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Self Defense - What I find works for me, and may work for you
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I have reviewed and tried various self-defense styles and implements, and the best ones I have found for me are:
- Krav Maga (general self defense, covers most situations, easy to learn)
- The Kubotan (stick for weapons based fighting)
- Triple Action Fogger Peppery Spray (distance weapon)
However, I must say, I have just started off with the wrong thing. They are *not* the primary forms of self-defense that I use. The true, first method that I use is:
- Awareness and Avoidance (not getting into a fight in the first place)
There is no shame in running, or living to see another day. If you know your history, or warfare tactics, you will understand that quite well. Standing your ground is likely to get you injured or killed, whereas “hit and run” tactics give you a great advantage. Just compare the old style of “make a line and fire your musket” warfare versus guerilla warfare. Right?
The same goes for personal defense, which is why avoidance is great starting point for your studies, and Krav Maga is a good followup (I will go over it later on; you will see it teaches to strike hard, fast, and then run away).
Avoidance Techniques & Learning
No classes are regularly and commonly offered to teach this. You can try to learn avoidance by employing the following techniques:
- Learn to trust your instincts about people and situations (Book: The Gift of Fear)
- Be aware of your surroundings (pay attention, know where you are and who is around you)
- Understand "good" areas versus "bad" ones (what are the good parts of town, and the not so good)
- Learn situations to avoid (such as the nighttime, being alone in public, listening to the radio while jogging, etc..)
Avoidance Practice
- Buy, or borrow, the book “The Gift of Fear” by Gavin De Becker ISBN: 978-0440226192
and read it. It will remind you not to override your basic survival instincts, which most of us do. It is one of the best self
defense books I have ever read.
- Watch people, try to imagine if they are dangerous, or benign, and reason out why
- When walking around, try to make note of who is around you. At first it is tiresome, but you will eventually
be able to do it quickly in a time of need. For example, as you walk down the street or in the mall,
look at the people coming towards you and sneak a peek at those behind you. Pay attention to them,
their characteristics, and try to determine if they are watching you. List them in your head: “Front of me: white male, 30’s;
Left: mother with child; Right side: Big dude with tatoos; Behind me: Three teenages girls”.
The reason why I recommend this is because it teaches you to:
- be aware of your surroundings
- remember the characteristics of a would-be future attacker
- recognize if someone is
going to attack you before they do so
- show everyone around you that you are paying attention
and that you are not an easy victim.
criminals look for easy victims. don't be one!
- Learn to “lose” people by ducking into stores, mixing in with a crowd, crossing the street to
a side that has more people, or turning back if you start to go down a road that looks dangerous.
I say all of the above because if I did not, I would be doing you a disservice and I would also be lying, portraying myself as someone who doesn’t pay attention to their surroundings or tries to avoid a bad situation. It truly is in your best interest to not get into the fight in the first place.
Besides, learning to see the attacker before they are upon you gives you the advantage to attack first, and any martial artist will tell you that no matter how good you are, nothing compares with being fast, and the first to strike. So, having said that, I move on to the hands-on methods.
Fighting Techniques & Implements
Pepper sprays are popular, and for good reason. They do not require extensive training, they are cheap, and effective. However, it is my opinion that they are difficult to use. Most of them employ a spray, or stream, which requires you to aim well. In a stressful situation, when your life is in danger and you may have been running away from the attacker or even panicking slightly, your fine motor skills will be impaired. Your ability to aim will not be the same as it is when you are relaxed and at rest. (if you don’t believe me, investigate the effects Adrenaline has on fine motor skills)
That is why I use the compact, Mace brand triple-action fogger. It emits a “fog”, which covers a larger area than a spray, requiring little or no aiming. This also comes in handy even while you are running. You can spray it behind you and it will linger in the air for a while meaning the attacker will pass through it and feel some anguish. Additionally, the “triple” in the name means it not only contains pepper spray, but also tear gas and a UV dye for identification later by the police.
This makes the spray very effective against those who are immune to pepper sprays, or, just adds that extra amount of pain. I will be brutally honest, and forceful about the pepper spray explanation I have just written: I do not like, or use, “stream” pepper sprays and only trust my personal protection to the fogger models. Their additional size, to me, is worth it in order to obtain the added benefit. This compact fogger is about the size of a spice bottle in your kitchen (not that big!) and costs $18.95 USD.
Now, what if your attacker is very determined and/or unphased by the spray... Run away, if you can, but if not, you have to
do your best in the fight that ensues. That leads us to physical fighting methods, and the ones I study are Krav Maga and the Kubotan.
