Self defense is not about winning sporting matches. It is about avoiding, deterring, or defending yourself against actual attacks. Real self defense is not about pride or sportsmanship. Someone who practices self defense well will walk or run away from a bad situation without worrying about whether they are saving face or looking manly. Pride is not the point of self defense. Good self defense does everything possible to avoid a fight. However, real self defense will provide the skills so that if an attack occurs it can be ended quickly. Because of this, street self defense tactics can be vicious, brutal, and even deadly.

Real self defense is about protecting yourself when someone attacks you. If someone verbally threatens you and puts up their fists, they are not actually attacking you. If someone is breaking vases on the ground and threatening you, they are still not really attacking you. They are only posturing. If someone swears at you out of their car window, they have not really attacked you. There are many responses you can choose in these situations. For example, in a road rage situation when someone yells at you, if you pull over your car to the side of the road and get in a fight with them, this is not really a self defense situation. Instead, it is actually an agreed-upon fight. True self defense will do everything possible to deter someone from attacking or else to avoid the attack. In a road rage situation, from a self-defense perspective, the wise thing to do would be to keep on driving and avoid the situation. However, if someone actually moves toward you or toward the ones you love with the intention of hurting them, then this constitutes an actual attack.

Real self defense must provide the ability to protect yourself physically. If you cannot keep yourself safe, you don’t really have a self defense system. Real self defense must also take into account the fact that the odds may be stacked against you. Attackers are not interested in sportsmanship or fairness. They will use any method possible in order to get what they want. In fact, they will intentionally set things up so that they are not fair. An attacker may be substantially stronger and heavier than you are. An attacker might be 100 pounds heavier than you and spend 4 hours a day in a gym. An attacker may even use a knife or a gun. Attackers may work as a group and surprise you when you are tired or sick. Real self defense should take into account these factors. It should be able to get you out of incredibly tough situations, some of which are not even addressed in some martial arts.

Self defense also must take into account the legal ramifications of what you might do to defend yourself. For example, if you are attacked, but you use more physical force than is really necessary to end the attack, you might win the fight in the situation, but end up paying for it dearly in court. A real self defense system will not only train how to protect yourself, but also how to end an attack quickly and get away.

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Category: Sports
Keywords: self defense, maryville martial arts