It may come as a shock but self-defence is not complicated.
I read hundreds of self-defence articles and watch even more videos every year and I see the same thing over and over again. Do you know what that is?
Instructors trying to be different.
This is the number 1 fundamental error that people make when trying to invent systems or strategies around self-defence.
The issue that you need to understand is simple; there is a big difference between investigating self-defence and inventing self-defence.
Here is what happens.
An instructor wants to show what makes them different so they take a simple concept, alter it so it barely resembles the original, dress it up and give it a name.
This is not the same as taking a technique or situation and investigating it to look to improve the effectiveness of a technique.
Take the simple jab for example. You could spend a lifetime learning about this strike. However, it would still be a jab.
This is where instructors are going wrong. They are trying to change what works rather than to investigate what works. You could liken it to a car.
A car hasn’t changed much since the first vehicle was rolled out. It still has four wheels. Sure it has evolved and we have different models and makes, but it is still a car.
If the modern self-defence instructor became a designer of a car, they would try and put it wheels on the roof. Maybe one on the door. Why? To be different and to stand out.
However different and standing out are not the same as being efficient and fit for purpose.
At Defence Lab people often wrongly assume that we teach and train new techniques that are made up. However, you will find our syllabus filled with only a few reliable techniques. Our investigation is what sets us apart from the crowd.
We have evolved like the car.
If you look at what we do, it involves movement, the cover/ guard, striking, grabs and grappling. We all know these things work in self-defence. However when you start to investigate them, you can make improvements that fit certain situations such has how to move when your back is against the wall, or how to land a hammer fist while still protecting your head.
Yet, when you take these evolutions through investigation and strip them back, you can see the original technique and explain how we got there.
Sadly, in a world where we have to market and create differences, many in the martial arts and self-defence world are so focused on being different they take the view of ‘how can I make this technique different’ instead of ‘how can we make this technique more effective.”
The answers to self-defence are out there on YouTube. You can see real fights and study them in detail. But when you look at them do you see any room for invention?
DL is a laboratory of self-defence, where the investigation is rooted in our DNA.
The key take-away lesson here is simple. When you are looking at a self-defence video or reading an article are you seeing something that has been invented or a technique that has come from investigation?