LEARNING TO FIGHT & LEARNING SELF DEFENSE AREN’T THE SAME THING
FIGHTING VS SELF DEFENSE
It never fails. I post my ad on Facebook and Eventbrite advertising our upcoming introductory class for Warriors Krav Maga, and some village idiot will post “do Muay Thai,” do Jujutsu” (and it speaks volumes that they almost always spell jujutsu wrong) or, insert name of their preferred art here. They just don’t seem to grasp that there’s a massive difference between fighting vs self-defense.
There isn’t anything wrong with most of those other arts, by the way. Many are highly respected and good. Muay Thai, for example, is great if you want to learn all you can about fighting stand-up, toe to toe, with someone. You’ll learn combos of punches, kicks, elbows, and knees as well as how to clinch, get out of the same, and some good take-downs to boot. Jujutsu (and they’re almost always referring to Brazilian jujutsu) is also good if you want to dominate in any sort of encounter whereby you go to the ground.
WHAT FIGHTING WON’T TEACH YOU ABOUT SELF DEFENSE
What the village idiots don’t understand is that there is so much more to learning self-defense. If you’ve read my book “How To Be Your Own Bodyguard,” you already know about soft skills. For the uninitiated, those are the skills that have nothing to do with physically fighting anyone but constitute about 75% of self-defense.
Here are some of them:
♦ Understanding how criminals select their victims and why some people are chosen over others.
♦ How to practice counter-surveillance and situational awareness so you can recognize impending attacks.
♦ Verbal skills for de-escalating potential trouble. Remember if you can say something to make a situation worse, you can say something that will make it better.
♦ The legal ramifications of going physical on someone. It’s no good winning a physical altercation if you go to prison for it afterward.
IT’S NOT JUST SOFT SKILLS EITHER
While a study of soft skills is critical in any study of self-defense, there are other aspects of self-defense that you’re not going to learn in your typical MMA or Muay Thai school.
♦ My students learn basic first aid. How do you put your mate or someone you’ve just chinned in a recovery position, so they don’t choke on vomitus or blood for e.g?
♦ How about dealing with an attempted carjacking?
♦ What about a robbery at gunpoint?
♦ How about multiple opponents or weapons?
♦ How about coping with an active shooter scenario?
♦ How about using a pistol for self-defense?
♦ Home defense. No good knowing how to fight if your home is a sieve and unprotected.
SAD
I did something I rarely do and debated with one of these guys for a while. His initial responses when I began to point out the differences were respectful, and it was clear he wasn’t a 12-year-old keyboard warrior living with his mum. Maybe, I naively thought, if I can point out the flaws in his position, he would understand the difference. Sadly he was one of the multitudes who, when presented with facts, dig their heels in harder, convinced even more so that they’re correct. I guess the idea of changing their minds makes them think, “hell, if I admit I’m wrong, that would mean I was incorrect, and we can’t possibly be having that.”
He attacked Krav Maga because he’d seen it at his school and didn’t rate them. I had to point out that just like every other martial art in the world, there are good examples and there are bad ones. Then he countered with verbal de-escalation doesn’t always work. No argument from me, but should we discount something because it doesn’t work 100% of the time? That means we could get away with modern medicine and guns to start with. Let’s say it works 80% of the time. That means I have to go physical in one out of five altercations. His way would mean not even attempting to talk your way out, just fight. Never mind that the law requires us to do all we reasonably can to avoid a conflict. Explained that, but he didn’t get that one either.
I’m sure by now you get the idea.
BOTTOM LINE
The bottom line is this. Self-defense is a heck of a lot more than just learning how to fight. If someone came to me and said, “I want to learn how to fight,” I’d have no problem recommending 6 months of Muay Thai or Boxing and another 6 months of Catch Wrestling, Judo, or Jujutsu. If they want self-defense training, however, then that is so much more.
PS: It’s why 90% or more of all schools that claim to teach self-defense have no right to do so, by the way. Ask the instructor when will he cover legal ramifications, first-aid, situational awareness, mindset, home defense, travel security, car-jacking, active shooters, verbal de-escalation, etc., and watch him flounder.
