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So you want to know how to defend yourself? Believe me it’s not an easy road and for many people, rightfully so, prefer to avoid the conflict. This is not an article that guarantees you to be an invincible fighter, far from it, but rather takes a look at what tools you can use to help defend yourself. First of all I think its best to understand how combat comes about and how many people view street combat. It’s very important to understand basic differences. Firstly I wish to make it very clear that I am not one to badmouth other systems and my approach is to be as sincere as possible with you.
I have had many street confrontations and although I am not going to claim myself as the best fighter or I am better than the next etc… etc. I would like to pass on what I have understood. Street fighting or rather street aggressions are probably one of the most uncomfortable realities to have to deal with because it covers so many variables. There is no such thing as a foreseeable or predictable fight. This is why many times you hear of heated debates when it comes to talking about real fighting and what self defense versus an MMA system for example has to offer. When it comes to street fighting, you should try and put into category the concept of ‘what it really means to street fight? What works and what doesn’t work? Why does it happen? I could write a thousand articles on how to approach street fighting but I wouldn’t have the time as there are way too many situations.
OK let’s be very clear about the first thing. The mind set is the most important thing. You can have all the tools you want, all the techniques and training regimens, but if you don’t have the proper mindset there’s no way you are going to overcome any obstacle. You need clarity to confront yourself, your ego and the problems life offers. Secondly understand what it really means to defend yourself, your life and what it means to be in real peril. Try and understand local behavior and how people adapt in their societies. Not everybody sees things the way you do and not everybody has the same value sense of morality of what is right and wrong. If someone wants to rob you for example, his circumstances may lead him to believe that robbing is the only way to survive, he could be desperate and is willing to take many chances tha normally you would never consider. I’ll repeat, there are too many variables. So developing a good sense of reality is very important. Don’t be delusional, don’t believe half the crap you see film actors do in martial arts movies, remember you only have one take with your life, they, have 30 to get it right. When you are in a street situation the process is pretty simple, either you confront him or her or else if you’re good at sprinting then I suggest you get out of there. In this article I will approach the common thug. The person who likes to bully, the person who picks his or her prey because he has already developed a coded psychological advantage, believe me most agressors know what they are going up against,whereas you don’t.
The way he dresses may seem threatening, the way he walks, he talks, the way he has shaped up his physique can all seem very intimidating, Usually in a street confrontation the aggressor already knows upfront what he is going up against. Remember that these people have their own code of conduct and understand human behavioral patterns better than you do. So understand that as much as all his preparation can be a psychological strength for him, it could also be his weakness. An aggressor doesn’t always travel alone, he could but not usually. He can be accompanied by two or three other people who support the way he acts and of course this gives much more strength to his presentation. Now lets say this guy approaches you with his friends and has knives and baseball bats, well… maybe you need to re-evaluate your life and understand why you find yourself in that situation. Here are some possible solutions, one, you’ve done something wrong to offend him profoundly and therefore your time has come. Two, you owe him a lot of money and never paid him back in that case I’d probably seek you out and gang up on you as well, we are in global economic crisis at the moment. Three, his team lost in the local football match and you happen to barrack for and are wearing the oppositions team shirt. Four, you squealed to the police saying that he is the local drug dealer and saw him in action. Five, you had sex with his sister and never realized that she was seventeen when up till now she told you she was twenty three. OK having said all this the point of the matter is to help you stimulate a sense of logic and reasoning, understand that many times aggression is a result of action versus consequence. 8 out of 10 times there is usually a reason for aggression. And 80 percent is a fair rating because if you read the newspapers and watch the news you find that many events like local gang bashings or people who mix themselves in local territorial issues find themselves apparent victims of an aggression. That’s why I say to you study social behaviors and you can usually get good advice as to what to avoid.
OK I’m probably going off track so I will give you an example of what has happened to me and how through experience I developed strategies to make my existing self defense system more effective.
The facts are these, not everybody is prepared for street fighting, (thank god for that) usually the people who pick on others to fight are sure of themselves meaning that they know that their opponent shows little or no threat. He observes this almost instinctively, just by observing your posture, the way you walk, the way you talk they way you look at people they can normally tell within a few seconds what you are made of. There is a book relating to how to make an impact on people within 4 seconds, so go figure how the human mind can draw conclusions rapidly. I know this procedure sounds all so judgmental but working in security and after many years, I myself, don’t make too many mistakes when I see who’s about to enter the door. Of course there is always the first time, and I certainly have made my fair share of mistakes. fortunately I am still alive and survived so hopefully you can gain from my experience. You must understand that an aggressor usually likes to take no chances and always tries to have a solid backing, which could mean either friends, a knife or a gun. Now unfortunately there are still many categories of people that when they have had a few with drinks with their friends tend to feel invincible and that believe almost any behavior is acceptable. Let’s add that there are many stimulants and drugs on the black market that can give you a sense of invincibility and other effects that can change human behavior dramatically. So let’s say for example that when some are drunk they feel that they can take an extra risk or two and be more provocative and arrogant. This seems to happen quite a bit, at least in my side of the country. So if you are in a situation where you work alone (like I do) then it could present a few problems. Now I made a decision many years ago that ninety nine percent of the times I will not back down from any situation. (Off course I have said ninety nine percent, I’m not completely stupid). I feel that with my training ability, and experience, I have been able to handle most situations. Most intending mano a mano, believe me your world changes if people attack you with sticks knives and other objects. I have understood that most people on the street are not that fight effective which brings it down to a very very small percentage. What do I mean by this? That many street aggressors have a minimum of effective fighting training and rely much on brute strength, gang members, weapons and street psychology. Fear works great in most neighbourhoods. Not many in fact, really have the individual courage to stand up to a menacing situation and do whatever it takes to resolve it. What do I mean to do whatever it takes? I’ll give you an example, one night working on my own I was subject of a personal vendetta, I was taken by surprise (the whole thing was very carefully planned) and I was attacked without even seeing the first blow by clubs and baseball bats. Now if I didn’t have martial experience the ability to fight back, and even though I was outnumbered I remained lucid and moved as precisely as possible, well… I wouldn’t be here writing this article, I did everything I could do to survive, I got the worst of it and had several stitches on my head. All in all I am, very very lucky.
