Practicing Self Defense for Beginners

[Steve]

Definitely no short cuts are available.

Things people train for years to be good in

• Playing Music
• Cooking
• Drawing
• Singing
• Playing a sport (tennis, football, basketball, golf.etc)
• Driving a car (every time we are in the car it's practice time)
• Flying a plane
• Being a teacher
• Being a scientist
• Being a parent
• Going to school

But when people want to learn self-defense they always try to short cut it and then expect to be good at it.

People train to be parents? People train to go to school? Those struck me as funny. Training for school and for parenting are both typically OJT.

Those two aside, the analogy doesn't completely make sense. What do all of those people have in common? They do the thing they're learning. They play music... lots of it. They teach classes. Tons of them. They log countless hours driving cars and actually track the number of hours they spend flying planes. They cook food that they will eat just about every day, and they actually create drawings.

What does a typical self defens...er do?

I understand your point, that there are things that have a steeper and more protracted learning curve. But a cook doesn't get better as a cook unless he/she cooks. A pilot doesn't actually get better as a pilot unless he/she flies a plane.

 

[JowGaWolf]

Striking for the purposes of self defence is done pre-emptively. Criminals do not tend to bob and weave or use fighting footwork during the interview stage which precedes a crime, nor during the distraction stage before they sucker punch or put a knife to your throat so they can rob/rape/kill you.

What you are talking about, and what the video you have posted relates to (hence its title) is street fighting which is illegal, as opposed to self-defence which is legal. It is important to understand the difference, if only for the legal and financial consequences which can follow one but not the other.

you totally missed the point I was making

 

[Paul_D]

you totally missed the point I was making

Your point was hitting moving target changes how you punch. The point is you are not hitting a moving target in self defence, at least not if you are doing it properly.

 

[drop bear]

Your point was hitting moving target changes how you punch. The point is you are not hitting a moving target in self defence, at least not if you are doing it properly.

What do you do if a criminal doesnt attack using your rules of correct criminal attack. I dont know say he does move.

Then how do you address that?

 

[Paul_D]

What do you do if a criminal doesnt attack using your rules of correct criminal attack. I dont know say he does move.

Then how do you address that?

They aren't my rules I'm not criminal. They aren't rules, they are known as The Rituals Of Violence.

What sort of movement are you talking about?

 

[JowGaWolf]

People train to be parents? People train to go to school?

Yes people train to be parents. There are classes for it.
People train to go to college by working hard to do well in high school, which helps them to win fully or partially paid scholarships. How many hours were put into studying and training the mind and the skill sets? In tribes and villages the youth are trained to take the roles that they have as adults, this includes being parents and hunters. This same type of training also happens in modern societies

But a cook doesn't get better as a cook unless he/she cooks. A pilot doesn't actually get better as a pilot unless he/she flies a plane

That's the point I was making. You can't be good in school unless you go to school. You can't be a good parent unless you are a parent. You can't be good in self defense unless you practice self-defense and the quality time and training that you put into it will determine how well you are able to perform. There are exceptions but it's not the norm.

There have been people who have not done cooking who are able to cook well. There are people who have never flown planes, who have flown and landed planes in emergencies. The important things between exceptions and training is that it's an exception and not a norm.

What does a typical self defens...er do?

The "typical self defenser" trains movement not self defense. This is evidence by not having sparring or using resistance appropriately. Train by doing.

If fighting and self-defense means that a person has to block and avoid punches and kicks, then training should include this. Kicks and punches should be similar and as close to real punches and resistance as possible, without resulting in injuries that prevent training or cause permanent damage. For example, Flight Simulators.

If you look at what people do to be good in something you'll see that they put quality time in training and learning. But when it comes to self-defense many people short-cut their training and expect to be good at something that they don't spend time in actually training. I have a student that only shows up for a sparring class and a regular class. So she only gets 1 class of drilling kung fu techniques. She gets down on herself that she's not fighting well in sparring class. What she fails to understand is that she only does 1 class learning kung fu techniques which is 1 hour of week. Sparring class is used to help students learn how to use during the regular classes. So while she is getting the sparring in, she's not getting the other half which is learning the techniques.

 

[JowGaWolf]

Your point was hitting moving target changes how you punch. The point is you are not hitting a moving target in self defence, at least not if you are doing it properly.

You are still missing the point. When you are are being attacked, is your attacker moving? Is your attacker trying to defend against your attacks as well? If you attack me like a criminal, will you move your face if you see me punching for it or will you just stay there and let me punch you in your face while I try to defend myself.

 

[Steve]

Yes people train to be parents. There are classes for it.

But most people don't go to those classes. Or maybe I'm the only one who didn't.

People train to go to college by working hard to do well in high school, which helps them to win fully or partially paid scholarships. How many hours were put into studying and training the mind and the skill sets? In tribes and villages the youth are trained to take the roles that they have as adults, this includes being parents and hunters. This same type of training also happens in modern societies

Give it up. High school is on one hand nothing like college. On the other, at best, being as generous as possible, on the job training for college. I don't know what the heck you're talking about with the tribal stuff.

That's the point I was making. You can't be good in school unless you go to school. You can't be a good parent unless you are a parent.

This isn't training, though. School isn't training (well, I mean, it's inherently training, but being a student isn't training to be a student). You get a 2.5 in Eng 101, that's it. That's your grade. You could possibly go back and retake the class, but you're live. You're not pretending to be a student in preparation to be a student.

