by James Thornton

Created on: July 09, 2010

The “best martial art” for self-defense must address the reality of a criminal assault often leading to a life threatening situation.  The assailant will often be armed, and in the worst case scenario it will be a handgun.  The victim will often be outnumbered by as much as three or four to one.  The assailant will usually be more physically stronger than the victim and the assailant almost always has fighting experience – the victim is not his first attack because he’s done this before.  The victim on the other hand may have never been in a real fight before.  Therefore, the ideal martial art for self defense will be simple, easy to learn, and deadly.

Simplicity is required because to be useful the student must learn effective techniques quickly.  The assailant isn’t waiting for a potential victim to take years of lessons to learn a series of blocks, kicks, grapples, and strikes.  The ideal martial art for self-defense will prepare the student immediately after the first lesson.  A student must quickly learn how to disarm an armed assailant and learn anatomical vulnerabilities such as the eyes, throat, groin, wrists, and knees.  This is especially true for female students who will often be fighting stronger male assailants.

Many formal martial arts as opposed to reality based martial arts require students to learn a series of katas or forms to progress toward a colored belt signifying mastery of the art.  This process takes years for students to become proficient in or master a martial art.  Learning a formal martial art also entails learning the art’s history and value system.  Most formal martial arts stress mental calmness, self-esteem, fitness, discipline, respect, more so than self defense.  A formal martial art is better suited for children to instill values or people wanting to engage in a competitive sport or fun hobby.  Reality based martial arts, on the other hand, stress fitness and self-defense – the underlying value is survival.  For this reason, reality based martial arts are much easier to learn.  There are no extensive katas for the student to memorize.  Reality based martial arts are much more offensive and the instructor will clearly explain the lethality of the attack/counterattack before the demonstration and ensuing spar session.  The bottom line – formal martial arts teach commendable values; reality

• 1
• 2
• Next Page >>