Crouchtig

3 problems with training for self defense:1: how can you train for self defense? if you are sparring then you wont be behaving the same as if you were in a fight, you wont be as frightened/agressive, there are rules for sparring and you will be prepared for it when you enter the training area.
2: when somone attacks you you have one enourmous disadvantage, they are ready to fight you are not (unless you are completely paranoid), they decide how the fight starts, where, how they attack etc.
3: if you are big enough to win a fight with someone then you probably wont have to fight at all. eg Im an axe murderer, im walking down the street with my axe looking for a victim. On one side of the road there is a short, old, blind woman. On the other is a tall, muscular-looking man who happens to be a master of thai boxing. it doesnt matter how good he is because im not going to attack him, im gonna get the old woman. in short: you will only be attacked if you look defensles.

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ryanhall

Most attacks start with an encroachment of some sort. It's called an "interview" by many.

Sparring is just an attribute developer. Full contact scenario training is far superior for developing self defense skills. Scenarios help to insert the adrenaline and other factors that are usually not there in a sparring match.

You definitely do not have to be bigger to win.

Often true. Criminals look for a victim, not a challenge. However, just looking hard is not a fix-all for self defense.

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"Ray, when someone asks you if you're a god, you say YES!"

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Kingston

im not sure if i agree with any of those things.....im to lazy to get into it though

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JIMI

Well sparring should always be taken up a notch if you are feeling too comforatable. When ever i feel too comforatable sparring i tell the opponent before the match begins that i want him to take my head off! I never take it personal and then next thing you know here come the butterflies in my gut. As for the rest of the stuff, I dont even know how or what to say to that. Those scenario's can be applied to so many different things in life in all different aspects. I dont think by any means someone shouldnt take some type of self defense just because the odds may be that he or she may never need it. But just because the aggressor knows he is going to attack first, doesnt mean that he necessarily has the advantage. Appearance is not everything, and that little old lady could be a black belt in disguise. I know it sounds cheesy but its not impossible. Also i couldnt imagine anyone in any form of martial art that doesnt or shouldnt walk around with a general "heads up" about thier environment and who is in thier engagement zone. Everywhere i go i am sizing people up, looking for possible weapons, looking for possible escape routes, looking for suspicious behavior and so on. As my tactical handgun SWAT instructor always says, "its not being paranoid, its just being heads up" nuff said

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Hit first, Hit last, Always answer back....

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Crouchtig

the old woman might be a black belt. i dont care, she is small, weak, cant see and most likely unarmed, ive got an axe, she could be black belt in any martial art there is im still gonna whoop her because training isn't the most important thing when it comes to a fight. My advantages:Taller,heavier,stronger,faster,more aggressive,im armed andi attack first. her advantages: shes better trained(a black belt in sh*t-ha-yaa-do). whos going to win?

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JIMI

Like i said, of course its a pretty far stretch and i was trying to be a little sarcastic, but regardless i dont think that this little argument by any means justifies someone not doing self defense training.

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Hit first, Hit last, Always answer back....

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ap Oweyn

i think the point was that looking 'hard' doesn't guarantee that you won't be messed with. personally, i'm thinking that the guy could be the greatest muay thai fighter ever, and the dude with the axe is still going to stand a pretty decent chance of winning. because... you know... he has an axe!


stuart b.

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DJ Coldfusion

1. You're right. Sparring alone won't do it. Traditional arts don't even look at this aspect. However, proper training whether it is Muay Thai or not will do several things for you including improving your strength, your timing, your accuracy, it should also raise your pain-thresh hold so that you can continue to operate while under attack and increase your wind so that you can run away when you have the opportunity

2. This time yor mostly correct and excuse me for being overly concerned with semantics but what you described is an assault. A fight describes an event where the participants enter into the conflict volluntarilly. Besides that you're right. That is why your self-defense program must include antagonistic situational training in various environments.

3. Again, no doubt. Criminals are predators who look for opportunities to committ their crimes. If a criminal thinks they can get away with assaulting you then you are automatically in greater danger than if they look at you and think that they would be placing themselves at risk. However, you make the mistaken assumption that the old woman is still defenseless.

Selfdefense courses should adapt themselves to their students and even old-blind women can defend themselves even if its with a combination of a Rottweiler seeing eye dog, a machette in her knitting bag that is slung over her shoulder, and a shock-glove (think tazer with the electrodes placed in the palm of an insulated glove). Decent selfdefense programs do not limit themselves to empty hands only training.

There are always situations where slefdefense training won't help you but there are many more where it will help you.

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