subject: Martial Arts - Are You Setting Yourself Up To Get Your Arm Broken In A Real Self-defense Situation? [print this page] When it comes to defending targets against an assailant's attacks, especially striking attacks, a martial art student focusing on real-world effective self protection must be careful that you're not overlooking one. While this target may be practically invisible to most attackers, not to mention martial arts students and teachers, facing a skilled attacker who knows how to exploit this weakness can have you on the losing end with a badly damaged arm, if not more, when everything is all over.
What is this target?
And how can an attacker get to this target and you end up with a broken arm, or close to it, as a bare minimum?
Before I answer that question, let me ask you one.
Have you ever seen a boxer's stance? Have you ever watched boxers move around during a match?
I'm sure you have.
Now, where are their arms?
Held almost vertically. Right?
And they do it for safety - to protect their heads and faces from being pummeled by their opponent's fists, right?
Of course.
Here's another question.
Have you ever looked at pictures or film footage of one of the old-style boxers? You know, like Joe Lewis, or even those who came before him? Have you ever seen how boxers stood back then, or held their arms...before boxing gloves came along?
If you haven't, you really owe it to yourself to take a look so you can understand what I'm talking about. Especially if you're serious about being able to defend yourself against an assailant who's serious about beating, breaking, or even killing you.
To get to the point, here's a little about the old school, bare-knuckle fighters. Even those who fought with gloves, didn't have the level of padding that we do today. So, they positioned their arms and fists in very different positions than modern boxers.
And why was that?
Because they knew that holding your arms up and out in front of your attacker's fists, would get them hit. They also knew that if their arms were hit while in this position, that they stood the chance of punching themselves in the face with their own fist!
What does this have to do with you learning self-defense. Simple. Because many programs are teaching their students to fight or defend themselves with their arms in this modern boxer position.
"So," you might be saying, "what's the problem?"
The problem is that not understanding why something is done, or why it works in one context, can lead you to think that it works all the time. And, particularly when we're talking about self-defense and not-dying at the hands of a criminal attacker, this is certainly true.
The reason that modern boxers can hold their arms the way they do is because of their gloves. Sport martial artists fighting in tournaments can get away with this too. It's because the opponent's knuckles are covered with padding that protects your arms. So, these fighters generally avoid the arms as a target. They know that it's useless.
But, without the gloves, the knuckles can deal a lot of damage to the narrow bones of your forearm. Something that's just not an issue in the ring.
my point here is this: if you're studying martial arts to win trophies or to get belts, do whatever style you want and the best of luck to you. However, if you're trying to develop the ability to protect yourself against a brutal attacker who will do anything to win, there are certain mistakes you can't afford to make.
So, regardless of what you've been taught, avoid holding your arms vertically or at least turned with the broad back of the forearm out and rely on distance to keep the bad guy from being able to damage your arms. After all, it's going to be very difficult to throw your own punches with arms that have been weakened or even broken because you put them out there for him to hammer on.
