Sports What is the best form of self defence to learn?

[Exe Gesis]

Unfortunately, those examples you cite are perfect for the sucker punch, the glassing, the coward punch, and no tolerance for talk.

Environment - bar/pub/club. Alcohol everywhere. Bumper and Bumpee intoxicated to varying degrees.

You can't stop the fight. If anyone's gonna think twice, then walk away, it'll be because you're 6'4" and built like a cannon. And even then, if the person bumped into is drunk, he wont care and still start a fight, and his mates jump in.

 

[Ed D]

Unfortunately, those examples you cite are perfect for the sucker punch, the glassing, the coward punch, and no tolerance for talk.

Environment - bar/pub/club. Alcohol everywhere. Bumper and Bumpee intoxicated to varying degrees.

You can't stop the fight. If anyone's gonna think twice, then walk away, it'll be because you're 6'4" and built like a cannon. And even then, if the person bumped into is drunk, he wont care and still start a fight, and his mates jump in.

Those scenarios were only used as examples, but getting into bar fights (let alone king hits) aren't very common and it usually takes both sides of the party at some point to happen. Yes there are definitely people out there (either psycho and/or drugged out) that will fight/swing no matter what, but more often than not a fight can be avoided which is what I'm getting at. Those situations which can't be avoided is where you need self defence.

Growing up I've had people try and fight me and I've been able to talk my way out of it, but I know if I was the type of person that couldn't handle abuse/wanted to look tough then I would have been in fights no doubt. Instead I'm able to walk away with a laugh and my teeth intact.

 

[Exe Gesis]

Personally I dislike people who try to talk out of fights. Often they're the ones who instigated them. Carried away wanting to act tough until they realize theyd get beaten. Like road ragers until they see the driver isnt a middle-aged lady.

I have no time for pretences and airs.

 

[Exe Gesis]

BTW nothing meant towards you with that. Just speaking from own experiences

 

[Hot Pocket]

My main aim is to learn to defend myself. I'm also interested in keeping fit, but that is secondary for me. I'm hoping this will turn out to be a long term commitment.

So far I have been thinking about Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. But then I'm worried the lack of striking practice will render it less useful in a real life situation.

I've heard that any sport/martial art which involves sparring is the best way to improve (e.g. MMA or boxing). I would normally be keen...but then I also heard that any sparring which involves repeated head contact may lead to the risk of brain injury. I know most ppl will read this and say "don't be silly, it's not a big risk". I rely on my brain as my source of income though. So I'm not even talking about ending up punch drunk...more so becoming just that little bit slower. I headed down to my local boxing gym last week to check it out, and let's say the boxing coaches didn't really ease my fears on that front.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated! Thanks all.

Join the police force, you'll have a huge big gang behind you and you can gangbash teenagers that remind you of the bong smokers who used to pick on you in high school.

 

[Hot Pocket]

Honestly best way to be a good fighter is to be someone who got in HEAPS of fights when they were young and probably got beaten down by their father or a close (larger) male relative. Helps you become a sociopath so that you literally don't care about killing someone.

Then kill someone and go to jail, then get in a lot of fights there too.

That bloke who just killed that kid with a coward punch or king hit? That guy is probably already an excellent fighter, because he hits people without any remorse over and over again (5 victims that night for no reason). Now we're sending him off to criminal college where he will learn a lot of new ways to hate.

That's how you become a really good fighter.

 

[Engimal]

There's a lot of good martial arts that are taught more as a sport. Example...tae kwan do is a lethal art, but it's taught as a sport so much, so you don't get the real benefit from it.

True. I did it for 4 years when I was younger and very little of what you're taught it based on what can happen in real life but rather what can happen in a sparring match. If you really want to defend yourself, boxing is probably the way to go.

 

[Hot Pocket]

Defending yourself is such a hypothetical situation though, to learn a sport or martial art based on fear is the wrong way to go about it.

The reality is, the best street fighters generally have zero training in anything. PRactice makes perfect and the people who do the most damage in a street fight have been fighting since they were tiny kids.

The real best self defence is going out in a big group, and potentially packing weapons (but only if you're gunna use them).

 

[Sanders]

Personally I dislike people who try to talk out of fights.

What sort of Walter Mitty tough guy fantasist are you?

Grow up

 

[Barry_Badrinath]

Defending yourself is such a hypothetical situation though, to learn a sport or martial art based on fear is the wrong way to go about it.

