The Best Form Of Self Defense

When you're out at night with your wife and teenage daughter, driving home after dinner without a care in the world, you would never imagine that the next few minutes could change your life forever. Of course, on most nights, you would reach home safely. But, what if, one night, there was a gang of people waiting to rob you on a lonely stretch of the road? Or, what if you became a victim of road rage and were suddenly staring into the bloodthirsty eyes of thugs with your wife and young daughter cringing in their seats? What would you do?

It is this thought that leads many folks into the arena of martial arts training. They join up for karate, judo or Tae kwondo. They spend a lot of money and many precious hours learning to fight, getting hurt and developing their skills. Unfortunately, when and if a situation arises where they need to defend themselves, they find that all the training they have undergone is useless.

Most of what is taught at traditional martial arts training classes and camps is useless in a real life situation. There are several reasons for this.

The attacker who confronts you on the street is not a polite guy who is willing to wait until you are ready. He or she is not going to give you a chance to fight fair, nor can you expect them to fight fair. They will come at you with unfamiliar techniques, and use anything to get you down including biting you, using their nails or weapons. You might be fighting 250 pounds of solid muscle or a deranged lunatic who wants nothing but blood. Anything goes, so long as they win and get what they want. So, you are in fact, fighting an animal - an armed animal probably!

The most effective form of self defense in a real life situation is one that involves speed, precision, power and focus. If you want to defend yourself, you need to have the ability to disguise your technique, take on any form of attack, increase your reaction speed phenomenally, know what exactly you need to do and know how to defeat someone much larger and meaner than you. Remember, you have less than a few seconds to react, deliver your punch and get them down. And in most cases, there is more than one attacker!

One of the best forms of self defense in a real life situation is mixed martial arts training. In this form of combat, artists are taught different aspects of combat. A large number of techniques, styles and skills are culled from different kinds of martial arts. Each part of the body is strengthened and artists are taught to kick, punch and throw. However, mixed martial arts training too cannot teach combatants to deal with weapons or bring down more than one opponent.

This is where close combat training comes in. Close combat training is the kind of training imparted to soldiers in the military. In addition to martial arts training, it involves physical conditioning, strength and precision training. Most importantly, it teaches participants to fight under unfavorable conditions and in the toughest of environments.