I was prompted to write this piece by a host of articles and videos I've seen online recently, in particular a few that purport to offer a simple, hard-core solution to the weaknesses of all the others. The subject is whether or not you can train yourself to withstand strikes from an attacker.
Now we've all seen the videos of so-called masters taking simultaneous strikes to the throat without injury by their own students. Withstanding piercings by needles, fire-walking and other feats of self-defense "magic". In fact, a group of our schools' students actually went to China with a reward for proof of "fire-from-hand", no touch knockouts and magic chi. What they found were schools performing stunts similar to the above, engaging in self-induced delusion, with masters claiming that they couldn't show you their skills "without killing you."
Body Toughening
At the other end of the fantasy scale are those who profess that toughening your body via strict impact training will make you immune to pain and injury, allowing you to "take a punch". Now of course, having familiarity with pain (especially pain PLUS fear) will help mitigate the panic shutdown that is likely occur to those whose training has relied solely on cooperative, non-impact, ipan kumite and kata. And of course every RBSD and CQC practitioner knows that no amount of toughening and body conditioning can withstand an eye gouge, spine chop or trachea crush (in fact if you're not using these types of lethal strikes when your life is on the line then you're either engaged in sport fighting, macho posturing--or acting out a video game).
But that is not the point of this article.
You can display reasonable logic by making all the above points and yet still be utterly divorced from reality. If the solution to defense against attacks in progress is not "iron shirt" training, a thousand sit ups, having your sparring partner pound you silly, strengthening your eyelids against eye-pokes, standing in ice-cold mountain rivers for hours while doing sanchin kata or kicking banana trees until your shins turn black from scar tissue, then what is it?
Attack The Attacker
We all know of Professor Brad Steiner's superb maxim "Attack the Attacker." Essentially, this consists of releasing the Dogs of War against a suspected assailant BEFORE he assails you. This is critical advice that pertains to the microsecond window BEFORE the full-on chaos of real animal violence begins. This is also why surprise attacks and ambushes work so well. This is why you want to hit first. Whoever gets the first shot off often wins, which is why we stress the importance of maintaining a Personal Comfort Zone with anyone you don't know, as well as those you do but don't trust (which is why you must learn to trust your gut and not ignore it). If you keep giving space and they keep taking it, crossing your PCZ perimeter, then that is your trigger (not after they've already unloaded on you, or had an accomplice throttle you via distraction or abducted you to Crime Scene #2).
Anything that crosses your Sphere of Influence is fair game. Period.
We also know to explode off the "Fright Reaction" into the attacker when caught unawares. But again, that is not the point of this piece. What I'm talking about is the utter chaos and unpredictability of true violence:
--What if you don't hit first?
--What if your first shot misses?
--What if he blocks it?
If we can all assume toughening and magic chi don't work to survive your attacker's strikes and blows, then what can you do?
The solution, as some major self-defense systems suggest (not Steiner's), is to simply strike away at lethal targets while ignoring defense entirely. "Well" you may say, "isn't that what 'Attacking the Attacker' is all about?"
Yes--but not to the exclusion of avoiding damage to yourself!
Offense AND Defense?
Understand well what we are talking about here: By avoiding damage we are not saying you should:
--rely on "Golden Bell" training and other magic
--develop calluses and nerve deadening over your entire body
--rely exclusively on your offense
If you're a practitioner of an internal art you may know partially where I'm going with this. If you train your body to sense and mold itself like rubber to incoming energy so that your attack and defense occur simultaneously for maximum combat efficiency, not through learning patterned self-defense techniques and blocks (which are way too slow for your nervous system to respond with in the blinding speed of real violent chaos) but through free-form and utterly un-choreographed energy sensitivity and improvisation training, you can become, as Guided Chaos creator John Perkins says, "Both unavailable AND unavoidable."
If all you do is strike at your attacker's lethal targets, what makes you think that he is not going to defend those targets? If your attacker is bigger, stronger or faster than you and he gets off one good shot it could ruin your whole day.
What if he's not bigger, stronger or faster but simply has a reasonably responsive nervous system and blocks, smothers, or ducks your "offense only" defense? What if you miss? What if he grapples you (which gets into another subject--that of intentionally binding yourself to one person when your objective is to escape and avoid having your head kicked in by his accomplices' boots)? Criminals are not going to just stand there and let you hit them--they're going to be moving at adrenaline speed and hitting you as well.
Ignoring this point is the epitome of magical thinking and delusion.
You need Looseness to avoid, elude and mold to incoming strikes.
You need Balance training to both hit with power and avoid being hit while being loose.
You need Body Unity training to hit with maximum power without muscular tension which robs response time.
You need Sensitivity training to create all the above where, when and how you need it.
You need free-form, un-choreographed, un-patterned and completely spontaneous training to become completely spontaneous, free-form and un-patterned so that you can endlessly adapt, improvise and escape.
How do you become both unavailable and unavoidable? As Guided Chaos master Lt Col Al Ridenhour USMC says: "Do the Drills." There are many specific ways all of the above attributes can be developed in both solo and partner training.
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