How Do You Fight?

Jim Brassard teaches correct punching for power. shaolin kempo karate, front, back, thrust punch

Students at Curt Doyle’s North American Self Defense Institutes, High Impact Fight Club…gearing up for a “Gathering” with Eric Knaus and the Houston Stick Fighting Association.

: קרב מגע‎ lit. “contact combat” or “close combat” is an eclectic hand-to-hand combat system developed in Israel. It was derived from street-fighting skills developed by Imi Lichtenfeld, making use of his training as a boxer and wrestler, as a means of defending the Jewish quarter during a period of anti-Semitic activity in Bratislava in the mid- to late 1930′s. In the late 1940′s, following his emigration to Israel, he began to provide hand-to-hand combat training to what was to become the IDF, developing the techniques that became known as Krav Maga. It has since been refined for both civilian and military applications. Unlike most martial arts, Krav Maga is essentially a tactical defense skill. Its philosophy emphasizes threat neutralization, simultaneous defensive and offensive maneuvers, and aggressive endurance in a ‘him-or-me’ context. Krav Maga is still used by the Israel Defense Forces and several closely related variations have been developed and adopted by law enforcement, Mossad, FBI, United States special operations forces, Irish and British Special Forces. There are several organizations teaching variations of Krav Maga internationally.

During my recent visit to Japan for training, there was one overriding thing that I noticed about most of the black belts that I worked with. Now, if they were just having fun and aren’t really looking to be able to defend themselves against a determined attacker should they ever face one, then okay. But, if they really are looking to be proficient and have the ability to control a situation, then they probably shouldn’t be sending a clear and dangerous message to their attacker.

Women’s self defense issues are constantly in the news and a ‘hot’ topic for conversations. In fact, the number one concern from women, especially single women in the dating world, is rape.
It seems that everyone from police officers to karate instructors has his or her own philosophy and theories about the how’s and why’s of self defense for women and girls.
The truth is though, that many of the same techniques and tactics taught to men for self-protection simply will not work for a woman. Why?…
… because attacks perpetrated on women have, at their foundation, certain inherent problems, issues, and conditions that are often very different for men who find themselves in defensive situations. Women have to deal with things that, quite frankly, men don’t.
If this is something you’re really concerned about, you owe it to yourself to do some serious research to get more information about real-world self-defense for women designed around issues specifically related to womens self-defense.
Now, before some of you start rolling your eyes or nodding your head in agreement, this is not a women’s lib issue or anything of the sort. It’s simply the way it is.
What kind of things make self-defense for women different? I’m glad you asked.
Well, for starters, physiologically speaking, there is a 7-to-3 strength ratio between male and female bodies. That means that if you were to stand a man and a woman, having the same height, weight, and build, side-by-side, and all things considered (health, fitness, etc.)…
… the man would still be two-and-a-half times stronger than the woman!
This is not theory or one person’s belief over those of others. It’s scientific fact.
Next, women are more likely to be slapped, grabbed and pinned than punched or kicked. For men, it’s just the opposite. The fact is that, most of us have been conditioned since childhood to act, play, and, yes, fight with each gender very differently. And attackers are no different.
The good news is that more and more women are being drawn to the life-enhancing benefits of the martial arts and basic self-defense programs for increasing their level of self-confidence and overall feelings of safety and security. The not-so-good news is that…
… there is a shortage of:
* Martial arts instructors who understand scientific self-defense, ‘and’ have the necessary life experience to be able to teach from a perspective that shares that experience.
After all…
… if an instructor has never been in a real-world self defense situation themselves, it will make it nearly impossible for them to teach real self defense to anyone – let alone self defense for women. It’s kind of like going to a priest of counselor for marriage counselling who has never been married themselves. They both have information passed on by others but, neither has anyway of expressing that information based on real-word knowledge.
However, there is an over-abundance of…
…so-called self-defense experts who are of the tough-guy, fighter type or the “This is Reality – Deal With it! macho-type.
These people, by their very nature are the “slugger-types” who rely and depend on speed, strength and size to win. Since self defense situations usually involve a bigger, faster, stronger attacker victimizing a smaller, less-prepared target – and, that’sexactly what most women are up against when they’re attacked…
… these instructors, and their “strike-first-and-crush-them-where-they-stand mentalities, are far from being suited, knowledgeable, or able to deliver the necessary lessons needed by women to effectively protect themselves from an assailant intent on dominating them physically.
Other Considerations for Girls and Womens Self Defense
The following is a partial list of some of the other major differences between self defense for women and men. The important thing to remember is that…
… a self-defense situation is very different from a sport or competition-based contest where the individuals are willing participants. They are evenly matched to insure for a “fair fight.” I have been in contests and I have been attacked and I can tell you without a moment’s doubt that…
… there is nothing “fair” or “even” about a real attack. NOTHING! And, once your personal space is invaded by another human being wanting to beat you to your core, you will know what I mean and never, ever, buy into the crap that most of these so-called experts are shovelling.
With that said, please know that I have not said that every self-defense or martial arts instructor is full of it. Just that you must know what you need and make sure that that’s what you’re getting. Remember – you’re not buying a couch that you can take back. A mistake in this area could literally cost you your life!
Here are some other differences between men’s and women’s training that a good program must address:
* Cultural Influences – girls have been taught from a very early age that fighting was not “lady-like.”
Oh my god! What would people think!
* Situational Self-Defense – rape and sexual assault are two of the biggest differences between the genders when it comes to suriviving an attack.
The fact that men are usually dealing with the more obvious situations (muggings and competitive (“oh-yeah! let’s go!”-type fighting), while women, and more and more young girls, are required to deal with subtle tactics like date-rape or being ambushed by a group.
Add to this the strength differential discussed earlier, and you have a very different situation, requiring very different self-protection tactics.
* Incorrect Information – I believe that the majority of teachers and instructors mean well. They aren’t out to con you. It’s just that they have no real experience to go on so they do what everyone does when they don’t know any better…
… they make assumptions that seem logical and rational within their own frame of reference.
The problem is that we’re talking about self-protection here…
… self defense for women…
… girls self-defense. Not…
… vegetable soup. Where, if you make a mistake, you can just dump the pot and start over.
As I said earlier, a mistake in a women’s self-defense situation, in any situation requiring defense against an attack from an assailant bent on damaging you, could be very, very costly indeed.

