| By :
William Gabriel
If you're going to learn self defense, you shouldn't half-ass it. Too many times, someone has taken a few classes from their local blackbelt -- you know, the one that's never actually been in a street fight in his life -- and they think they know how to defend themselves. They might know a few techniques, but a few techniques are rarely, if ever, enough. If you want to learn self defense right, you need to start by getting experience. You don't have to go join Fight Club and brawl in the streets, but you do need to put a little money down on some sparring gear. There's just no substitute for knowing what it's like when an opponent comes at you and really puts some effort into punching you in the face. It turns a real-life attack from a paralyzing terror into a moderately scary scenario that your body is actually somewhat prepared for. Getting attacked is a prerequisite to defending yourself, so how could you ever learn to defend yourself without getting attacked? Your mind and body have to be trained to deal with not only the physical reality of a man swinging a crowbar at your head, but the emotional impact that comes with understanding that a someone actually wants to kill you. The adrenaline rush isn't just a physical experience -- yes, your pupils dilate, your heart races, your muscles twitch, etc, but at the same time, your emotional state hovers between fear and rage. If it collapses toward fear, you run -- if it collapses toward anger, you fight. Learning that process by living through it is a vital part of any attempt to learn self defense. Once you've learned the realities of getting attacked and counterattacking, it's time to focus on technique. If you don't have an instructor with real street fighting experience in your local area, invest in a self defense DVD. It might seem like personal instruction has profound advantages, but those advantages come with drawbacks. A personal instructor has a specific viewpoint and history that carries through into his instruction. If you're part of a class, you have to deal with the fact that the class learns at a different pace than you do. And of course there's that monthly hit on your pocketbook. A self defense DVD allows you to learn self defense without any of those problems. A DVD is almost always a blend of the perspectives and experiences of several instructors, reducing the effects of 'paradigm blindness'. A DVD can be paused, rewinded, and generally abused into fitting your learning speed. And of course, you only pay for a DVD once. Once you have a source for your physical and mental ability to deal with an attack, and you have a source for your technique, it's time to combine the two. Spar, and practice the techniques you're learning from your DVD while to do. Push yourself, and get familiar with what each technique feels like at full speed. Only once it's second nature can you say you've managed to learn self defense the right way.
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