The reality is, the best street fighters generally have zero training in anything. PRactice makes perfect and the people who do the most damage in a street fight have been fighting since they were tiny kids.

The real best self defence is going out in a big group, and potentially packing weapons (but only if you're gunna use them).

That's because most people who can fight don't go around starting s**t on the streets. Most "street fighters" would get their arses handed to them against even amateur trained fighters.

 

[Exe Gesis]

That's because most people who can fight don't go around starting s**t on the streets. Most "street fighters" would get their arses handed to them against even amateur trained fighters.

correct....but....there's also no substitute for experience (on-field experience). sometimes trained fighters just know kata, systemized, and dont know how to apply that in a real fight. ex-armed forces types avoid.

 

[Hot Pocket]

That's because most people who can fight don't go around starting s**t on the streets. Most "street fighters" would get their arses handed to them against even amateur trained fighters.

Probably true, but the best street fighters are never the kind of people who fight fair and tend to rely on getting in the first hit and not stopping.

It's a totally different mentality is my point. You can't really train for a street fight cause there's so many variables. Certain things will work some of the time, and certain things won't. Anyone studying martial arts to help them in self defence is probably approaching self defence in the wrong way, and could actually make it more likely they will get hurt if they think learning karate or boxing is all of a sudden going to turn them into wolverine.

 

[Hot Pocket]

correct....but....there's also no substitute for experience (on-field experience). sometimes trained fighters just know kata, systemized, and dont know how to apply that in a real fight. ex-armed forces types avoid.

This is a good point regarding ex military. But only serious types.

Good example: A lot of Israeli's go to Thailand after finishing their mandatory service with the IDF. I've lost count of how many of these blokes end up getting their arses handed to them by Thai "Street fighters" using bottles, knives, pool cues etc. despite being a half of the size of the roided up soldiers.

Last year I'm pretty sure the Israeli ambassadors son got killed and his bodyguards sustained some pretty serious injuries around Koh Pha Ngan. Those guys would have had hands on experience, probably experts in Krav Maga etc. but a few locals who know the place and have been in dozens if not hundreds of fights with large groups of aggressive tourists beat the living hell out of them.

 

[Exe Gesis]

If it's one vs many, or say 10 vs 50, well they're not gonna win.

 

[TheMightyEagles]

I was more meaning stopping the fight from even having someone swing at you. For example if you were at a bar and bumped into someone and they got upset, being able to talk your way out of it and walk away, rather than having them swing at you. Or if you bumped someone's beer on the floor, offering to buy them a new beer. Even realising that someone is a major dick and moving away from them before something happens. If a guy is taking swings and is going to keep swinging, that's when you would take action yourself (or escape).

Yeah I completely agree. Especially in a nightclub or pub, the best form of self defence is just to avoid conflict. There is nothing to gain and plenty to lose from a physical confrontation. FWIW I haven't been in a physical fight since I was 13 (didn't end well), and I'm 29 now.

There is a couple of things that prompted me to want to take up self defence lessons as a hobby:

1. My cousin recently had a scary incident with his wife. They were out when 3 young guys approached him from behind and suggested they thought his missus went alright, and maybe they should forcefully take her to a nearby park for some private time. The situation turned out fine and it was probably just some bravado on their part, and maybe my cousin is exaggerating a little, but it got me to thinking about myself and my wife and what I would do in a similar situation. I obviously wouldn't be looking to take those 3 guys down Bruce Lee style. But to be honest, it would be nice to have some confidence in how to defend myself at a basic level. Even just long enough to buy some time. Right now, I would be pretty much clueless.

For a more extreme example...I met a guy when I was living overseas who confided in me that some expat had forcefully restrained and raped him on a night out. I remember thinking, surely just a little self defence knowledge could get a man out of that situation. I assume he must have been quite drunk.

2. I've been in a corporate law job for quite a few years now and aggression is pretty much the order of the day. Although I've never seen physical violence, I've found that people in the profession generally adopt aggressive tones, stances, language etc. Had some other lawyer abusing me on the phone this week over some trivial matter. Anyway I've had the thought that, if I knew deep down that I could kick the other guys ass, it would make those situations easier to deal with. Not because I'm going to resort to violence. More the psychological advantage it would confer.

It's probably a fair call to say both reasons are driven to a certain extent by fear. But the way I see it is there is nothing wrong with responding to fear of powerlessness in a situation by learning a skill that to some extent solves the problem.

