(Approx 2 minute 45 second read)

I often receive comments on my articles that tell me that you don’t need self-defense, you’re never going to need it. Just practice for fun and competition.
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Er, no.
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As an example, literally a block away from me this morning at 6:30am, there was a carjacking. A middle aged woman was going to her car when she was attacked by a woman brandishing a knife. She forced her to give her the keys to her car, and was stabbed several times when she initially refused.
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The assailant took off with her car only to crash into two others cars around the corner. When a guy went to help, and offer assistance, he too was stabbed.
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This tragic incident is a reminder that your life is worth more than any valuables. It’s not worth fighting for them when any assailant could be doing this stuff, day in, day out, and be much more experienced than you and your martial arts training.
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This example is one of the reasons that I continually champion context in your training. If all you are learning is guard up, sparring, competition techniques and then expect them to work in the real-world, then you are sadly mistaken.
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The martial arts should at their core, teach that it is best not to get into a fight in the first place.
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There are instructors that teach only fighting as self-defense, I know many of them, who have no consideration of other important aspects of self-protection.
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How would you deal with a situation like that above if all you have been taught is to put up your hands in a guard and prepare to fight?
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Weapons are the greatest equalizer there is. If you are unprepared, you are in serious trouble – even if you think your karate is the strongest (you know who you are).
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Self-defense has very little in common with sparring in the dojo or a competitive match. In a real attack, where someone want’s to inflict harm, there are no rules. You never know what the attacker is capable of doing. Whether they’re armed or have accomplices, are their senses and sensations dulled through drugs or alcohol, or whether mugging or street fighting, is part of their day-job, just like in the above example.
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It is vitally important that your training is clearly defined.
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In a real conflict, there are real consequences – and this means that someone, probably you, or your student, is going to get hurt, or worse, lose their life. The lady in question was critically wounded. Are you prepared for those consequences?
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Self-defense training is about preserving your well-being. Yes, you may have to fight, but as a last resort, not the first. Getting away safely should be your main goal, unharmed. Not squaring off toe-to-toe ready to fight.
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I can’t reiterate this enough. Because people everywhere just don’t seem to get it.
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Your survival is determined by what you do at the earliest possible stage. And one of the most important things to realize about personal safety training is that it starts way before anyone lays a hand on you. Before things become physical, self-protection has already started, in what is commonly called the pre-confrontation and pre-fight stages of a conflict.
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When was the last time you practiced verbal de-escalation drills in your dojo? If striking, sparring, kicking a tire and doing push-ups, are the only self-defense techniques you practice, you have only scratched the surface of the skills you may find yourself desperately needing.
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De-escalation and conflict management is a major part of the training for many first-responders and law enforcement agencies, and if practiced and implemented correctly, many life threatening situations can be avoided.
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Learn to use all the tools available to you to survive. And your brain is the MOST powerful tool, so use it. And give up the things that can be replaced and get out of there.
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“When you have exhausted all possibilities, remember this, you haven’t.” – Thomas Edison.
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Written by Adam Carter – Shuri Dojo