Firstly, you cannot learn how to defend yourself by reading a book or sitting down watching social media, you have to go and practice. Here I will give you some pointers on what skills you need to develop to be able to defend yourself, your clients and your families without using firearms.

There are many myths and schools of thought on what makes an effective unarmed combat or martial arts system for real world self-defense. All I will say is that there are many people confusing martial art systems that are developed for sports fighting and hobbies as realistic self-defense systems. I have had students come through my courses that have been taught, and trusted techniques that work in a gym with a compliant partner, but don’t work in my classes where those they are training with are not so compliant. On the street trying to do a fancy technique on a criminal who will not be compliant, and possibly on drugs, or drunk, and who will not be fighting fair can get you severely hurt to say the least!

Use of force is a last resort and should be avoided at all costs, fighting is for amateurs. If you do get into a situation where you must use force, you want to end it quickly, and not to be rolling around on the floor trying to make your opponent tap out. As with everything else you must work out a plan of action and a strategy for dealing with a potentially violent situation. You must keep things simple, if a self-defense technique is difficult and complicated for you to master in a gym don’t bother with it; on the street your only concern is doing damage to your opponent, and not getting damaged yourself.

Fights generally take place at very close quarters, and, unlike the open space of a dojo or gym, there will be many obstacles which you can trip over, or you can be pushed into. You will not have the space to get into a guard position or to do a textbook kick. Try kicking someone and then remaining standing while on a wet tiled bathroom floor in a club or restaurant!

From thirty-five years’ experience of dealing with violent situations and training people of all genders and from all backgrounds, I have come to the conclusion that the easiest way to train people how to defend themselves is to teach them the weak spots on the body and how to attack them. There are numerous target areas on the body that only need to be attacked with nominal force to cause permanent if not lethal damage. In reality there is no way a 5’4” female who is 120lb will be able to square off and successfully fight a 6’3”, 250 lb male criminal. Can the female break up the criminal, sure if they use the right strategy and forget about fighting fair. Remember, fighting is for amateurs, we want to avoid problems or end them!

As I said before use of force is a last resort, and you must do all you can to avoid confrontations. Unlike the movies, street fights are not glamorous and, if someone is hit over the head with a bottle, they won’t just shake it off and walk away unscathed. In reality, if someone is hit on the head with a glass bottle, there will be a lot of blood, someone will be going to the hospital and there is a very good chance in most places someone else will be arrested.

Even if you find yourself in a situation where you have the right to defend yourself, you must never use excessive force against the person who is attacking you. For example, if someone grabs your arm on the street and demands your wallet and you react by breaking his nose, who do you think would be in the wrong? The only evidence the police will have is your claim that the guy tried to rob you, and, if there were no other witnesses, it would only be your word against your attacker’s. However, they will have the guy’s broken nose as proof that you assaulted him.

In some countries the fact you are a foreigner and have struck a local could easily get you arrested, even if you were rightfully defending yourself. So, you must only use appropriate force when defending yourself and you must always be able to justify that the use of force was necessary. The laws on the use of force vary greatly from area to area, in places like the United Kingdom where all weapons are banned, if you hurt a criminal who was breaking into your home the chances are you’ll be charged with assult by the police. In contrast, in Florida, U.S. if a criminal is breaking into your home and you are in fear for your safety, you are within your rights to shoot them. Do your research, knowing the law is all part of an efficient self-defense program.

The main things you will need to win a fight are confidence and aggression, some people naturally have these qualities, and others don’t. The armed forces instill these qualities into individuals through strenuous training, discipline, pushing people to their limits, physical and verbal abuse. They are difficult qualities to really teach people, especially civilians who might only attend a couple of one-hour martial arts classes a week. You need to realistically think about how you would handle being in a confrontation, not in a dojo or gym, but being attacked by some thug who is going to stab you to death, or rape you, in some dark side street, and then laugh about it. Visualize this situation and determine how you would genuinely feel and determine how you would be able to successfully defend yourself.

You also need some degree of physical fitness; by fitness I don’t mean you need to be physically big or muscular and be of an Olympic standard. I have come across numerous well-muscled and big guys who, at first glance, would appear to be intimidating but when tested, could not fight. This may have been due to their lack of confidence and aggression or the fact they were just too big and slow. You need the physical ability to move, throw multiple punches and low kicks. Remember, the more physically fit you are, the better fighter you will be.

Attitude
Over the years I have had students come to my classes who have been through other programs and told how they can prevent themselves being victimized, and how as a potential victim they could defend themselves. To me these people were already being placed at a severe disadvantage by being told they were a potential victim. You’re only a victim if you let yourself be. You need a positive attitude, why should you be afraid of some scum bag that tries to intimidate, bully and rob people for a living.

Strategies
To me this is the most important thing that you will need to consider when putting together a self-defense program. The criminals will have at least put together a mental plan and strategy for attacking you, so should you not have one for how to counter them? The easiest way to assess someone’s personal security is to go up and ask them the time. Now think about how you would react if a stranger approached you and asked you the time; what’s your body language going to be saying, are you going to tell them the time, will you be in a fighting stance, are there any obstacles in your area that can trip you up, can you access your weapons etc.

Body Language
One of the main things that you need to learn is how to assess someone’s body language and control your own. This is very important in a self-defense situation as you need to try to identify someone’s intentions and not telegraph to them your potential response.

Counterattack
Once you have identified that you are going to have to deal with a violent situation you need to quickly workout your strategy and put into operation your counterattack.

Distractions
Distractions are very important in violent confrontations because they can give you the time needed to disable the attacker. For example, a man confronts you with a knife, he is three to four feet away from you. If you throw something at his head, such as your keys, or wallet he will move, which gives you time to get close and take out his knee. A distraction could be throwing some coins, your jacket or looking over the attacker’s shoulder and pretending someone is there.

Improvised Weapons
The first rule of unarmed combat is to always pick up a weapon! Forget the Queensbury Rules and fair fighting, you must win and to win you have to fight dirty. Anything can be used as a weapon: pens, keys, glasses, plates, umbrellas, rolled-up newspapers, ash trays. Look around you and see what is close at hand and think how you could use it to defend yourself.

Ground Fighting
Do everything you can to avoid getting into a grappling match with an attacker and ending up on the floor. Ground fighting, MMA and wrestling techniques are for sports fighting and gyms. If you are in a street fight and end up on the floor you are in a potentially lethal position, one good kick to your head can kill you or cause severe brain damage.

Striking Techniques
Unlike the tough guys in the movies, do not rely upon one single strike to knock someone out and end a confrontation. There is a good chance that you may miss your target area, so you should attack a number of strike points all in succession. You should practice your striking techniques, even if it’s by yourself and on an old punch bag. You must learn how to punch and kick properly, which does not take much time. Remember, punches and kicks thrown the wrong way can lead to you injuring yourself, which is the last thing you want if you’re in a confrontation.

Orlando “Andy” Wilson

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