Martial Arts: are You Learning to Get Your Arm Broken in a Real Fight or Self-defense Situation?

When it comes to protecting our targets against an assailant's attacks, especially striking attacks, a martial art student focusing on real-worldeffective self protection must be careful that you're not overlooking one. While this particular target may be practically invisible to most attackers, not to mention martial arts students and teachers, going up against a skilled attacker who knows how to exploit this weakness can have you on the losing end with a broken arm, if not more, when everything is said and doneit's all over.

What is this target?

And how can the bad guy get to it and you end up with a broken arm, or close to it, as a bare minimum?

Before I answer that question, let me ask you one.

Have you ever seen a boxer's stance? Have you ever watched boxers move around during a match?

I'm sure you have.

Now, how do they hold their arms?

Held almost vertically. Right?

And they do it for safety - to protect their heads and faces from being hit by the other guy's fists, right?

Of course.

One more question.

Have you ever seen pictures or film footage of one of the old-style fighters? You know, like Joe Lewis, or even those who came before him? Have you ever seen how boxers stood back then, or held their arms...before boxing gloves came along?

If you haven't, you really should do some research so you can understand what I'm talking about. Especially if you're serious about being able to defend yourself against an assailant who's serious about beating, breaking, or even killing you.

To cut to the chase, here's a little about the old school, bare-knuckle fighters. Even those who used gloves, didn't have the kind of padding that you see today. So, they positioned their arms and fists in very different positions than modern boxers.

And why was that?

Because they knew that holding your arms up and out in front of your attacker's fists, would get them hit. They also knew that if their arms were hit while in this position, that they stood the chance of punching themselves in the face with their own fist!

What does this have to do with martial artists learning self-defense. Simple. Because many programs are teaching their students to fight or defend themselves with their arms in this modern boxer position.

"So," you might be saying, "what's the problem?"

The problem is that not understanding why something is done, or why it's effective in one context, can lead you to think that it works all the time. And, particularly when we're talking about personal protection and not-dying at the hands of a criminal attacker, this is certainly important.

The reason that modern boxers can position their arms the way they do is because of their gloves. Sport martial artists fighting in tournaments can get away with this also. It's because the opponent's knuckles are covered with padding that keeps your arms from getting damaged. So, these fighters generally avoid the arms as a target. They know that it's pointless.

But, without gloves, the knuckles can deal a lot of damage to the narrow bones of your forearm. Something that's just not a problem in the ring.

The point here is that, if you're studying martial arts to win trophies or to get belts, do whatever style you want and all the luck to you. However, if you're trying to develop the skills to protect yourself against a brutal attacker who will do anything to brutalize you, there are certain mistakes you can't afford to make.

So, regardless of what you've been taught, avoid holding your arms vertically or at least turned with the thicker back of the forearm out and rely on distance to keep the bad guy from going after your arms. After all, it's going to be really hard to throw your own punches with arms that have been beaten or even broken because you put them out there for him to hammer on.

Are you a private individual, law enforcement or security professional, member of the military, or corporate manager looking for real-world self-defense training that works?

Get the training you need to effectively handle a real world self-defense situation.