Street Self Defense - Why You Must Learn to "Think Outside the Box"

When you think about self defense, what comes to mind? How about what you're able to do against a real world attacker?

The reality is that, regardless of the opinions and theories being tossed around out there by the sport martial artists, a street self defense situation is NOTHING like a competition. And that very truth begins before the combatants ever get anywhere near the ring or actual attack location. The very fact that a fight - sport or not - is not the same thing as an all out attack on an unwilling victim by an assailant who wants more than a trophy, makes a self defense situation something worthy of more attention than merely learning how to punch, kick, or put someone in a submission hold.

You must remember that, if you're training for effective self defense, that there are certain truths that must be considered when you are training and learning what you need to know. These truths begin, not with the attacks and self defense techniques that everyone seems to focus on, but rather with the mindsets that create them.

To understand this, lets go back to the questions that I asked at the beginning of this article. They were:

1)"When you think about self defense, what comes to mind?" And...

2)"What you're able to do against a real world attacker."

The answers to these 2 questions point to, not just the need to think outside the box, but the very "boxes" that you need to learn to think outside of! I know that sounds confusing, but it really isn't.

What I'm talking about are the preconceptions that we human beings tend to carry around with us - the ideas that precede our thoughts, words, and actions. The point here is that, if you believe that a self defense situation is a particular thing - that it looks any particular way...

...then you will train to be able to deal with just that thing.

Just as if you never give any thought to the different types of attacker logic, you will be naturally prone to assume they all think alike, or worse yet - that they would think and do the same things that you would! Here are a few of the boxes that you will need to explore and learn to "think outside of" if you are going to really master this thing called "self defense":

1) How an attacker thinks

2) Your own perceptions (and misconceptions) about what it's like inside an attack

3) What it means to strike

4) What it means to "control" another person

5) The definition of "self defense"

6) And MORE!

Effective self defense requires more than just a few "karate moves." It involves the ability to think strategically, and understand how to defend yourself with as little wear-and-tear on you as possible.

For more information on what you MUST know to survive a real street attack, read my newest self defense book: "Fight Smarter - Not Harder!" It's available free at: http://www.warrior-concepts-online.com/street-fighting-self-defense-book.html

Jeffrey M. Miller is an internationally-known self defense expert. Each month he teaches literally thousands of students through live seminars, corporate training events, and his in-demand Self Defense Success Secrets Home Study Courses, the lessons to be able to survive in Today's often dangerous world.