Training in martial arts/self-defense only improves your chances.
A little training improves your chances a little. A lot of training improves your chances a lot.
No amount of training will guarantee anything except to know that avoiding a fight is usually better, and you should have learned that the first night.
Regards,
Shodan
Well, it’ll also teach you how to react in a physical emergency, take impact, and fall. I’m… well, for a period of time, part of my daily work routine involved running like mad through the streets of Manhattan. Not to mention my cycling days. Or my inherent ability to wind up doing something stupid.
I’ve been hit by cars, pushed off walkways, and generally done things that Jackie Chan gets paid to do. This is not good, but thanks to the fact that I know how to fall, and know how to react strongly, I’ve come away unharmed most of the time. That’s a good thing.
A lot depends on the type of “Self Defence” one is taking. I take an escrima course, which is a Filipino stick and knife fighting class. Pretty much everything we do in there can be substituted for a standard object…purse, stick, pipe, water bottle (if you think getting hit by a half full water bottle doesn’t hurt, you are DEAD mistaken). And of course, a knife. Plus, it helps teach ways of dodging and hightening your reflexes. One of the best students in the class is also the youngest and smallest (he’s about 14 to the next youngest, who I believe is probably 22, and easily 30 lbs smaller than everyone). He looks kinda dorky, but I pitty any school bully that tries to mess with this kid.
What? You never bring a board to a fight? DUH. Big long flat stick with pointy things on the bottom! Great in a fight! You just need some room to swing…
-Tcat
In my state it is illegal to carry a knife, I cant even do it. It is a felony. I believe in most states it is illegal.
Carrying a knife is a good way to end up in prison(if you survive the knife fight with your attacker).
I hope you can knife fight better than an experienced mugger who probably has knife fought before.
Personally, even if I was allowed to carry a knife, I would not do it. Knife fighting takes its own skills, and there are not very many classes to take to learn how to knife fight. Guns are better than knives, and guns are legal also.
Sorry, Susann. I simply do not buy your argument that carrying a knife is illegal in most states. Heck, I’d be surprised to hear it is illegal in ANY state. Now, there may certainly be limits on the size and type of blade you can carry. But an extremely small blade can be extremely effective if you know how to use it.
Of course, just about ANYTHING can be a deadly weapon once you USE it.
I would also be welcome any authority to support that muggers “have probably knife fought before.” I guess they must have sought out those hard-to-find classes you speak of and constantly honed their skills.
"Guns are legal also." Huh? I would LOVE to see anything to indicate that more jurisdictions allow concealed carry than permit knives.
But, you obviously have a narrow agenda you are pushing. And this is simply IMHO.
Carrying a any knife of any length is a felony? Are you sure? That would be pretty harsh. What state is that? Here in Texas only certain types of blades are classified as an “illegal knife” (blades over 5 1/2 inches, double edged blades, spears(?), a few others). Carrying an illegal knife is a Class A misdemeanor.
Dinsdale knows of which he speaks. IIRC, he’s a student of Kali/Escrima/Arnis, and is trained in knife fighting.
pravnik - you could have stopped that second paragraph after the first sentence.
I’m by no means an expert in much of anything, but as you note I did train stick and knife fighting for a while. And I am a lawyer and I did a bit of research a while back for a series of articles (unpublished) on various legal aspects of teaching and practicing MA.
Never did much with guns, and haven’t done any research lately. So I can’t be certain my beliefs still hold true. But I’d definitely be surprised.
Dinsdale said:
I don’t think I could possibly disagree with this sentence more. Carrying a knife is extremely dangerous and unnecessary. If you carry a knife around then you are one day going get yourself stabbed.
If you pull a knife on an attacker then there is a good chance that he may get it off you. If he didn’t have a knife before then he’s got one now.
It’s also unnecessary. Weapons are for wusses. Once you reach a certain level of competence at a martial art then a weapon just gets in the way. You are better off having your hand free to use than using one of your hands to hold a weapon.
If your hand is holding a weapon then there is only one thing that that hand can do - use the weapon. If your hand is empty then there are dozens of things you can do with that hand - block, grab, punch, chop etc.
Carrying a weapon limits your options. Also when you have a weapon in your hand (a stick, a knife, whatever) then all your attention becomes focused on that hand and you forget that you also have another hand and two feet that you could be attacking with.
