Why Certain Martial Arts Don’t Take Into Account The Realities of Self Defense
One thing about martial arts that is completely unsuitable for defending yourself in a street attack is its propensity to focus on set moves and techniques. While it is important to concentrate on performing strikes with good technique in order to hurt your opponent and not yourself, too many martial arts training courses are overly concerned with teaching students how to defend themselves from specific attacks.
It may come as a surprise to you learn that self defense training and martial arts are not one and the same. While it is true that both are designed to defend yourself there are some very noticeable differences. There are similarities which include giving trainees the confidence to go out there and walk the streets knowing that they are equipped with the tools to deal with a street attack. However, while martial arts is also designed for tournament combat, self defense is geared towards one goal only, surviving a street attack which is why they have distinct differences.
One thing about martial arts that is completely unsuitable for defending yourself in a street attack is its propensity to focus on set moves and techniques. While it is important to concentrate on performing strikes with good technique in order to hurt your opponent and not yourself, too many martial arts training courses are overly concerned with teaching students how to defend themselves from specific attacks. As everyone knows by now, street fights don’t do predictability. Therefore, certain techniques not taught in martial arts training must be shown to students. This allows them to adjust during the course of a fight, giving them the greatest chance of success. You cannot expect your opponent to come at you in a certain way. What if they have a weapon or someone gets cut, another party intervenes etc.? You need to learn self defense moves that expect the unexpected.
Another problem with some martial arts training courses is the way they don’t encourage full contact during sparring sessions. This does not mean brutal fist fights should be advocated but a certain level of contact is necessary to fully prepare a student for the inevitable blows that will rain down on them during a fight. There is nothing wrong with having gloves and headgear as the last thing an instructor wants is serious injuries to their pupils but with all this protection, there really should be a greater level of intensity. Jumping around feinting and shadow boxing is no way to prepare you for a real street fight with involves kicking, punching, biting and scraping.
This lack of action means that these sessions lack passion which should be a prerequisite of all self defense training. Being involved in a real street fight is one of the most stressful things that can happen to a person. Sparring without being hit in no way prepares you for the surge of adrenaline and emotion that courses through you once it becomes apparent someone wants to hurt you. Martial arts training can be too focused on theories and not enough on practice which is not conducive to a successful program. The bottom line is that martial arts pupils should be as emotionally prepared as they are physically for the challenge of defending themselves. The only way to do this is to allow sparring sessions with a bit of venom and menace within reason of course.
While martial arts training is guilty of certain things that could affect your chances in a street fight, it is nonetheless an excellent way of defending yourself but only if it prepares you for a street attack as self defense is a lot different in reality than it is in a dojo or on a written page.
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