 

[Hot Pocket]

In that case Eagles I'd highly recommend boxing. It's great for self confidence but most martial arts are.

The reason I'd say boxing, is because when you train you're doing it as a team and individually at the same time. You're pretty much forced to drop your ego at the door, so it isn't bravado that you gain, its real confidence.

 

[Hot Pocket]

I used to train at the same gym as this guy, and we're about the same size and weight.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wale_Omotoso

Can you picture anyone running their mouth or acting like a big head when you've got guys like that around? Not a chance in hell. Super nice guy though, incredibly dedicated - every day while I was driving to my office job I'd see him running up and down the highways in full tracksuit. Then when I'd go to do my weekly or bi-weekly boxing session he'd be teaching kids how to box and I even had the chance to get in the ring with him and work the pads.

When you talk about confidence, he definitely had it. One of 5 orphaned kids who originally started fighting on the streets of Lagos, Nigeria. There's really not a lot you can say or do to intimidate a guy like that, but I doubt anyone would really try to either. Very friendly guy. Signed with Freddi Roach now too so he could go far I hope, just about to enter his prime as a boxer age wise.

 

[JuddsABlue]

The best way to win a fight is by a hundred yards

/dad joke

 

[GROTTO]

Otherwise, if you're a normal person, who goes around acting normal and civil and cool, then you never need to worry about "attacking" people are you? You're only going to be concerned about defending yourself against situations like a knife attack or a drunken thug.

I agreed with your post and it resonated with me, as having trained in martial arts myself, there is a lot of myths involved about fighting and defending.

The most important self defence to learn is one with a good instructor which may be hard for novice to find out initially, no matter what you learn it is your instructor that will either train you well or give you false illusions of grandeur.

The other issue you need to consider, is what kind of situations are you placing yourself in where you need to defend yourself in the first place.

Another issue, is that regardless of how well you are trained, it is always best practice to walk away at first if possible. Fighting or rather self defence should always be a last resort or measure in responding to a threat.

 

[GROTTO]

I was more meaning stopping the fight from even having someone swing at you. For example if you were at a bar and bumped into someone and they got upset, being able to talk your way out of it and walk away, rather than having them swing at you. Or if you bumped someone's beer on the floor, offering to buy them a new beer. Even realising that someone is a major dick and moving away from them before something happens. If a guy is taking swings and is going to keep swinging, that's when you would take action yourself (or escape).

Sorry just had a read of your post. Your 100% correct.

 

[GROTTO]

I'd actually say the best form of defence is to avoid fighting altogether. Be able to get out of situations without a fight breaking out. If you have an attacking mindset you're going to get yourself into tricky situations, and you're going to have to rely on your skills & knowledge. If it goes wrong then usually it will go very wrong.

You made a very good and strong pertinent point. Self defence is a last resort measure, not a first up response to a situation.

My trainer was damn good with the way he taught kids, never allowed them to get too big for their boots and instilled in them that self defence is not a solution to every altercation.

Then there is also the law to consider, hitting someone because "you thought he was going to hit you first" will always land you on the wrong side of the law.

Whats even worse is that you may end up causing serious bodily harm or even worse kill the person.

 

[Power Raid]

running

I win most of my fights by 100 metres

 

[Gus Poyet]

I was taught to fight as a kid by some Tinkers.

MMA training wouldn't prepare someone for the way Tinkers fight.

 

[Pie eyed]

My main aim is to learn to defend myself. I'm also interested in keeping fit, but that is secondary for me. I'm hoping this will turn out to be a long term commitment.

So far I have been thinking about Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. But then I'm worried the lack of striking practice will render it less useful in a real life situation.

I've heard that any sport/martial art which involves sparring is the best way to improve (e.g. MMA or boxing). I would normally be keen...but then I also heard that any sparring which involves repeated head contact may lead to the risk of brain injury. I know most ppl will read this and say "don't be silly, it's not a big risk". I rely on my brain as my source of income though. So I'm not even talking about ending up punch drunk...more so becoming just that little bit slower. I headed down to my local boxing gym last week to check it out, and let's say the boxing coaches didn't really ease my fears on that front.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated! Thanks all.

Remmington...any caliber you like.

 

[swiftdog]

The ancient art of Roshambo, demonstrated to perfection here by Robert Smith: