Goal focused self defense training is the important thing to a successful self defense system. Knowing what targets to concentrate on and find out how to attack them is basically the nuts and bolts of any successful fighting system. That is where many martial arts fall short once they are in comparison with self defense systems. Martial arts often focus heavily on positive motor skill techniques which might be amazing to observe and intensely difficult to master, but sadly less effective than some easy self defense moves.
The actual secret of self defense is knowing which targets are essentially the most vulnerable, distracting, and painful. Before I list the highest 5 consider that it’s best to never develop goal fixation (specializing in one goal alone as your sole hope for stopping an attacker). You might have to give you the chance to alter targets readily because the fight or altercation progresses. More on this later…
Top 5 Targets:
- Groin: This isn’t any big surprise yet it is usually ignored. Most fights will start with a right haymaker. A very good fighter will go straight for a helpful goal just like the groin (if it is just not guarded). The groin is an efficient goal due to the acute pain and involuntary response it causes is men. It is almost not possible to not double over from a very good shot to the groin. This makes it vulnerable, distracting and painful the right combination.
- Eyes: The eyes are an incredible goal because they’re our principle sense utilized in fighting. Striking the eyes also causes an emotional response in attackers since it is such a helpful goal. An eye fixed gouge will immediately cause the eyes to water, blurring the vision for a second, allowing you to take the upper hand. Eye strikes should only be attempted if the eyes are unguarded. They’re especially effective when an attacker has his hands busy gripping your shirt or shoulders etc. As a substitute of fighting his hold simply strike the eyes.
- Throat: The throat is an especially sensitive and vulnerable a part of the body. Often times the natural instinct in a fight or self defense situation is to strike the top. That is great if you happen to occur to land a knockout punch, but chances are high you will not. Aim for the throat as an alternative. It’s soft (you will not bust knuckles), damaging (you’ll be able to cut off his air supply), and might end a fight quickly (a neck strike may cause a knockout). Better of all a throat strike even when it is just not perfectly executed may be very distracting (I can prove it…press your thumb into the spot slightly below your Adam’s apple, yeah not very comfortable to say the least).
- Ear: This may occasionally seem a bit obscure however the ear is an incredible self defense goal (and I do not mean a Tyson Ear Bite). An ear slap generally is a very damaging and excruciatingly painful strike. An ear slap won’t damage your hand (like a punch will), if executed well it’ll blow out the ear drum causing tons of pain, a short lived lack of hearing, and dizziness. This definitely fulfills the standards of vulnerable (it requires minimal strength to cause an incredible deal of injury), distracting, and painful.
- Knee: To this point I actually have only mentioned targets that may distract and cause pain allowing you to flee an attacker by exploiting the distraction and running. The knee is a goal that may easily prevent an assailant from following you or continuing any type of attack. The knee is just not a really strong joint. Yes they carry us around all day so that they are strong in a few directions but they’re very vulnerable when struck in the fitting spot.
The excellent news is that individuals rarely guard their knees. Only a seasoned martial artist (not your average street thug) will defend his vulnerable knees effectively. The trick is to strike the inside the knee. That is essentially the most vulnerable a part of the joint. A well delivered strike to the inner knee will snap a few of the ligaments and tendons within the knee removing his ability to walk, run, or stand. This makes it an ideal self defense goal.
This goal is very good if you happen to are being held from behind. You possibly can strike the inner knee along with your heel. The front of the knee can also be effective, but requires more force.
3 Principles to Use Targets Effectively:
- Know find out how to strike all these targets from various self defense scenarios (while being held from behind, held head to head, from a punching range, etc.).
- Learn to at all times scan attackers or sparring partners for open targets, these will continually change during a self defense situation.
- All the time follow up one high value goal strike with one other (it may possibly be the identical goal but not at all times). For instance if a groin strike doubles an attacker over take this moment to deliver an ear slap or an elbow to the back of the neck. The purpose is it’s best to never expect one strike to finish a fight regardless of how brilliantly executed. Strike until he’s incapacitated (on the bottom, or you’ve gotten an actual likelihood to flee).
These are universal principles. Targets must be the main focus of any good self defense or fighting system. As a self defense industry leader I actually have my very own system that I teach, but these principles must be the idea of any system. How do I do know this? Well through the years I actually have met and worked with scores of black belt instructors from many martial arts, bar room bouncers, military Special Forces personnel from several countries, defense contractors, police chiefs, and high profile security guards. Although all and sundry had a special teaching style and set of strikes they taught, all of them focus heavily on targets (because targets are the actual key). Just give it some thought a flowery punch is just a flowery punch until it lands on the fitting spot. Every self defense tool known to man is useless unless it hit the fitting goal.