When the successful outcome of a confrontation on the street depends, 99% of the time, on how well you manage the conflict before it gets to fighting stage, why do so many dojos continue to teach students only reactive/defensive techniques that probably won’t work very well come the time anyway?
Actually allowing a confrontation to get to fight stage is disastrous and is the worst possible outcome of any conflict. Once you have to fight then you are not in control anymore and anything could happen. You could end up being seriously hurt or you could end up badly injuring your opponent, to the point were you have to explain your actions to the police and then in court.
In an ideal world it would be nice to be able to just defend only, to use our martial arts skills in the way they are apparently supposed to be used, but the fact is we don’t live in an ideal world and I doubt we ever have. Defending against attacks in the dojo is easy because we usually know which attack is coming and there is rarely any pressure under the circumstances. Mostly, what we do in the dojo is art and not real self defense. If we were practicing real self defense then we would also be practicing confrontation management and all that that entails. We would also be constantly putting ourselves (and our techniques) under extreme pressure to see how well we can really perform.
I of course understand that most martial artists practice an art and that they are, in most cases, just following tradition and doing what practitioners of their art have always done. I do this myself. However, most martial artists see themselves as being capable of defending themselves if someone tries it on out in the street, but I can’t see how you could think that if all you knew how to do was fight and react to your opponents attack.
Like I say, waiting to be hit is not good self defense. Good self defense is about controlling the situation right from the start when an opponent first approaches you on the street, when he verbally lets you know he has a problem with you. This is were conflict/confrontation management skills come in, giving you the ability to read the situation properly and control it accordingly. There is still risk involved, but a lot less risk than waiting for some seven foot knucklehead with a bad attitude and an even worse haircut to hit you.
Obviously conflict management doesn’t apply to all situations. In the case of ambush attacks or surprise attacks you won’t see the attack coming and there will be very little you can do under such circumstances, especially if you get hit hard and fast. Unless you’re very lucky, it’s unlikely that you will escape an ambush attack unhurt and in some cases, with your life.
The only preventive measure against such attacks are stay aware at all times so that you don’t walk into any traps. Dark alleys and dodgy shortcuts across the park at night should be a no-no. Try not to piss too many people off either. Pissed off people tend to come looking for you, lying in wait so they can take you by surprise some night when you least expect it.
You should also make yourself a hard target. Carry yourself with complete confidence and avoid any kind of victim mentality. Follow the steps outlined in my free e-book. Predators should only have to take one look at you before deciding you are not worth the trouble and they will move on to easier prey.
Prevention is always the best cure for violence but sometimes, despite our best efforts, someone will try it on with us and we will have no choice but to employ a bit of conflict management.
The Fence
Good confrontation management should begin with the fence. I have talked at length on the fence in another article and most of you should be well aware of it by now, but I just want to mention it again in brief, because it is particularly relevant to what we are talking about here. The fence is a very integral part of successfully surviving any violent street confrontation.
If you do find yourself confronted by some aggressor then controlling the distance between you and them should probably be your first priority. You don’t really want them getting into your face and so close that you won’t be able to prevent them attacking you. This is why we use the fence to create a gap in between that allows you to control your potential attacker without them barely noticing. You can now be aware of all their movements and with your hands you can “feel out” the situation and be ready to attack or defend as need be.
With a good fence in place a potential attacker now knows that they have to break down that fence in order for them to land a successful attack on you. This makes them hesitate before doing anything and puts them under your control somewhat. Without the fence in place there would nothing to stop an opponent launching an attack at will, no barrier to keep them at bay. You would essentially be an open target.
It is also advisable to keep your fence as natural as possible. It is not some rigid karate stance that you adopt when someone gets in your face. Your fence should also mirror the movements of your opponent, allowing for good rapport and subtle control. It must be practiced to be effective.
So with your fence now in place you now have two courses of action open to you:
1. Talk your way out of the situation. This can be done by means of verbal aggression and lots of posturing or you can simply talk your opponent down and thus diffuse the situation. Either way, no physical response is required and you should be able to walk away unscathed.
2. Hit your opponent before he hits you. If you are near certain your opponent is going to attack you at some point then you should probably try to land one good shot before taking to your heels.
Both of these tactics can work very well, depending on the circumstances. It would be up to you to judge your opponent and the situation wisely enough to make the right decision, something which won’t be easy when your old friend adrenalin is coursing through you and you can’t think too clearly. You just have to try and keep your wits about you and hope you make the right choice.
Go by instinct rather than thought anyway. Adrenalin tends to close down most of the brains thinking faculties so trying to think under such circumstances is slightly pointless, not to say dangerous. Your decisions must be swift and based on good instinct, which in turn are based on good practice and training. Theses types of situation should be drilled in practice, over and over so that if you are faced with the real thing you won’t have to think, you’ll know immediately what to do and everything will be spontaneous.
Anyway, that’s all for this part. In the next part we will look at how to prevent a situation from getting physical by looking at methods of verbal dissuasion…
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