Both Krav Maga and the use of the Kubotan go very well together. Learn Krav Maga first, and do so at a licensed facility. Quite honestly, there is nothing better than learning self-defense techniques with a teacher, and other students. It is well worth the membership fee, the drive back and forth to the dojo, the sweat, and the effort. I recommend you learn the Kubotan last. It is a very up-close and personal weapon, and you may not always have it, or a similar object with you at the time of an attack (or, you may panic and forget to put a stick into your hand).
I have broken down the characteristics of each into a list so you can see, very quickly, if they appeal to you too.
Krav Maga (Israeli Self Defense)
Website: http://www.kravmaga.com/
- Easy to learn
- Emphasizes groin strikes, head strikes, neck strikes, and street fighting techniques (punches, elbows, low kicks, multiple attacks with high pain levels)
- Emphasizes immediate counter attacks as the best defense
- Uses the body's natural reflexes (making it easier to learn)
- Emphasizes strikes at any vulnerable body part, especially the groin
- Taught in a stressful environment, under simulated duress, to simulate real life encounters (loud music, dark rooms, smoke, all after getting you very tired, etc..)
- Teaches grappling (getting out of grabs, headlocks, chokes)
- Strike Techniques are common and simple (hammer first, hook punches, straight punches, low kicks)
- Does NOT use ancient fighting weapons (spears, swords, etc..)
- Focuses on modern-day fighting weapons such as sticks, knives, handguns and long-guns
- Very few "levels" or "belts", instead focuses on techniques and proficiency
- Advanced techniques build upon basic techniques learned in the first level
- Students begin sparring very early on
- Krav Maga was perfected in modern, real-world encounters within the past 40 years
- It is NOT a sparring sport/martial-art for competitions. It is meant for self-defense.
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The Kubotan (Small Fighting Stick)
Website: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kubotan
Similar to a Yawara or Dulo Dulo
- It's just a stick, so it is not illegal
- Can easily be improvised (pen, utensil, flashlight, etc..)
- Extremely effective at causing pain
- Can be applied to soft joints, or hard bony parts of the body
- Small, light, and easy to carry. Often as a keychain.
- Easy to learn how to use it
- Needs little strength to be effective
- Very inexpensive
To learn how to use the Kubotan at home, visit the site below. It has videos for at home training
that show simple examples. However, as I see them, they are "add-ons" to strikes you
learn in other martial arts, except that you now have a Kubotan in your hand. Better
stated: first you had better learn how to punch, and spar. Then, only then, should you try to learn how the
Kubotan can better your punches, blocks, chokes, etc..
URL: http://www.sds-concept.com/trainingsds.html
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My experience with Krav Maga
Let me explain more about Krav Maga, using my own experiences, because the list above doesn't really do it justice.
The clothes you wear to class are work-out clothes, not anything special, and are meant to be as close to regular street clothes
as possible. You will also wear regular tennis shoes.
The instructor plays loud rock-and-roll music throughout the session to distract you, to get you used to noise and stress.
The first part of your training session is spent getting you TIRED, and your heart-rate pumping. This
is meant to simulate the stress of a real life situation, in which you will have lots of adrenaline pumping, heart racing, and be
tired from running or evading your attacker.
Only after you are tired, and your heart is racing, do you begin to learn.
The techniques are simple, by design, so they can be easy to learn as well as effective. They are also based on natural instincts.
You will not learn something the body finds awkward, or does not use as a reaction already (e.g. reactions to chokes)
You start out by learning basic techniques:
- Straight punches
- Knees to the groin
- Kicks to the groin
- "Inner" Defenses (block straight punches)
- "Outer" Defenses (block hook punches, stick attacks, knife attacks, sweeping in from above, the sides, or below)
- Hook punches, uppercuts, elbows, other kicks
You will alternate the learning of attacks (listed above) with how to get out of chokes, grabs, locks, etc.. This means
you will become proficient in fighting very quickly. So, one day it is punches, the next it is getting out of choke holds,
the day after that is kicks, and the following day is escaping grabs from behind, etc..
In my class we learned two techniques each night.
The learning of a new technique starts out slow. The instructor shows it to you in slow motion, and then uses
it on a volunteer, in slow motion. Then, you pair up and try it with your partner, taking turns. You usually
start out by using the technique once (e.g. one kick, one punch, etc..).
The tempo is then escalated and you are told to throw repeated punches, or kicks, or whatever the technique is.
After that, once more the tempo is escalated as you are told to switch partners, or begin running around attacking/defending at random
with multiple attacks.
