Mark Dixon is a senior instructor at www.practicalselfprotection.com specialising in self defense training. For more information on learning self defense please visit the website.
People take up martial arts for numerous reasons, though generally it is to learn fighting skills that would help deal to with a violent assault. However how effective is the martial art ?
Now do not get me wrong, I am strongly for people learning martial arts, which ever discipline it may be. Whatever art you do or decide to do will hopefully teach you how punch effectively, perhaps kick effectively, get you used to seeing punches heading your way, hopefully challenge you both physically and mentally. There are styles that will teach you how to lock up joints, fight from the ground and throw people. Just how much of the technique is useful and how much is very “Hollywood” is up to you to decide.
What will probably be missing and is crucial, is awareness skills, avoidance strategies, dealing with the pre-fight and most importantly anticipating and dealing with the effects of the adrenaline rush.
With most traditional martial arts people train to fight other people of the same style or discipline. This can be amazing to watch as it is really a show of technical superiority. However, in a street situation it violence can happen suddenly. There is no ring or judge or time to prepare mentally.
The situation on the street can hamper you. The surface maybe slippery or uneven, there may be no room to line up an attack, it could be dark, your clothing could be restrictive and confine your moves. This is a million miles away from your normal training environment where you may wear loose and comfortable clothing, you know the rules and the boundaries.
Martial arts on its own can help improve a person’s self esteem, improve their confidence and help get you in shape. Well it help you to defend yourself in a real street situation ? Perhaps, though it could give you a better chance if your training involved effective self defence techniques and strategies. Also it could include some reality training and how to deal with fear and adrenaline.
If your goal is self defence then there are other easier routes to this end. As the saying goes “the journey starts with a single step” make sure you go the right way.
For more information on effective self defence techniques and strategies, dealing with fear and adrenaline, and reality training please click here.
At Practical Self Protection we are committed to, and focus on, reality based self defence training. We focus on state of the art techniques and training methods that give you immediate results.
If you are considering learning self defence why settle for anything other than the best. Here at Practical Self Protection you will train in a proven and tested system that is effective, realistic and relevant to the world we live in.
Take your training to the next level and keep your training real.
To learn more about the other areas of this system and the step by step approach visit our website here.
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