Protecting Yourself: The Basics of Self Defense Everyone Should Know...

In this day and age it's becoming more and more necessary to learn how to protect yourself and others and when you know how to do this you put yourself in a position where you're in control of your own destiny and this is always a better place to be in all areas of your life. It's unrealistic to think you can control every aspect of your life however you can control your own mind and body, and that's enough to create a great environment in any area of life.

Self Defense 101:

When it comes to self defense most people think they need to learn how to kick someone's ass like Bruce Lee! But martial arts and self defense are not the same thing... Far from it, the first and most important principle of self defense all people should know and the easiest one to follow is to make good decisions... That's right, making good decisions like not walking in bad neighborhoods alone (call a cab or a friend), not taking money out of ATMs in the middle of the night, if someone starts looking for trouble with you just walk away. Even when you're in a situation where you get mugged the best option is always to just give them what they want. I have had extensive training in multiple disciplines of Martial Arts and still, the last time I got into a fight was in middle school and even though in my adult life I was mugged twice I can say I've practiced what I preach. In both instances I had chances to beat the guy up but I just gave them my money and they left, not putting myself and those around me in danger. In the words of one of my teachers: "It's very easy to kill someone, it's extremely difficult not to kill them"... Think about it, how easy is it for someone to just grab a knife and run it into your chest, neck or stomach? How easy is it for someone to shoot you in the face with a gun? Violence should always be a last resort method, a desperation tactic where it's kill or be killed.

99% of all street fights are avoidable, think about this...

That means that you probably don't need to defend yourself as much as you think you do, 99% of all street fights are avoidable so if someone comes to you looking for trouble the best decision you can do is to just walk away and avoid confrontation. Now that about extreme situations where you can't avoid violence? What about if for example a man attacks a woman to rape her? In this situation violence is the only way to increase your chances of walking away from this situation. And you need to be able to defend yourself against people who might be stronger, faster or bigger than you. I could give you a whole description of concepts, principles and techniques about this particular topic but it's much easier for you to increase your confidence and learn these techniques from certified instructors in one or a combination of the following martial arts: -Bujinkan Budo Taijutsu -Krav Maga -Brazilian Jiu Jitsu -MMA If you're in that situation and there is just no way out of it here is what you need to keep in mind.

Extreme Situations

When you're dealing with one attacker or multiple attackers you need to be very aware of the distance between you and them and not offering your opponent a chance to hurt you. When it comes to guns for example the best place for you to be is at a short distance, if you can get your hands on the gun you could redirect the line of fire and get a chance to disarm or incapacitate your attacker. Remember what I'm talking about is very risky and there is a chance you can get shot anyway, but by doing something about it you immediately increase your chances of survival. If you're very far away look for areas where you can find cover and hide behind solid objects to run away and look for help. If you're at a medium range this is very dangerous. Try to get very close or very far but if you can't your best course of action is to use your environment, if you're close to a chair, a chain, change, even your own keyes, remove yourself from the direct line of fire and use these things as a distraction to either run away or close the distance. With a knife for example, you don't want to be very close because you can't see your attackers hands and you don't want to be at a medium range where your attacker can close the distance. You want to be on the outside all the time, if you're far away enough don't even try engaging just run away and look for help. But if you're too close for comfort look to get rid of the knife in your attackers hands use the back of your forearms to protect yourself from attacks and avoid getting damage to your veins and tendons. For this I recommend you study Krav Maga or Bujinkan Budo Taijutsu to learn more about how to defend yourself from people with weapons. In any instance, even if your attacker or attackers are unarmed you need to pay close attention to the distance because one inch can be the difference that determines whether you get to come home that day or not. In the end it's important to be aware of your environment and avoid these extreme situations but sticking to principle number 1

Make good decisions

It always comes down to this. Making good decision helps you never have to hurt anyone and better yet not get hurt. So stay safe, make good decisions and you'll be able to control your environment. Make it a great Day Yamil Senior Seda