | | In this last phase of the training, you should be learning |
| your glasses, Bruce Lee would have been just as | | | | how to read body language as well as mental |
| proud of you for protecting your family as if you had | | | | exercises that make good situational awareness |
| jumped ten feet into the air, spun around and kicked | | | | second nature. Situational awareness doesn't mean |
| him in the head! | | | | that you should be paranoid, far from it! |
| Knowing where and how to hurt someone should | | | | Situational awareness means that you should always |
| make up the basis of your training, at least eighty | | | | be aware of who is around you and what he or they |
| percent. That would actually be all that you need to | | | | are doing, which will actually make you even more |
| learn, but, for someone with no experience with | | | | relaxed, because you'll know that you're safe, |
| violence, there are two other aspects that need to be | | | | otherwise you'd have noticed the danger already! |
| addressed, without which, you would never be able to | | | | If you take these three criteria and use them to judge |
| use those other skills. | | | | every trainer, seminar and video you find, you'll notice |
| You also need to know "how to do it," but I don't mean | | | | that there are really very few good trainers out there. |
| how to damage an attacker this time, rather how to | | | | But when you consider the alternative, spending time |
| deal with the mental issues of brutal, real-life, kill or be | | | | and money on training that will not help you when you |
| killed combatives. I had to learn a long time ago, back | | | | need it most, you'll see that a little extra time spent |
| when I first started training civilians in self defense that | | | | before you start training could very possible mean the |
| most "normal" people, when faced with real-life | | | | difference between life and death when your back is |
| violence or very realistic training are either 1. too | | | | to the wall. |