Here’s a question I shouldn’t be asking. After all, as a fellow who sells martial arts DVDs, I should be trying to sell you large amounts of everything, right? Because I prefer happy customers, let me answer this question. You don’t need much, when it comes to martial arts. The truth of the matter is that when a fight starts you only need a few workable techniques. And, sad truth of the matter, most of the martial arts being taught these days are pretty much filler. Karate, such as Shotokan, Uechi or Shito ryu, has dozens of forms, hundreds of techniques, fancy ways of taking apart an attacker, yet, all you need are the five or six that work. You need to isolate the five or six techniques that suit your mind and body, and then work them until they are second nature. There’s where the true discipline of the martial arts is, in spending the long lonely hours working just the important stuff until it works…every time. Kung Fu, such as Shaolin, has amazing routines filled with acrobatics, yet, when was the last time you saw somebody do a somersault in a fight, unless he was the one that was getting hit? Or, maybe you want the mysterious chi building exercises of such arts as Pa Kua or Tai Chi or Hsing I, but, again, how many fights have you seen where people use chi gung to win? Or, take kenpo, which has over five hundred death dealing techniques, virtually none of which work in the ring. Or Tae Kwon Do, with its amazing arsenal of kicks, but which kicks are of little value once the distance has closed.Or jujitsu, which has so many throws, but who can afford to take the time to roll around on a parking lot with more than one attacker to handle? These arts that I have mentioned, you see have weaknesses inherent within them. And it would appear that I am just bad mouthing arts. Actually, there is a madness behind my method. If you are interested in learninghow to defend yoursaelf quickly, find a course, maybe even just hang a punching bag and start pounding. A few months of calisthenics and sweat, and you will have what you want. This is all you need in the way of workable martial arts. But if you are like me, however, completely immersed in the martial arts, just cannot get enough of every system you see, then I have removed you from my arena, and given myself less distractions in the pursuit of my art. You see, all of those faults I have mentioned, I study all the arts and figure out ways to fix what is wrong, and I am an artist of The True Art. You want to be able to knock somebody down quick, go away, if you want the real thing, then be willing to go all the way.

Cuong and Teresa’s womens self defense performance