One doesn't pretend to be a parent in order to prepare to be a parent. No amount of playing with dolls will replicate the responsibilities of a parent.

But I agree with you that you must go to school to be a good student, and you must be a parent to be a good parent.

You can't be good in self defense unless you practice self-defense

Ah, see, you lost me at "practice." That's not the same thing.

and the quality time and training that you put into it will determine how well you are able to perform.

Errr... yeah... I agree that quality time and training are important, but you seem to be willfully ignoring the elephant in the room here. Or maybe you just truly don't see it. I don't know.

There have been people who have not done cooking who are able to cook well. There are people who have never flown planes, who have flown and landed planes in emergencies. The important things between exceptions and training is that it's an exception and not a norm.

And there are people who have never trained in a martial art who have successfully defended themselves from a mugger, rapist or potential homicidal maniac. I'm not sure what you're driving at here.

The "typical self defenser" trains movement not self defense. This is evidence by not having sparring or using resistance appropriately. Train by doing.

If fighting and self-defense means that a person has to block and avoid punches and kicks, then training should include this. Kicks and punches should be similar and as close to real punches and resistance as possible, without resulting in injuries that prevent training or cause permanent damage. For example, Flight Simulators.

If you look at what people do to be good in something you'll see that they put quality time in training and learning. But when it comes to self-defense many people short-cut their training and expect to be good at something that they don't spend time in actually training. I have a student that only shows up for a sparring class and a regular class. So she only gets 1 class of drilling kung fu techniques. She gets down on herself that she's not fighting well in sparring class. What she fails to understand is that she only does 1 class learning kung fu techniques which is 1 hour of week. Sparring class is used to help students learn how to use during the regular classes. So while she is getting the sparring in, she's not getting the other half which is learning the techniques.

I like where you're headed here, but you should distinguish between what you're doing and self defense.

 

[Steve]

They aren't my rules I'm not criminal. They aren't rules, they are known as The Rituals Of Violence.

What sort of movement are you talking about?

Like most beginners, you attacked me wrong:

 

[Paul_D]

If you attack me like a criminal, will you move your face if you see me punching

And you are missing the point. Criminals do not fight you. They ask you the time then when you look at your watch sucker punch you (and keep punching and do not stop punching your you until you are no longer able to defend yourself), or they put a knife to your throat. They don't punch you then stop and wait for you to have a turn.

So, to answer you question, if I attacked you like a criminal. You wouldn't be given the opportunity to punch me.

 

[Paul_D]

Like most beginners, you attacked me wrong:

Why would you wait for a physically attack to begin before defending yourself?

 

[drop bear]

And you are missing the point. Criminals do not fight you. They ask you the time then when you look at your watch sucker punch you (and keep punching and do not stop punching your you until you are no longer able to defend yourself), or they put a knife to your throat. They don't punch you then stop and wait for you to have a turn.

So, to answer you question, if I attacked you like a criminal. You wouldn't be given the opportunity to punch me.

I don't wear a watch. That would pretty much foil them right there.

 

[drop bear]

They aren't my rules I'm not criminal. They aren't rules, they are known as The Rituals Of Violence.

What sort of movement are you talking about?

Ok. So a criminal comes up to me and asked for the time. And I of course know the commandments of robbing. And tell him to back off and create space. Now due to the tennants of theft he has to lunge at me with the overhand right. Which I block and punch him in the face.

At this point I shape up. And he shapes up. And we enter into a more traditional style of fight.Now here is the trick. No criminal has ever trained martial arts and due to the requirements of scumbaggery he is now unable to deal with this shift in dynamics. So I have him in a position where I have the advantage. And am in a much safer position to beat him.

 

[Gerry Seymour]

Always use an anatomically correct torso target. Do not punch and kick in the air, and do not waste your time punching and kicking a simple bag...it has to look like a real target for proper conditioning.

How is the look so vital to conditioning?

 

[Gerry Seymour]

Striking for the purposes of self defence is done pre-emptively. Criminals do not tend to bob and weave or use fighting footwork during the interview stage which precedes a crime, nor during the distraction stage before they sucker punch or put a knife to your throat so they can rob/rape/kill you.

What you are talking about, and what the video you have posted relates to (hence its title) is street fighting which is illegal, as opposed to self-defence which is legal. It is important to understand the difference, if only for the legal and financial consequences which can follow one but not the other.

Are you contending that once someone starts punching, there is no opportunity to counter-punch? Just because he doesn't stop, that doesn't mean there's no opening.

 

[Steve]

Why would you wait for a physically attack to begin before defending yourself?

That right there, folks, is called a "loaded question." It's a type of informal, logical fallacy. Just to impress my friend, Buka, the latin term for this specific fallacy is plurium interrogationum.

 

[MI_martialist]

How is the look so vital to conditioning?

It conditions you to fight a real looking person. It also allows you to know what and how you are striking a target that is shaped like a person. It is similar to the firing rates of the infantry in WW2 compared to Vietnam...

 

[drop bear]

It conditions you to fight a real looking person. It also allows you to know what and how you are striking a target that is shaped like a person. It is similar to the firing rates of the infantry in WW2 compared to Vietnam...

Thats right becuse you guys never use circles.

 

[MI_martialist]

Thats right becuse you guys never use circles.

I don't even know what you mean by that. I am literally confused.

 

[drop bear]

That right there, folks, is called a "loaded question." It's a type of informal, logical fallacy. Just to impress my friend, Buka, the latin term for this specific fallacy is plurium interrogationum.

But do you understand the scions of smiting.