Physical Self Defense is force used to counter a threat of violence toward you. The force can either be unarmed or armed. The success you have will depend on you and how well you are prepared. Your being prepared will depend on your mindset and how much you put into your training.
In my thirty plus years in law enforcement, military and personally teaching self-defense and being a student of self-defense I have found that some people don’t believe that anything will ever happen to them where they need to defend themselves in a physical altercation. To these people I nod and wish them the best and hope that they never run across a situation where they need to defend themselves or their loved ones. In today’s crazy world we have a fifty-fifty chance of being victimized in one way or another. Now, don’t get me wrong, I don’t want people to walk around paranoid thinking there is a “creeper” around the next corner. I do believe that we all know someone in our family/friend chain who had a run-in with someone at one time or another whether it be a stranger or family member. There is nothing wrong with being prepared.
Being prepared is not always an overnight success. It is a process of mind/body connection and development. At my facility, RIDDLE DEFENSE in Boca Raton, Florida, we have a process that we take our students through to get them on the correct path of self-protection and self-preservation. First we start with situational awareness and survival mindset. This is a very important beginning because without this the rest is futile. My students need to understand their surroundings and to never give up during an encounter. Once this is learned we get in to the physical aspects of self-defense.
Once we get into the physical aspect of training the student needs to know and understand violence. I call it the “V” word. When I speak about violence and what violence I have seen in my career and its outcome sometimes gets me stares and responses of “eeww” with students shaking their heads.
Students need to understand that there are people out there who are violent and will hurt them for their money, their body or their life. A clear understanding of this can help open doors to the students training.
Violence of Action is another term that a student needs to hear and understand. The term Violence of Action is heard in military and law enforcement SWAT circles. The term means the use of speed, strength, surprise and aggression to achieve total dominance against your enemy. Now most reading this are not military or law enforcement so you may be asking what violence of action has to do with you.
A lot of self-defense situations stem from ambush style attacks. We never see it coming. Awareness of our surrounds is in the gutter. It happens when we are loading our car with groceries and minding our business, not aware and attacked from behind. When this occurs, we are behind the ball trying to catch up but if we start to turn on the violence against the attacker it can give us a better fighting chance to catch up and try to dominate. When you are in a self-defense situation, no matter what fighting technique you use, you must use violence of action otherwise your fighting technique is useless.
Knowing when and how to turn on and off the aggression is important. The aggression stops when the threat against you stops. Anymore will get you into trouble with the law. Keep that in mind.
If you are interested in training at RIDDLE DEFENSE go to RIDDLEDEFENSE.COM for more information.
