Length of time for reasonable self-defense?

[Lynne]

In Tang Soo Do, how long would you say it takes a young adult/adult to learn the basic skills to be able to reasonably defend themselves? Would you say 5 - 6 months? Longer?

 

[Kennedy_Shogen_Ryu]

I personally don't study TSD but one instructor that I train with has. It was the first martial art that he ever studied. And he told me that after 3 months he was almost robbed, but he was able to defend himself using techniques he had learned from TSD. So based on what he has told me I would have to say 3 months.
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[cdunn]

Less than that, probably. You don't really need to be able to do a large number of different things to defend yourself. You need to know the basics of how to escape someone else's grip, how to evade an attack, and be able to put your body weight into a strike, and how to recognize an opportunity to escape. I learned most of that in the first three weeks.

While there are certainly new and valuable things that you learn as you go up in rank, the simple fact that practice makes permanent is half the reason we keep going to class. Your body needs conditioned, and your mind needs conditioned to go full tilt all the time. Half-hearted practice is worse than no practice at all! Self defense is not about having a bunch of techniques. It is about having tools you can rely on without thinking about them, and being ready to apply them when the time comes. Thus, all the training after learning basic techniques. It is about being able to apply them when the time comes.

 

[Lynne]

True, we learned some solid self-defense techniques in the first month. The first two weeks, we learned various blocks, chops to the jaw and sternum, palm strikes to the groin and nose, and escaping wrist grips.

I remember it was rather overwhelming at first.