Go for the neck.

GROIN

The groin makes for a good break up tactic. It won’t permanently take out your opponent, but it will distract them.

KNEE

The knee is a very good place to strike because this can leave your opponent immobile and make it easier for you to either, run away or break away from the attack.  Attacking the knee is also great prior to a takedown or as a break up before you commit to another attack.

THROAT

The throat is a very good target or primary striking area because it will work as a breakup tactic and it is great as a strategy for removing the threat of further attacks. This can be done by a controlling the opponents breathing, choking them out by constricting the carotid arteries or in the worse case - striking hard at the windpipe and forcing the opponent to deal with a more serious threat than attacking you. Never strike to the throat unless your life is at risk!

EYES

And finally we have the eyes. The eyes make a great primary striking area because they are vulnerable soft tissue areas with a variety of ways to attack. The eyes are extremely sensitive regardless of your opponents size and training  - which makes them the number one target in a street fight.

There are few ways to go about attacking the eyes. One simple strategy is to simply strike at the eyes with the tips of your fingers. This will cause the eyes to water and sting which makes it hard for your opponent to see. Strikes to the eyes will also break your attacker’s concentration, allowing you some time to either escape or prepare for another attack. Another way to attack the eyes is to use dirt or other small objects that can be thrown or sprayed directly into the eyes.

This is why pepper spray is so popular as a self-defense tool. You can also use keys, clothing, shoes and other items to throw into the eyes again either as a breakup or an attempt to scratch the retina making it hard for the opponent either see you or continue with their attack.

The reason this becomes the most practical strategy is because if the person cannot see you, it’s going to be very hard for them to attack you.

Photo Credits: dangoodwin

Originally posted 2010-04-04 03:55:54.

Ground Fighting

On the street - 80-90% of all fights end up on the ground. This is enough awareness to make the case for learning to fight on the ground and it is the fuel behind the cage fighting craze.

The Gracie family started the UFC and dominated the cage fighting arena by having a training background in grappling - ground fighting.  All they had to do was take their opponent to the ground as soon as possible and even the most experienced black belt was helpless without having experience in ground fighting.

As the sport progressed, so did the ground fighting skills of the athletes performing at these events.

The truth is that for you to be skilled in street self-defense, you must learn how to fight and grapple on the ground. However, fighting on the ground in a street fight is hardly realistic. Consider the following:

Multiple Attackers

If you are on the ground focused on a wrestling match with an opponent, you leave yourself open to more attackers. Remember, whether you are controlling your opponent or your opponent is in control - you are still tied up.

Restricted Movements

Being off your feet, you limit your ability to react or run if required. Getting someone off his or her feet is a key strategy in combat and the same applies to you. Your goal in realistic self-defense should be to ALWAYS stay on your feet.

Weapons

In addition, being on the ground will make it challenging for you to respond to weapons or other dangerous elements that are introduced into the situation. In a cage, you only have the chain links and mat to worry about. However, in the street you have concrete, chairs, and sharp objects to avoid.

The best way to learn to stay on your feet is to learn the strengths and weaknesses of ground fighting tactics.  For example: how to keep your balance when an opponent attempts to move you around. Keeping a low center of gravity is a simple, but effective foundational strategy for staying on your feet.  Getting into a low stance prior to an encounter and during the fight will aid in keeping off the ground.

You can practice this concept by having a partner try to pick you up off the ground. The first time you should stand straight with both of your feet touching.  The second time get in a lower stance (maybe a horse stance) and have them pick you up again. With practice you can make it much harder for your opponent to pick you up or knock you off-balance.  It is easy to be pushed over or off-balance when you are not in a low stance.  You might remember this advice from high school if you ever played American tackle football or rugby.

The only true strategy that will give you the combative edge will be training. Work with your partner on trying to stay off the ground while they work on tactics to take you down.

Photo Credits: The National Guard

Originally posted 2010-04-01 13:37:46.

Falling

Take some time to imagine a movie fight scene with people flying through windows, opponents using chairs to smash over their targets back and people falling down the stairs and onto the floor.  This all looks great on the silver screen, but in real life, they do not use sugar glass to hit you over the head with a beer bottle.

On the set of a movie, all of the actors and stuntmen are protected with hidden padding under their clothing. The tables and chairs are designed to break and often made of balsa wood or rubber.  The floors all have padding too and everything is designed to be as safe as a kids playground. This is not the case in the real world.

If your opponent was to throw you to the ground - that ground becomes the most dangerous item in that scenario. If you are knocked into a counter, thrown into a glass window or pushed over a table, you will have to deal with the fact that these objects fight back in a way that is hard to defend against.

Consider that in the bathroom people often slip and fall backwards and hit the back of their head on the bathtub or counter and are often killed instantly. This accident is one of the most common household deaths. The same goes in the real world (in or out of the home) and we need to learn to protect ourselves against the environment if we are to truly understand realistic self-defense.

Once you are aware that your environment is the most dangerous part of the self-defense situation, you can then move on to learning techniques of self-protection against your environment. For most martial artists, training will start with basic rolls and falls. By learning to roll if you learn and rebound from the ground.  By learning to fall, you learn how to take the least amount of damage as possible.

Once you have mastered rolling and falling you will want to focus on improving your agility in an environment with obstacles. This type of training requires you to play a stunt man/woman and pad up. You will also want to create an environment that is typical to many of the locations you might be in if a situation did occur – for example, in the bank, school, coffee shop, office or even on the street. You will need to set up elements that represent dangerous obstacles in your environment.  However, these elements should be SAFE to fall or roll over. Consider using items designed for playgrounds – or protect tables with pillows and thick padding.

With some practice and professionally guided training, you can be well on your way to feeling safe even in the most arduous of environments.

Photo Credits: chibij918

Originally posted 2010-04-03 03:44:07.

Just want to kick and punch?

So how exactly do you know which martial arts discipline is for you, and how can you make sure that once you've made a decision, you've made the right one? Here are some quick tips for choosing the right discipline to match your personality.

• For some, they just want to learn how to kick and punch.

The more "traditional" Eastern martial arts fall under this category: Karate, Kung Fu, and Tae Kwon Do. In these arts, you won't learn how to wrestle, but you will learn how to use your mind to create more self-discipline and belief: breaking boards with your foot or your hand help you realize that you're stronger than you initially thought.

If you're a tumbler who simply wants to be able to defend himself in real-life situations, these might not be for you. But if you want to realize a lot of side-benefits from a martial art, you might consider one of these.

• Mixed martial arts promote fitness and improvisational skills.

Today's most popular types of martial arts, MMA or mixed martial arts, are the kind of fighting you'll see on a UFC Pay-Per-View event. MMA includes both grappling or wrestling along with standing up and striking, allowing you a balance of different types of martial arts. These can help you to build confidence.

• If you need a workout, focus on the upper body.

For many people, working the legs is easy - biking, walking, swimming, running. But the upper body's a little trickier. A martial art more focused on punching, like boxing, might be more up your alley. If you want to build some solid upper body fitness, you might want to consider boxing. Again, you won't necessarily learn how to defend yourself effectively, but you will be able to get in some great workouts.

Which martial art is right for you? Only you can know. Try taking a few trial classes to see which one seems to fit your personality.

Photo Credits: The She-Creature

Originally posted 2009-07-28 05:00:54.