So in confronting and reacting to a street situation I’ll give an example where things went better for me, I worked in a strip club and I was the only bouncer (it was a small place). There are many a time where you might have as we call ex cons or people released from jail come to the club as clients. In this case a group of them got drunk, and became very abusive with the staff and the dancers. Further more they did not want to pay the entrance fee nor the drinks and so seeing they got little resistance from the staff, they started to get more abusive, to the point where they were slapping around an elderly gentleman, also breaking glasses, and making indecent proposals to the girls etc etc…. Add to the fact that some of these guys even though they’ve been locked in, have no fear whatsoever of the police forces. So they feel pretty much they can do whatever they want. So at this point one of the staff calls me to assist and resolve. Great! Now this is not a boasting procedure of how good I am, these are things that have actually happened and I hope you can learn from it. Firstly, I called the police as to seek assistance, the police in some countries cant come right away so it could take anywhere from 10 minutes to two hours before they arrive, and in that time all hell can break loose. Secondly based on my knowledge and street experience I have an understanding of their mentality and attitudes so I appear not to be so easily intimidated by them. I always try and remain calm and without fear because as soon as these guys get wind that you are scared, believe me they wont waste a minute using it to their advantage. Learning to speak as they do always gives you an advantage. Thirdly I am always very courteous and never rude and I never appear to be scared or weak, respect is always needed in all walks of life. Fourth, I study the positions of the people as I approach the table, I too study immediately who is the weakest and the strongest of the group, if I act I always try and move to my advantage. They can never suspect that you will be the one to move first. (Remember these are extreme situations) I always speak to the leader of the group, I always listen and I never try to dominate the conversation. After all the leader always wants to be feared and respected. If at any point of the conversation I suspect that something is about to happen I will be the first one to react. Now this may seem wrong but I have always found that if I wait too long then I give them more time to study their options.
Remember that they feel they have a psychological advantage because they are convinced that nobody would ever dare to attack them seeing that they are in the majority, so this is a way to catch them off guard. Also look at the facts, out of three or four people how many are well prepared or trained to fight back? How do you think they would react if all of a sudden the victim retaliated like a wildman and started attacking them hysterically with powerful heavy blows? Ever been attacked by an upset Chihuahua? Believe me as small as they are they can be pretty scary as well. So firstly when you know you have no choice but to face a street confrontation be fully aware of these facts. I got to the point that I knew the conversation had deteriorated, the police had not yet arrived and I knew that the next thing to happen was for me to get hit. I used an approach in which I tried to calm their senses and said ‘ hey guys, I really don’t want any troubles with you’! It was at that precise point that as soon as I said those words I launched out a fast powerful attack in which I gave them no breathing space. Now I was probably lucky because only one reacted and the other two were completely shocked, they had no idea what had happened. So once you start dont go half way, you must complete what you started, you cant afford to be half-hearted about this moment in time. I suggest you hit hard and direct, your blows must be effective and each blow must count, many times it is more valuable training powerful blows than hundreds of techniques. A powerful direct blow will resolve almost 85 percent of your problems. Don’t think! Don’t have doubts. Thinking slows you down and you become predictable. Be instinctive! If you prepare yourself and study the human instincts behavior patterns, you can fine tune your self defense techniques into an easier formula. Instinct gives you much more power, instinct fuels your adrenaline, and can make all your strikes more powerful, so I suggest you learn to develop good kicking techniques, elbow strikes, blows using knees, punches, and if need be eye gouges and palm strikes.
Be very quick and decisive remember that once you launch a counter attack and keep pressing him or them with blows you will not give your opponent anytime to think about counter attacking, he will only think about his well being and will desperately try and gain his equilibrium. Remember that when an aggressor becomes the prey he will have the same human fallacies that anybody suffers, his thinking capacity will diminish, he wont be able to formulate a counter attack, his brain simply doesn’t have the time not if your attack has worked well and proficiently. You cant afford to give him any breathing space, and no time to think or react.
The only difference I can point out to you which are the important key things to look out for, is that on a street you wont have a referee, you wont have rules, you will never know what you are going up against, you wont have a doctor in your corner in case you get bashed up.
Now as crazy as my story sounds I know some people I know think I may have reacted too harshly, let me remind you that on the street your aggressors will never care about you or your welfare, that especially if you have two or three against you they will never know how hard they are going to hit nor will they be able to control what part of the body they are striking. Not long ago a young lad was killed in a gang fight because he was kicked in the adam’s apple and died almost instantly.
These are the basic things street life has taught me. It’s not a nice situation but unless you have many many years of training under your belt you will find it hard to apply anything else unless it is a very powerful and effective counterattack. For smaller people, I advise you to remember all the weak points, eyes, throat, groin and if you have to bite, well then bite!
I would like to advise you that unless you have some combat experience I am totally against self defense courses set up to make you have results in 2 weeks or less. Effective self defense systems take time and too many people are in a rush to get results immediately, which in part I can understand, but on the other hand if you really want to look after yourself then make an investment on seeking out qualified people and not just sales pitches to suck you into their courses.
That’s all for now and until next time I will write an article on how to create powerful strikes to make your street defense more effective.
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write by Leighton