It has already been mentioned briefly, but I just wanted to reiterate...most martial arts are sports, and therefore NOT self defense. They are very useful (they teach some techniques which might be used under the right circumstances, not to mention flexibility, general fitness, and discipline), but they have rules and disallowed moves etc...which is not real self defense. In the street, your attacker will not put on a uniform, allow you to stretch, bow to you, and observe "legal" moves only...they will try and hurt you, pure and simple.
I do not want to start a flame war of which martial art is better than which...but I just wanted to point out: be careful, because some unethical people (who just want to make money) will market anything as self defense. Having done Street fighting for 6 years (and no I have no belt in any style, but as JBH said in a street fight people DO eye gouge and spit and bite, they try and crush your larynx, and even may pull out concealed weapons use their environment against you) let me tell you that there is a whole discipline on staying alive....from being aware of your environment...to attacker and victim mannerisms and behaviour... predator and prey psychology...verbal diffusion and de-escalation...to physical violence...and on and on.
As has been said alreay, arm yourself with as much knowledge as you can and hope you never ever have to fight for your life. No matter how tough you think you are, there are just too many variables in a fight...not to mention someone always tougher out there. Let me just quickly say that groing kicks are just pain and you have no idea what your opponents threshold is (or even if he is capable of feeling pain with the drugs out there today). Pepper spray may work on 95% of the population, but repeated exposure renders you immune (My friend was a bouncer and he could inhale the stuff like a breath freshner)...do you want to take the risk that your attacker isn't one of those 5%?
My advice is go for primary targets only (eyes and throat)! everything else should just be a means to strike those targets. Why? psychology and biology (opponents who cannot see and breathe cannot fight, they get scared and become the victim...also those are the only 2 spots that instantly shut down adrenaline production in the body). And RUN away!
I hope you never have to ever use that, but if you do, it may save your life.
I'm sorry this thread is a little morbid and graphic, but this is a real "adult" subject if I ever saw one.
Be safe everyone.
P.S. I would direct you to a website that sells videos and even offers seminars but I think that's against this forums rules...sorry. Besides you'd be surprise how reluctant people are to spend money on info that could potentially save their lives, but will gladly blow cash on tennis or dancing lessons. Boggles the mind!
Perfection does not exist. The question therefore, is: what level of imperfection are we willing to settle for?
It has already been mentioned briefly, but I just wanted to reiterate...most martial arts are sports, and therefore NOT self defense. They are very useful (they teach some techniques which might be used under the right circumstances, not to mention flexibility, general fitness, and discipline), but they have rules and disallowed moves etc...which is not real self defense. In the street, your attacker will not put on a uniform, allow you to stretch, bow to you, and observe "legal" moves only...they will try and hurt you, pure and simple.
I do not want to start a flame war of which martial art is better than which...but I just wanted to point out: be careful, because some unethical people (who just want to make money) will market anything as self defense. Having done Street fighting for 6 years (and no I have no belt in any style, but as JBH said in a street fight people DO eye gouge and spit and bite, they try and crush your larynx, and even may pull out concealed weapons use their environment against you) let me tell you that there is a whole discipline on staying alive....from being aware of your environment...to attacker and victim mannerisms and behaviour... predator and prey psychology...verbal diffusion and de-escalation...to physical violence...and on and on.
As has been said alreay, arm yourself with as much knowledge as you can and hope you never ever have to fight for your life. No matter how tough you think you are, there are just too many variables in a fight...not to mention someone always tougher out there. Let me just quickly say that groing kicks are just pain and you have no idea what your opponents threshold is (or even if he is capable of feeling pain with the drugs out there today). Pepper spray may work on 95% of the population, but repeated exposure renders you immune (My friend was a bouncer and he could inhale the stuff like a breath freshner)...do you want to take the risk that your attacker isn't one of those 5%?
My advice is go for primary targets only (eyes and throat)! everything else should just be a means to strike those targets. Why? psychology and biology (opponents who cannot see and breathe cannot fight, they get scared and become the victim...also those are the only 2 spots that instantly shut down adrenaline production in the body). And RUN away!
I hope you never have to ever use that, but if you do, it may save your life.
I'm sorry this thread is a little morbid and graphic, but this is a real "adult" subject if I ever saw one.
Be safe everyone.
P.S. I would direct you to a website that sells videos and even offers seminars but I think that's against this forums rules...sorry. Besides you'd be surprise how reluctant people are to spend money on info that could potentially save their lives, but will gladly blow cash on tennis or dancing lessons. Boggles the mind!
Perfection does not exist. The question therefore, is: what level of imperfection are we willing to settle for?