3 Things to Keep in Mind as You Learn Self Defense
When you first start to learn self defense, everything can quickly become intimidating and overwhelming. You start to think about the infinite amount of situations that arise and how you will react to each one of them. This kind of thought process is going to do you a lot more harm than good. While it is true that you could be placed in a situation that you have not specifically prepared for, by setting a few guidelines that can apply to every situation, you will feel more confident and be more effective. Here are 3 guidelines that can be applied to any situation.
The first is that you absolutely must remain calm. One of the fundamental rules that govern every form of martial arts is that you must always be in control of yourself. This includes both your body and your mind. If you do not stay calm when a dangerous situation arises, you likely response will be a snap-decision made out of fear or under stress. Either way, these states of mind do not allow you to think clearly. By staying calm, you will be able to react quickly and execute the moves that you can practiced over and over again during your hand to hand combat training.
The next guideline is often often one of the hardest to truly let sink in. Expect to get hit. If you are attacked, there is a good chance that you attacker will land at least one strike. Getting hit isn't fun, in fact it will probably hurt. But if you let one or two punches affect what you are going to do, then you might as well not waste your time learning self defense in the first place. Your attacker isn't going to just stand there and let you pummel them, they are going to come at you as hard as they can.
The final guideline is that there are no rules. Nearly all martial arts styles have a set of rules that must be followed while you are training. This isn't the case when are fighting on the sidewalk, in a bar, or even the middle of the street. This is especially true if your attacker seems to be a solid fighter. Ram your fingers in their eyes, throw dirt in their face, kick them in the groin, if it is against the “rules” then it will probably give you an advantage. What's the worse that could happen, someone makes fun of you fighting dirty? That is much better than being one who is laying on ground. The one caveat to this rule is that you should try to avoid strikes to the spine or back of the head because those cause life changing injuries and could land you in jail. Remember, defense not assault and battery.
If you can keep these three guidelines in mind while you learn self defense, you will be much more successful if you ever have to use it. Make sure that you always remain calm and in control, going into every encounter expecting to get hit, and when someone is attacking you on the street, it's all fair game.
