Street Survival Guide: Self Defense Awareness, Avoidance And Fighting Techniques

One

About Self Defense

Probably the number one reason most people take up the martial arts is to learn how to defend themselves if ever the need arises. Many consider self-defense to be a vital and desirable skill to have in a society where violence and attacks on innocent people are the norm.

It seems every time we pick up a newspaper or watch television, we are bombarded by images of violence and stories of people getting attacked on the street or in their own homes, often for no other reason than they happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

I am not of course suggesting that you will get attacked every time you step out your front door (or even when you close it behind you). What I am suggesting is that sometimes these incidents happen, often when we least expect them.

It is surely better to be prepared enough for such incidents that you can respond in a way that will save you from harm as opposed to not responding at all and perhaps, in a worst-case scenario, losing your life.

This book is therefore aimed at those who…

• Have no experience of self-defense training but want to learn.

• Have experience in self-defense but want to deepen their understanding and fill the gaps in their knowledge.

How Can You Learn self-defense From A Book?

This book assumes that you are already a practicing martial artist, or if not, that you intend to be one. It is preferable to learn the physical aspects of self-defense—the hard skills—in a dojo with a willing partner or partners. Failing that, any space will do, though obviously some environments will limit or hinder your practice. Try to find the most suitable practice space possible. Like all physical skills, the techniques described here have to be practiced over and over in order for you to use them effectively.

There are, however, plenty of concepts and mental aspects of self-defense that can be worked on outside the training place, and these are perhaps more important than learning the combat side of things.

So even if you read this book and don’t implement the physical aspects described, you will still learn a lot on how to become more confident within yourself and implement positive changes that will dramatically reduce any fears of violence that you may have.

Self-defense is as much about changing your perspective on violence as it is about actually dealing with it when it happens. This book can help you do both. With that in mind, let’s get started.

What Is self-defense?

Different people interpret the concept of self-defense in different ways, with most considering self-defense to be the act of defending oneself against a violent attack from another person or persons. While this is true to an extent, there is more to it than that.

Self-defense, as a concept, is about more than physical violence. It is also about taking measures to prevent such violence from happening in the first place. Prevention is 90% of what self-defense is all about, and it is something that will be covered at length later in this book.

Regardless of how you or I or anyone else defines self-defense, the only definition that really matters is the one set out by the law. Self-defense is a legally defined term, which means no one—martial arts instructors, magazine writers, book writers, or any other expert on the subject—gets to redefine it. It is what it is, and that’s that.

So let’s now look at how the law defines self-defense.

self-defense And The Law

According to the ‘Lectric Law Library the law defines self-defense thus:

"Use of force is justified when a person reasonably believes that it is necessary for the defense of oneself or another against the immediate use of unlawful force. However, a person must use no more force than appears reasonably necessary in the circumstances.

Force likely to cause death or great bodily harm is justified in self-defense only if a person reasonably believes