If an attacker comes at you with a weapon then you can look upon his weapon as a weakness because all his attention will be focused on his knife hand, he may not be thinking about all the rest of his body thus you can get in a low kick to his knee which will bring him down and possibly break his leg. He won’t be thinking about his legs, he’ll be thinking about his weapon hand.
The correct attitude to have in martial arts is to be aware of ALL your body at once (for both attack and defence). A weapon distracts you and uses up one of your hands which could be better used doing something else.
Karate literally means, in Japanese, “empty hand”.
It may not be illegal in some states in the US but carrying a knife is illegal in the UK. But even if it were legal I wouldn’t want or need a knife.
Weapons are for pussies. You can do plenty enough damage with your bare hands. Bare hands give you options whereas using a hand to hold a weapon limits your options to only one thing you can do with that hand.
And just what state do you live in, sister? Can’t carry a knife? What, in restaurants they serve your steak pre-cut or something?
Pre-9/11 I used to routinely carry a 2 inch pocket knife on the airlines - not hidden or anything. Even apologized to the security guy the first time, thinking I’d have to surrender it, but he waved it through. (Times and that rule have changed, however…)
So tell me, do they not sell xacto blades in the hardware stores? Cutlery at Sears?
Now, a particular kind of knife may be illegal, but you don’t need a 2 foot serated blade to defend yourself.
It’s real simple. If I feel my life is in danger I will defend myself, even with deadly force. If he’s dead and I’m not I win - got it? I mean, it’s possible to get out of jail, but the grave is forever.
Seriously, where do people get the notion it’s illegal to defend yourself? If some Bad Guy breaks into your kitchen while you’re cooking, threatens you, roughs you up, tries to rape you - and you pick up that butcher knife you were using on the pork chops do you seriously think you’re going to jail for it? Good lord, not so long ago I know of someone who surprised a car thief in his driveway who pulled a knife on him and shot him with a freakin’ crossbow, which in this state is a weapon with more regulations than guns. Cops said thank you citizen for making a report and that was the end of it.
Pop Quiz!!!
Q: Why do muggers target little old ladies tottering down the street with canes or a walker?
A: Because if they went after 22 year old football players they might get hurt.
Bad Guys don’t go after folks they think will fight back - they use the weapons more often to intimidate than actually hurt. That mugger might have been in a knife fight before… and maybe not. A big part of self-defense is presenting yourself to the world as someone who will fight back - most Bad Guys will pass you over in favor of someone who won’t fight back because, quite simply, being a Bad Guy is dangerous work and they don’t want to get hurt.
I’ve been in knife fights, and won both of them - and I never used a knife. Most people - even most nasty people - don’t know jack about real knife fighting. My self-defense training didn’t cover attacking with a knife at all - it covered defense against one, and how to disarm an opponent.
Not in the city of Chicago - owning a handgun is illegal, pure and simple. Blades under 3 inches (if I recall correctly) ARE legal - and you can do some damage with them. In fact, less than two years ago 19 men hijacked 4 planes and killed 3,000+ people using box cutters with blades under two inches long.
All of which brings up two points, really - improvised weapons may be better than “formal” weapons from a self-defense viewpoint. If you’re working in your kitchen, or your garage, or wherever and you’re attacked and you pick up a tool normally used for something else and use it for your defense - butcher knife, screwdriver, hammer, whatever - it strengthens your argument that you acted solely in self-defense, and defending yourself from harm is absolutely legal. Yes, the cops will show up, they’ll ask a lot of questions, investigate - that’s what they’re paid to do. Back when I lived in Rogers Park in Chicago we had a “screen door” rapist - entered the homes of women through screen doors, raped them, even killed one. After the lady got killed, his next intended victim - surprised while cooking lunch - just about took him apart with a cooking knife. I mean, the cops followed the trail of gore and blood into the alley, and if they hadn’t found the guy he’d have bled to death. Yeah, the cops talked to her for several hours - but she was never taken to the police station and no charges were pressed. Why? Because it was self defense.
The second point - don’t underestimate anything. Box cutters used to be legal to carry on airplanes because no one saw them as weapons. Well, potentially they are. A lot of men are absolutely convinced a small woman is completely defenseless - maybe, maybe not. One good elbow to the gut is enough to wind someone not expecting it, after which she may well run faster than the Bad Guy. Sparring - yes, a 5 foot woman sparring with a 7 foot man is stupid. But we’re not talking about sparring, we’re talking about self-defense. Two different concepts.
