The No.1 Biggest Mistake in Self Defense

It is a given that you fight back to defend yourself.rnHow else are you going to defend yourself, right?rnEven every self defense course teaches you to fight back.rnYou are urged to give everything you got into your counter attack.rnWith all your strength, all your aggression. rnYou have the instructor screaming at you to punch harder, kick harder. rnFight! Fight with all you’ve got! It is because of this prevailing attitude that we have been approaching the problem of self defense the wrong way. The Fundamental Difference Between Fighting and Self Defense A fight requires two willing parties. You choose to fight.rnThe fundamental difference between fighting and selfdefense is that in self defense you are not there by choice!rnYou do not want to fight.rnBut you need to protect yourself.rnSo you fight back out of desperation. Fighting back is the #1 biggest mistake you can make when you have to defend yourself! The moment you enter into the mindset of fighting you have lost the fight before it has even started. Think about it.rnThe playing field is not level.rnYou:rnSmallerrnWeakerrnLess aggressive rnNot a fighter Your attacker:rnBigger rnStronger rnAggressive rnBetter Fighter No matter how hard you fight back, the reality is that fighting against a stronger attacker has little to no chance of winning. So it begs the question:rnWhy are all self defense instructors teaching you to fight back? Most instructors come from a martial arts background and of course their self defense courses will be derived from the martial arts they were taught. There is a common perception that martial arts and self defense are one and the same thing. That could not be further from the truth. Martial arts were created for fighting NOT selfdefense.rnInstructors teach you what they know best: to fight. Instructors may be able to defend themselves by fighting back.rnThey have spent years of dedicated intensive training to be an expert. Fighting is hard. rnNo matter what a self defense course promises you, it will take a whole lot more than a weekend course to be proficient in fighting back! Because the fundamental difference between fighting and self defense is not acknowledged you end up with the blind teaching the blind. No matter what, you cannot teach a woman to fight like a man and expect her to win.rnIt is not going to happen as the odds are stacked against her. The irony The irony is that while the martial arts community will not let a well trained black belt fight against a bigger opponent in their tournaments, they will turn around, teach a petite woman some basic moves and turn her loose against an attacker twice her size! If martial arts can work for self defense, they wouldn't need to have different weight divisions in their tournaments and they would allow women to fight men. A new approach The first rule in selfdefense is to escape, but unfortunately escape isn’t always an option.rnThen obviously a new approach is needed if women are to stand a chance to be able to defend themselves successfully against men. rnContrary to popular belief, protecting yourself successfully against an attacker twice your size is a lot easier than you think.rnI will be delving into this new approach in the next article. Stay tuned. Hope this article gives you food for thought and not blindly accept conventional wisdom that fighting back is the only way to defend yourself. There is a surer and more intelligent way to defend yourself. If you would like more information, please go to http://www.selfdefensethesmartway.com Please also feel free to give any comments, ideas or suggestions.