One of the biggest advantages to taking up self defense is the
way it makes you feel afterwards. A lot of people are unconfident
with their abilities to protect themselves before they join a
practice, or take classes. This can be due to personal experiences,
as well as driven by the news. We hear a lot about the negativity
in our society, and this can leave people feeling unprotected. Self
defense classes will build confidence in self
TOP 5 Self Defense Skills
- Taking the Hit – The body is capable of
sustaining damage without getting injured. It’s all on where your
getting struck. Take for instance blocking. The arm connects with a
fist preventing it from striking your face. Sure it may hurt but
not enough to take you out of the fight! DSD works several drills
to help combat the need of wanting to freeze up, squint the eyes or
cower into a ball in situations like this. In the long run the more
your body gets used to the impact reality the better your able to
focus on your attack response and situation your dealing with.
- Having a Quick Response – This is a very
important skill for having a quick response will greatly alter a
situation in your favor. This doesn’t just cover your attack
response but also your DEFENSIVE response whether it be blocking,
weaving etc. Drills that force you to think on your feet help in
creating a fast positive response skill.
- Controlling the Situation – This skill is
referred to as Awareness. Simply having good technique and a good
physique is not enough! When facing several potential threats,
having a proper Awareness skill can be all the difference in
getting beat up or getting away. Even though we train for multiple
attacker scenarios doesn’t mean I’m ready to take them all on.
Using my Awareness skill by surveying the situation, controlling
one opponent and pushing them into the others allowing me to escape
seems the more logical choice
- Proper Footwork – Footwork helps with
stability and balance. We take our footwork skills from the field
of Boxing. Keeping your feet separated and knees bent, allows for
more maneuverability and makes it difficult for the attacker to get
you to the floor. Drills that help defend against attackers with
Wrestling or Jujitsu training is best given these types of styles
focus on getting their opponent to the ground.
- Keeping Hands Up – While this may seem simple,
many students struggle with this skill set simply because we don’t
normally keep our hands up past our waist in a normal situation.
It’s easy to drop your hands when not thinking about keeping them
up which results in exposing the face and ribs to the attacker.
Drills DSD uses to help with this skill include our “Pattern” and
various “Focus Mitt” drills
Hence I believe these skills are needed to perform self
defence