I stopped a mugger about six months ago with a gut-check with my 40 pound briefcase. Bounced him off a car twice, then ran like hell.
There are no dangerous weapons. There are only dangerous people.
Good God, so many truths, so many insecurities. As the OP suggests, I think that teaching children to “practice martial arts” is a bit more of a distraction for the kids than it is “training”, they retain very, very little of it.
If a woman or a child came at me, I would probably try to envelope them or assert my weight on them, and I’d usually win. If I were to attack them, I’d probably try the same.
I took some Aikido, which is based on defensive, manipulation of the attackers momentum. I saw a 13 year old girl make her 6’3" 250 lb father scream like a little girl as a result of an arm lock. I have no doubts that womwn can handle themselves if trained correctly. However, nobody is immune to a surprise attack, we can’t be prepared for everything. So, I think that the best battle plan for any situation is
as posted by Broomstick
The whole self-confidence being a deterrent to assault, seems to hold some truth from my experience. I used to be in a prominent local band (stay with me) and I used to be able to walk through any crowd knowing that everyone (almost) knew who I was. This gave me an air of confidence, which I can still use today even though I have quit the band. Many people would be surprised to see guys twice my size getting out of my way just cuz I ask them to, not because of politeness, but because they feel that they should.
Owning a knife in itself is not usually illegal, it is carrying it concealed which is illegal. Carrying a concealed weapon is what is illegal, and in the 35 states that allow carrying concealed guns, they do not allow you to carry concealed knives. Most states give considerable prison time for anyone caught illegally carrying a concealed weapon.
Those who advocate carrying knives are missing the whole point of this topic: self defense.
A knife has virtually no “stopping power”.
The pupose of self defense is to “stop” the attack.
A knife rarely stops an attack. A knife does not disable an attacker at all, nor does it diminish the threat to you.
Yes, a knife “can” kill, but even “if” it kills, then it kills by hemorage, which takes a very long time.
After an attacker is stabbed, he is very angry, and he will live for a long enough time to take the knife away from you, and stab you many more times than you stabbed him. A criminal who is stabbed is going to get even with you for doing that to him. A stabbed person does not lose any of his strength and it does not make him smaller.
A knife also means that you must place yourself in very close contact with an attacker. You must be within less than arms reach to be able to use a knife, putting yourself in harms way, which is counter productive to the point of self defense.
If you plan on defending yourself with a knife, you must be prepared to go into hand to hand combat, brute strength against brute strength, with a very mad person who is going to try to get it away from you and use it on you.
Carrying a knife means that you have changed a common mugging into a savage attack/fight to the death close up, with very close body contact.
Although some states may have a 1, 2 or 3 inch blade length on whether or not is “legal”, once you use a knife to hurt someone, once you use a knife as a “weapon”, it then becomes a “weapon”, regardless of its blade length.
Dont you remember the scene from the Indian Jones movie where Indy was attacked by an expert swordsman?
A conclealed knife is illegal, has no stopping power, excalates any criminal encounter to a fight to the death, with the strongest winning.
A handgun is legal(in at least 35 states- 85% of the country), a handgun will usually stop an attack(esp if you shoot an attacker at least 6 times) , and does not require you to get in close.
Most of our police(who have considerable experience with self defense needs) chose to carry handguns to protect themselves, NOT knives. Guns and pepper spray have proven to be the most effective weapons in stopping an attacker, and that is why police carry them.
Police do not want to fool around with knives, darning needles, car keys, high heels, or any other such nonsensical ineffective self defense items when their lives are in danger.
Next time you see a cop, check out if he is carrying a gun or a knife for his own protection. Ask the policeman why he carrys a gun instead of a knife.
Gosh, there’s so much crap in the last post I’m not sure where to start.
Who said anything about concealed? My pocket knife is on my keychain, in front of God and everyone. The husband used to keep a blade strapped to the sun visor in the car - not only easily accessible but plainly visible.
Wheehocky.
Get your throat slit, a major blood vessel severed, get a blade punched into your gut and twisted, I expect it WILL give an attacker pause. You don’t have to kill him - just get away from him. Use a knife to hamstring someone yes, it WILL stop them. And you don’t need a really big nasty-looking knife.
Susanann, you can’t have it both ways - you say a knife is useless, but you also say they’re so dangerous that carrying one concealed is illegal. Which is it?
