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The big problem: few people understand what self-defense is

Since there is a lot of confusion on this subject, it is important to start with some distinctions:

Traditional martial arts – The primary goal of the study of a classic martial art is not self-defense, in 90% of cases the objective is to discover ourselves (read Martial art and self-defense: what are the differences?)
Combat sports – The practice of combat sports does not teach anything about self-defense, it teaches how to fight in a competitive but controlled situation (read The 6 types of martial clash)
Warfare combat systems – What a warfare combat system teaches has nothing to do with civilian safety, it teaches to kill or be killed (read Best martial arts for self-defense)
Street fighting – Often (not always) it teaches a low-quality type of combat system that, despite some effective dirty moves, presents too big gaps if compared to any of the past 3 mentioned paths; in addition to this it represents the fastest way to end in big troubles

Note – This article has been asked by one of our Core Course practitioners on Patreon (see how to attend our home study classes here Learn Kung Fu online: a beginner-to-expert course).

Although many people do not understand this, none of the 4 categories mentioned correspond to what self-defense really is. Self-defense is in fact the wide-ranging study of the simplest and safest ways to solve (more or less) dangerous scenarios: without predetermined violence limits but always with the idea of proportionality and preserving as much as possible the physical integrity of everyone.

A note by Master Kongling – Read Personal defense: the S.A.F.E. method, to deepen this topic in more practical terms.

Which “martial arts” are effective in the street and which ones are not?

Once it is established that having real self-defense preparation does not mean (only) knowing how to fight (read Why and when self-defense does not work), it is easy to understand that the ideal preparation is the one that includes:

Sparring (not collaborative simulations, read Martial arts sparring [MINI-GUIDE])
Conditioning (a gradual adaptation of our body, read Physical conditioning: how it works)
Stress management (a specific training that goes beyond telling that it exists, read Self-defense: stress management)
Prevention (the most effective weapon of self-defense, read /// Subscribe (it's free!) or Login to see this content ///)
Negotiation (the capability to solve problems with deception, read What is negotiation in self-defense?)
Escaping (a not secondary option that no one deepens in practical terms, read /// Subscribe (it's free!) or Login to see this content ///)
Planning (the study of general strategies made by interchangeable sub-tactics to apply, read Martial arts real-time strategy: how to)
Daily training (the crucial point to be, as much as possible, ready to fight, read Self-Defense: is it possible to always be ready to fight?)
Legal awareness (salvation from what, in most cases, can become the biggest problems)
The use of (proper / improper) weapons (probably the only ones we will have within our reach at the moment of need, read Self-defense: why learn to use improper weapons)
A multidisciplinary approach (the only possible way to connect so many different skills, read Adaptability: a key to prevail in any self-defense scenario)
…

And (necessarily) those who exclude:

Only fake collaborative applications (read Why martial arts do not work: 5 reasons)
Too complex / aesthetic fancy techniques (read Kung Fu VS Acrobatic: avoid confusion)
Violence as the first choice (read The 6DKF’s diagram about the use of violence)
All-encompassing or too-easy solutions (read Self-defense: how to prevail)
Disarming techniques for novices (read The biggest self-defense lie)
Only training sessions inside a protected gym-like context (read How to simulate realistic self-defense scenarios)
Delusions of invulnerability / invincibility (read Martial arts: movies VS reality, 7 differences)
…

The problem is that even within these parameters, it is not possible to compile a list of names (eg. Krav Maga, Jeet Kune Do, etc.) because everything depends on a much more specific factor: the instructor.

Is it the martial art or the instructor that really makes the difference?

Everything is related to the instructor, it is never the martial art (read Self-defense: why 90% of martial arts does not work), nor the school but the teacher who defines the final qualitative level.

A course could be incredibly specific for the exact type of self-defense we are looking for but if the teacher is not good (read Recognize a good / bad master: 5 characteristics), it could even be very counterproductive (read Self-defense courses: how to recognize scammers).

A few questions to reply to understand if a martial preparation is effective

Here are a few questions to reply in relation to our self-defense instructor:

Does he / she speak by hearsay or has he / she experienced firsthand what he / she says? Does he / she know the law and the collateral risks?
Has he / she spent preparing / studying self-defense more than a few hours on a stage or not?
Has he / she ever been involved in a fight (even sportive, even sparring)? Does he / she know what is a real fight?
Has he / she ever been involved in a real self-defense scenario? Did he / she solve it the way he / she teaches?
Has he / she the intelligence to distinguish between practicing violence and avoiding it? Between real mental preparation and the physical one?
And above all, has he / she the intellectual honesty to admit what are his / her limits and the ones of what he / she teaches?
Does he / she go beyond saying “Always react proportionally…” (eg. teaching how to control emotions)?
Does he / she go beyond saying “If you are outnumbered, run away…” (eg. teaching how to do it for real)?
…

If we must forcibly reply with more than 3-4 “no”, we are in front of a person, not necessarily incompetent in his / her field but who surely cannot teach us self-defense.

In-depth video courses

Self-defense basics: how to – The full path to self-defense of our school
Self-defense: not violent self-preservation – The most effective part of our self-defense path
Weapon disarming: what works and what not – What we can do, what not, how and why
Basic 6 Dragons Kung Fu exercises – The exercises to develop real martial capabilities
Mind self-control hacks – How to reach a higher level of control over our mind in many fields
Basic 6 Dragons Kung Fu weapons – A step-by-step path to our fundamental martial weapons
Advanced combat tactics – How to build good quality strategies made of interchangeable tactics

In-depth articles

6 Dragons Kung Fu: what does it teach? – What our school teaches and how
Self-Defense: 10 things to avoid in a quarrel – How to avoid a rapid escalation

Special thanks

Thanks to jasmine for this question and her donation to 6 Dragons Kung Fu

Questions

Reply in the comments and share your experience:

What is your opinion about what self-defense should be?

Author: Master Kongling

Founder of 6 Dragons Kung Fu.

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