(keep in mind, you are already tired from the first half of the session which was meant to get you tired)
With kicks, or knees to the body, your partner has a pad in front of them. That way they don't get hurt, and
you can apply 100% force as if the attack were real. You are told to attack without holding back, with as much strength
as possible. This becomes very tiresome at the end of class, after the tempo reaches a climax, at which time you are attacking
with three kicks/knees, per person, against multiple people. So, it is kick, kick, kick, then run to another person,
and attack them with 3 kicks, then run to another person, attack them with 3.... etc.. until class ends.
You end the class exhausted, sweaty, and with that session's technique burned/scarred into your brain
and muscles because you repeated it so often (dozens if not hundreds of times), under stress, and while
very tired. [ it reminds me of a military saying: "train like you fight, fight like you train" ]
That is how and why you learn the techniques so well, and so quickly. They are simple, straight-forward,
and etched into your body under stress so they may become a natural instinct.
As you advance, ALL other techniques are based on the fundamentals you have learned in the "basics".
So, to disarm a knife attack, you start out with an "inner" or "outer" punch defense, which so happens
to be useful against a knife attack (by design), while at the same time you throw a straight punch, or multiple punches as a counter attack.
Because you had already learned the "outer" defense in an early class, and the same goes for the straight punch,
the learning of the newer, more advanced knife defense technique comes easy. Each technique builds on the previous, more basic
techniques.
Last but not least, each "advanced" technique is meant to be improvised a little. Krav Maga does not teach
you to repeat the technique exactly, every time, and does not expect the attacker to behave the exactly same
way, every time. For example, in the defense against a stick attack, you will block the strike as best as
you can, depending on its direction (from the inside, or the outside) using a very specific block technique, but once you have done that you can
kick to the groin and/or punch the face, etc.. multiple times if need be. That "block" technique may be taught
in a specific and unwavering manner, but the attacks you throw afterwards can vary according to your needs in the fight.
For example, if the attacker then falls down, you can continue to knee their body
OR hammer first their head and neck. Etc.. There are no "points" or "grades" for doing the technique
exactly, move for move. Yes, techniques *are* taught, and their basics should
be followed very nearly exactly, but the mixing up of punches and kicks is up to you.
With Krava Maga they teach you how to get out of various grabs (from the side, front, back), choke holds (side, front, back),
how to stomp on someone, or someone's foot, how to knee them in the groin, how to kick them in the groin, how
to kick to push them away, how to punch, throw combinations of punches, how to dodge/duck punches, how to
keep your guard up (ALWAYS!), how to have a good stance, how to move correctly.
Learning Krav Maga is like learning boxing, mixed with street fighting, mixed with wrestling, and taking the best
from other martial arts for kicks, and ground fighting.
The Desire to “Win” and Live
Now on to the final point: the desire to “win”, and to live.
Many people have only had that, desire, and nothing else. No training, no weapon, and they weren’t even aware of their attacker before it was too late, yet they still survived. Their desire to live, to “win” the fight, was so strong that they overcame their attacker and beat them off.
The reverse may also be true. If you are well-trained, well-armed, and see the person who is going to attack you, but you feel depressed that day and don’t feel up to the fight, you probably are going to lose.
Just as desire has a key role with success in school, careers, money, and relationships, it has the same with your life at the moment of danger. I like my life, I don't want it harassed or put in danger, and I recommend that you try to maintain that as well.
Whatever works
All of the above explain what has worked for me. If you find a martial art, or self-defense fighting style, that you are more comfortable with, then use it instead. If you like your keys more than a kubotan, use them instead. If you have found great success throwing rocks at your attackers, by all means, continue. There are dozens of ways to avoid a fight, there are just as many different fighting styles, and hundreds of ways to fend off an attacker. Use what works. Period.
( Screaming bloody murder, unleashing your dog, throwing your wallet, spitting your drink at them, stomping on their toes, throwing objects, swinging a stick, etc.. if it works, why not? )
What I see in Krav Maga, the Kubotan, and fogger pepper sprays make great sense to me. They are easy to learn, effective, and don’t require years of determined study, large muscles, or amazing athletic skills.
Krav Maga is a "gross motor skill" self-defense system, which means it teaches attacks and movements that do not need to be finely controlled.
It is also meant to be learned quickly, and sparring follows training sessions so you can practice. If you are interested in a different
martial art that is more classical, take a look at Wing Tsun. (Krav Maga is said to me more "martial" than "art": emphasis on using nasty methods, groin kicks, stomps, use of make-shift weapons)
This article first published on: August 9, 2007
© Copyright 2007 - Jeff Skrysak - All rights reserved.
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