Martial Arts and Self Defense, One and the Same?
So you’ve trained in the martial arts for years at the local school in your neighborhood. In just about every strip mall in every city in America, martial arts studios open their doors wide to youth and adults, claiming to have the power to teach them self defense techniques through martial arts.
Ok, I’m not going to knock these studios too badly. If you want a great workout or a way to focus your energy and hone some skills, then learning Tae Kwondo or karate or Jiu Jitsu is something for you. In fact, training in any martial art will give you a leg up when heading into true self defense techniques down the road. In case you’re not following my point, I will be very direct. Martial arts of any kind has a place in culture or in sports, but should NOT be considered adequate training for self defense.
Self defense is so much more than a quick jab or a roundhouse kick. Really, the truth of the matter is that when you are in the situation of having to defend yourself, the fine motor skills that you need to perform some of the technical martial arts moves will leave you. That’s right. This is because when you’re scared (it’s ok to admit this, it’s a natural physiological response to confrontation!), you heart rate increases. As your heart rate increases, your motor skills are affected. Usually this will raise your heart rate enough to still be able to fight off an attacker with the right self defense techniques.
In martial arts, training is done in the form of sport. You strike and step back awaiting your opponent’s response. Now, in some forms of martial arts, like the MMA fights you see on tv, the rules are a Iittle different. This may be a little closer to what you would encounter in a street fight or assault. But these fighters are still trained to stop at some point. I mean, this is a sport after all; there are rules and regulations that have to be followed by fighters.
On the streets, when you really use self defense, there are no rules. There is no ref standing off in the bushes ready to mark you off for taking someone down hard enough to knock him out. All there is on the street is you and the bad guy or bad guys. When you are in this situation, you need to know how to strike and keep going. Self defense is brutal, folks, because violence is brutal. The point is to stop an attack from taking your belongings or your life, not to rack up points.
So it is what it is. Martial arts teach great things: control, confidence, focus.
Of all the things martial arts teach, self defense is not one of them.
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