Physical fitness for self-defense?

Montana · Pre-Black Belt

Speed and reaction time..both come from practice. pracitice..and then more practice!
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If you don't want to stand behind our troops, please..feel free to stand in front of them.

Student since January 1975---4th Dan, retired due to non-martial arts related injuries.

Alan Armstrong · Black Belt

Hi again Hansenator. Another suggestion is looking into the style of Yi Chuan. Let me know here what you think of it. It is one of those styles of Kung Fu that is not easily grasped but in time with practice could be what you have been looking for.

Spartacus Maximus · Black Belt

It is strange that no one has mentioned that their are some trainable skills that are essential for self defense before any physical techniques or running is required. Things like a good sense of observation to know when and where an attack might come. Signs of an imminent attack and situational awareness to know where obstacles and potential escape routes are located, as well as everything else around. Without any of these skills, all the physical techniques are unusable.

Alan Armstrong · Black Belt

The topic of self defense and training for it is a very tricky subject to pin down. The variables are too immense. A person could dedicate and specialize in it and it still wouldn't be 100% effective. I believe avoidance of sticky situation's and ones own attitude can go far in averting danger but physical training for it, if you cannot run, build big muscles and practice moving fast to avoid punches and kicks. Every SD situation will be different your reactions however can be improved opone to make the best of it. Minimizing risk factors. Improvisational weapon skills can play a factor also. Being cunning using misdirection or misinformation in your escape. We have built in survival skills, if we are willing to use them that is another question.

Spartacus Maximus · Black Belt

While it is true that humans all have survival instincts and are physically unchanged from the way they were in more dangerous times, the lifestyle and environment most people live in nowadays has caused theses senses to be repressed. This is why an ordinary, untrained individual is usually unable to react to danger quickly enough or even see it coming.

Alan Armstrong · Black Belt

If we loose our sense of survival at any time we are likely to get killed or badly hurt. Run over by a car or fall off a mountain top. I think that survival skills may have changed to monetary skills instead. Not survival of the fitest but survival of the richest. It has been said that attacks happen mostly by people we know. Which makes SD more complicated than it already is.

LastKing · Yellow Belt

In reality, a lot of attackers aren't physically fit. They smoke, drink, eat all the wrong things, do little exercise. The have one punch, usually a highly telegraphed right hook. They win though because they are used to fighting real fights, get the drop on you, and get it over with in a very, very short amount of time, usually before you even realise you're in a fight.

OneKickWonder · Purple Belt

If I could only train one part of myself for self defence, what would it be? Tough question.

I thought about strong legs. Lots of obvious benefits. But no good if the crest of you is weak.

Thinking more, I'm kind of torn between strong neck muscles, or strong hands. I'd probably lean towards strong hands. Here's my reasoning.

Neck muscles are so often overlooked. Yet if you are knocked down, guess which muscles have to serve as brakes to stop your head bouncing off the concrete floor. If someone punches your head and lands a good shot, your new kitchen muscles are all that stands between the rotational force and your vertebrate.

But that's all a bit defeatist. If you are getting beat up, you can't protect your head and neck for very long without doing something else, whatever that something else might be.

So if I could only train one part, it would probably be my hands. With weak hands, I can't punch my attacker without injuring myself. I can't grip him and wrestle/grapple him. If he grabs me I can't apply a wrist lock leading to an arm bar. If I fall forward and instinctively land in my hands, if they are weak, they are finished.

Thinking about training, in free sparring (mostly kicking, punching and blocking) I think I've sprained fingers and wrists more often than any other kind of minor injury. In one step, the only thing that can save a technique when you miss the perfect spot is pure strength in the hands and wrists. Likewise said strength can be enough to negate a technique being applied to you, if your opponent doesn't get it perfectly right.

tallgeese · Black Belt

Fitness as a whole should not be overlooked. Cardio, strength, flexibility all go to making your performance better. Which increases your chances of winning. Being stronger means being more durable. You have to be able to work at 100 percent for short duration bursts, recover quickly, and move effectively. Work on all of it.
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Chucksmanhood · Yellow Belt

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