Um, yes, the 10-30 seconds it takes to bleed to death from a severed caratoid artery or jugular vein is suuuuuuch a long time. That’s an under-the-ear slice, by the way. There are several other major arteries by which you can die very quickly as well, but I don’t want this to turn into a textbook on how to kill people.
Uh, yeah - and the first time someone attacked unarmed little me with a knife I took it away a beat the living crap out of them with my bare fists. Why didn’t I pick up the knife and stab that person “many more times”? I didn’t need to. You assume too much. Assailants are not some monolithic uniform group with entirely predictable actions. In real life you haven’t a clue what that other person is or isn’t going to do. I’ll grant you it’s possible that you’ll have the knife snatched away and used against you. The Bad Guy might also decide this victim has too much fight and run away, looking for easier prey - they don’t want to get hurt either. All of which is the reason GOOD self-defense training doesn’t lock you into “If A happens do B” type thinking. Above all you have to be flexible.
Put a knife in someone’s belly and twist and, unless he’s on something like PCP, he’s going to get weak in the knees and lose a lot of fight 99% of the time. Stab up from the bottom of the ribcage and puncture the diaphragm he won’t be able to breathe - that’s will definitely take the fight out of him even if he IS on drugs.
Do I recommend any of that? No - I recommend you avoid the entire situation in the first place. But I’m not going to second guess someone in that position.
Most of the scenarios requiring self defense that I can think of you’re already in close proximity. If I’m further than arm’s reach I’m going to run not fight. Even if cornered, he’ll still probably have to get within arm’s reach to hurt me - and that puts him in range of ME.
You are still thinking sparring, not self-defense.
For self-defense you fight dirty. You throw dirt and garbage and your boiling hot Starbucks in his eyes. You throw things at him. Scream. Act completely crazy and insane. Foam at the mouth. Threaten to eat his liver. You don’t grapple, you don’t spar. You don’t threaten, make speeches, or brandish a weapon - if you have a weapon draw it and use it with as little warning as possible. This is NOT the movies. Surprise and startle are part of your arsenal. Startle him enough he might back off enough for you to get away.
What the freakin’ heck is a “common mugging”? You assume these guys play by some rulebook? “Oh, I’m just doing common mugging today - I’m not going to hurt anyone, just take their money. I only do uncommon and painful muggings on Tuesdays” Have you ever seen the results of a “common mugging”? People can get pretty banged up even if they don’t fight back.
You have zero gaurantee that the Bad Guys aren’t going to kill you regardless of what you do. Folks who haven’t fought back, who’ve cooperated, have still been killed after a “common mugging” by Bad Guys who don’t want witnesses or are just stone-cold unfeeling killers. And others have gotten the guy to run away by threatening to tell his mother what a bad boy he’s been. You can’t tell WHAT sort of lunatic is attacking you - you’re going to have to make a very quick assessment with incomplete information and use every resource available. With no sure-fire way that will always bring you out of the situation either intact or alive.
I am not advocating violence in all situations. If someone puts the barrel of a gun against your skull your best strategy may be to cooperate fully and completely. Sometimes surrender IS the best option and just hope to God the nutjob doesn’t want to kill you, just take your wallet. YOU are going to have to assess YOUR situation at the time it happens and whatever you think best to maximize your survival. To put it bluntly - you’re more likely to survive rape than a bullet in the brain. Yes, rape is a horrible terrible awful thing. So is brain damage. Major difference - many people recover from rape and go back to have a wonderful, meaningful, enjoyable life. Most people shot in the head wind up in the graveyard, and those that don’t seldom see the outside of a “long term care facility” ever again. Your choice.
And, as I have said, it is perfectly legal to defend yourself. Even with a knife.
I know a gentleman who was coming home from a performance in full Scots Guard regalia, including “cutlery”. A very foolish young man attempted to mug the nice elderly gent wearing a plaid skirt, at which point he discovered yes, that was a real sword the man had on his belt. (In Chicago, ethnic costumes are frequently exempted from the blade-length laws, but by all means check with your local authorities prior to parading about) Perfectly legal - the blade was in no way concealed and the crook was stupid enough to attack a visibly armed man.
Not that he hurt the would-be mugger - except for that teeny puncture wound under his chin and the wet spot at the crotch of his pants.
Now, if Our Hero had skewered the young idiot like a shish kebab and then taken to carving him up with his boot knife that would be a different matter entirely. You are permitted to use enough force, not excessive force to defend yourself.
