I love the television shows where physicists, doctors, self-defense experts and computer visualization artists all get together to look at what goes on inside the human body when it gets used as a punching bag. Like the show Fight Science: Of course, things go wrong when everyone involved assumes that the human body behaves like […] Read More
Being able to prevent violence and being able to do violence are two very different things. That’s obvious, right? When stated in opposition like that, it’s self-evident. And yet, I get enough feedback to tell me it’s still fuzzy in most people’s heads. Nearly everyone we train shows up looking for the former — they […] Read More
Preventing Violence VS. Doing Violence, Continued… The best way to prevent violence is to not be there. The second best way is to give everyone the benefit of the doubt, be calm, and go out of your way to make peace everywhere you go. While on the surface it may seem like a good […] Read More
During self defense training, you learn that there are stark differences between competition and killing. And yet, when it comes to making the distinction, I’ve found that some people have a hard time differentiating one from the other. A common comment I hear from competitors (whether in boxing, karate or mixed martial arts) is that […] Read More
When you think about self-defense in a life-or-death physical altercation, what scares you the most? I’m willing to bet your biggest fear is that the other guy will hurt you. Whether he does it with a gun, a knife, a club or fists and boots, you are preoccupied with stopping him from hurting you. And […] Read More
Tobias from Sweden writes in this self protection question: “I find myself agreeing more and more about your specific way of thinking when it comes down to surviving life-or-death self-defense situations, especially in regards to the fact that the bad guys don’t operate by the laws of society and therefore, in survival, neither can we. […] Read More
My friend’s wife came back from grocery shopping this weekend with a chilling story and insight into her own self-protection mentality: A man stalked her in the remote parking lot behind the store. Now, the story obviously had a good outcome— nothing happened—but it was the way she talked about it, what was important to […] Read More
Someone recently wrote in regarding strike response and how to be the first one to act in a violent situation: Dan H. writes: “I am working my way through your DVD series “Surviving the Most Critical 5 Seconds of Your Life,” and I understand and appreciate the series of actions based on response, etc. […] Read More
Human societies are fascinated with strength and power. Obvious personal power especially — height, musculature, and a hair-trigger willingness to do violence or self protection are eternally impressive to us. We all desire what those attributes grant those who have them: to be respected, to inspire awe, and perhaps fear. When we are intimidated, we […] Read More
You can tell how serious someone is about really dropping a man by where they place themselves to get the job done and where they land when it comes to antisocial confrontation. Angry or aggressive fighters will go toe-to-toe, literally stepping up to the man and then reaching out with their limbs to cover the […] Read More
