subject: Inside An Attack - The Last Place You Want To Find Out That Your Self Defense Techniques Don't Work! [print this page] Are you serious about learning real self defense techniques that work, today, in the real-world? With the ever-increasing crime rate, the threat of terrorism, and the escalation of workplace violence attacks, is easy to see why more and more people are looking for a good self defense course.
But... "what do you have to do to survive a real street attack?" And...
..."how can you make sure that what you're learning will work, not just in your martial arts or self defense class but, in a real situation?"
Believe it or not, but these two, not-so-simple, questions are the necessary keys to getting precisely what you need. In fact, this is one of the key principles found in any solid, honest, and realistic training program - learning to ask the right questions to get the answers you need for success.
Here's what I mean?
Most people approach a teacher of self-defense, or anything else for that matter, with the question:
"What can you teach me?"
And that question will get you an answer. In fact, it will get you a whole range of answers. Unfortunately, most of those answers won't serve you very well.
Why?
Because the answers will be as vague as the question.
When I'm approached by a student or prospective client with this question, my response is to ask other questions. I do this because I have to find out exactly what's needed. Otherwise, I could end up showing this person a whole bunch of stuff that, quite frankly, may be a complete waste of their time and mine. Could I make a lot of money doing this? Sure. You see it all the time in karate schools, self-defense classes, and in book stores and on the internet.
Is it effective? Well, it does answer the student's question.
Will it be effective in a real attack? Hopefully.
But, let me ask you...
Do you want to "hope" that what you're learning will work, or do you want to "know" that you have the tools to take decisive action and, at the very least, have the advantage over most attackers who will be throwing the most common attacks at you?
To illustrate this important lesson further, let me tell you about Nathan Cooper. Nathan came to me after training in Tae Kwon Do for over 8 years, and realized that, after seeing a real attack, that he wasn't being trained to handle THAT kind of fight - even though he was told that he was.
Oh, Nate was a genius in tournaments. He won nearly every match and had trophies stacked upon trophies in his room.
But, even though he trusted his training with me, it wasn't until the unthinkable happened, that he got the full gist of the lessons. Because...
It wasn't until after successfully defending himself (and two of his friends) in a mall parking lot one night, against two attackers armed with a knife and attitudes that were looking for trouble, did he really understand the difference between martial arts training, and real-world self defense training!
Nate told me that at no time did he ever have an opportunity to use what he learned in his prior martial arts training. He said that, what was obvious and routine in all the competitions that he was in, never materialized during the attack.
He told me that he was pleased to note that he felt "in total control" of the situation because, not only did his new techniques work flawlessly but, the scenario played out exactly like he was taught it would in class. He said that he not only felt like he was able to control the attackers, but he was also in control of the overall situation. And, even though he couldn't prevent them from wanting to attack, he "could" control how" they attacked, and other variables.
And the great thing was that, Nate wasn't even a black belt yet!