Holy shat bit, Batman - she’s citing a freakin’ MOVIE!!! :rolleyes:
First of all, “expert swordsmen” do not dance around performing intricate and threatening manuvers with bright shiny objects - they run in and run you through. Second - it’s Hollywood, not reality. Yes, IF you have a handgun and some idiot starts pracing around with an over-sized carpet knife you might consider shooting him. That’s what makes that scene so great, it probably is the most realistic part of the whole darn movie - but it’s unrealistic to think that someone who intends you grievious bodily harm is going to advertise so flagrantly.
What if you’re someone where that gun ISN’T legal? Do you have an alternative strategy?
I know someone who, as a young boy, was shot five times with a handgun, killed his attacker when the bullets ran out, and still walked himself into Cook County hospital’s ER - no, there is no gaurauntee a small handgun is going to stop an attacker, even a physically small and young one.
If you aren’t in close, why aren’t you running instead of fighting/shooting? If you can get away without shooting then I have to question if this is self-defense or vigilantism. Now, I can certainly see some situations in which firing at a distance is justifiable - but while you’re allowed to defend your home with force and assume someone who has just forcibley entered your home intends you harm, you can’t assume that about the Big Scary Dude with Tattoos stading at the opposite end of a bus stop - he might be big, scary, and tattooed AND just waiting for the bus like you are.
If you shoot someone there are going to be a lot of questions asked. Be prepared for that. You had better be VERY clear on what you can and can not do with that firearm before you start carrying it, because a gun is as much an offensive weapon as a defensive one, maybe more so.
First of all, police do not CHOOSE to carry guns - they are REQUIRED to.
Second, there is a MAJOR difference between police and civilians. A civilian has the duty to protect him/herself (and their children, if along) and then get the hell away from trouble. Police must often pursue the bad guys, that is, delibrately put themselves in harm’s way. That’s a whole different ball of wax.
Third - shooting people is a last resort, even for the police. They are supposed to use every means to calm a situation and bring someone into custody WITHOUT using bullets. That’s why police train in unarmed techniques, that’s why they use pepper spray and tear gas, that’s why horses are used for crowd control in big cities, that’s why they try to talk an attacker into surrendering. It is entirely possible for even a street cop to go their entire career without ever firing their gun outside a shooting range - and that’s OK.
Any cop who does fire a gun, no matter how justified the circumstances appear, WILL be subjected to an investigation. I had six uncles who were cops in St. Louis from the 50’s to the 80’s - most of them never had to fire a shot. Those who did had to justify doing so. They do NOT have a free ticket to open fire.
And let’s get real - a gun will not really defend you from another gun - no one can shoot bullets out of the air. That’s why police where Kevlar vests. You want a defense, use Kevlar and Lexan.
They usually don’t want to start shooting either. Cops would much rather NO fighting of any sort broke out.
Because police go into danger their situation isn’t really comparable.
I think, Susanann, like many people you are too fixated on guns-as-weapons. Yes, they can be an effective tool - but they aren’t the only tool. You need a back up plan. What good is an unloaded gun in a locked drawer downstairs going to do you if you wake up in the middle of the night with the Bad Guy in your bedroom? You had better have a backup plan, a backup resource at that point or you may be robbed, raped, killed, or all three. Danger doesn’t always come in dark alleys and dark street corners - it can happen anywhere. How prepared are you?
You see, I don’t need a gun to be a dangerous adversary - I’m potentially quite dangerous even unarmed. How about you? Are you helpless without a gun?
Obviously different people have different opinions. The best option may be for an interested person to seek as diverse experience as possible, and make their minds up for themselves.
The one thing it seems we all agree on, tho, is that the benefits to be derived from self defense crash courses are limited at best.
Every word of the above is wrong, even “and” and “the”. A weapon is always better than no weapon. The enraged drunk with a kitchen knife and no idea how to use it will kill the average black belt four times out of five.
The trouble with learning to defend yourself against most knife attacks is that you don’t see it coming. If he wants to rob you, he shows you the knife, you hand over the wallet, and he runs away. No defense is necessary. If he wants to kill you, he comes up behind you, stabs you, and you die. No defense is possible.
Most martial arts don’t teach fighting; they teach duelling. Most fights involve ambush or multiple attackers, unless they are the sort of adolescent dominance combat or drunken stupidity that most of us outgrow once we reach our twenties.
He isn’t going to stand there and let you use your well-honed reverse punch or mawashi-geri. He is going to tackle you, overwhelm you with as many rapid-fire punches as he can manage, or use a weapon.
If you want to study martial arts, study martial arts. If you want to learn to defend yourself, study self-defense. It will take about three years of at least six hours a week before you will be able to defend against an average mugger, and you will still lose against a knife or gun more often than not.
Regards,
Shodan
Shodan said:
As Dinsdale says, opinions differ 
Disagree.
Agree with your general premise but subject to certain qualifications eg depends how drunk he is and how quick the blackbelt is.
Agreed.
True but then martial arts (at least karate style ones anyway) specifically try to teach quick reflexes and defences against multiple attackers.
He isn’t going to do any of this if he’s lying unconscious on the floor because of the lightning fast sokuto to the head he just received before he got within two foot of me.
Disagree. Martial arts is also self-defence. Martial arts includes self-defence. Self-defence is a subset of martial arts. But the reverse isn’t true - self-defence doesn’t teach martial arts.
Agreed but then there’s always the chance that, in the heat of the moment, you will remember that particular throw or arm-lock that you have always been quite good at in class.
The ordinary attacker, for example, may be throwing pointless punches toward you whereas you, because of your training, realise that one good punch to the windpipe will prevent your attacker being able to breathe for a minute or so. Giving you time to run away.
My point being that, rather than exchanging clumsy blows with each other, the person with training will be throwing punches that count not aimless meandering ones.
When I say “training” I am referring to any martial art including boxing which I class as a martial art.
I agree that martial arts fighting is duelling but that still helps you speed up your reflexes in terms of dodging, blocking and counter-attacking.
I think we are talking about different things Shodan - you are saying that an attacker with a knife has a good chance of winning, I agree. But what I am saying is, should I find myself in that situation (as the defender), I would personally rather not have a knife than have one. I would prefer to have my hand empty.
In fact, if by some miracle I managed to get the knife off him so that I am now holding the knife, I would probably throw it away. I wouldn’t want it clogging up a perfectly good hand.
While I’ve got all the martial art types here, I just wondered what people thought of George Dillman pressure point techniques - now that’s something I would never try for real.
But it’s fascinating to see. You used to be able to get video clips on the net I don’t know if you still can (I couldn’t find any just now) but they are amazing. He just lightly touches someone on the wrist then on the neck (for eg) and they keel over unconscious.
Apparently you need to touch them in two or three places on their body and you have to do it in a particular order for it to work.
According to the women I know who’ve taken self-defense stuff (I think a small amount was required at my high school) - women are always told to:
[ul]
[li]Don’t walk alone at night[/li][li]Run as soon as you can[/li][li]Yell as much as you can[/li][li]Don’t fight unless running is totally impossible[/li][/ul]
A self-defense class might not be the most useful thing there is. But as long as the classes aren’t telling people “practice this for a week and you can kick the crap out of anyone,” there’s probably no harm in it.
If people don’t think it’ll turn them into action heroes who think they can beat up crowds of ninjas ;), the training and exercise are probably good. It’s also not likely to help you again someone with a gun. That scene from Indiana Jones comes to mind…
I’m also not sure most martial arts techniques are going to come in handy in your average fight, which probably involves intoxication, grappling, falling on the floor, biting, etc. But if people go into it with realistic expectations and aren’t lied to, there shouldn’t be a problem.
Pressure points martial artist chiming in
All the stuff is real, effective and painful/causes KO/possible death, although we’ve never killed someone to find out…yet 
The big big disadvantage is simply this: it is extremely hard to pull off in the form you see Mr. Dillman doing it. Fine targeting, timing and of course thinking about where to hit next is all required and in a self defence stuation it just aint gonna work.
Striking is preferable but pressure points are easiest to use in a grappling situation and can give a little guy or gal an edge.
Of course, that’s not to say pressure points don’t have their place in self defence. Ever see a boxer KO an opponent with a hook punch? Pressure point strike.
Altogether an interesting martial art, but NOT practicle for self defence (unless you’ve been doing it for a very, very long time). We also teach boxing, grappling, self-defence and traditional martial arts such as taekwondo and hapkido. The self defence training is very much centred on the way in which your body reacts to conflict, basic ways to control the space and a couple of techniques which we drill until people are doing them in their sleep - all tried and tested and advocated by the excellent Geoff Thompson and Peter Constardine, the heads of our organisation.