In an effort to draw a distinction between training and competing in sports martial arts and the reality of self defense, I make the analogy: training for sport is to self defense as NASCAR is to parallel parking.

I did sport karate when I was in college, and it was fun. But I stopped because I believe I was developing bad habits which would score in the ring, but make me more vulnerable in self defense. MMA and any other sport martial art fits.

While no analogy is perfect, this one holds up pretty well. Here’s how I break it down:

I’m sure you could keep going with comparisons of your own.

You’re lazy.

The truth is, we’re all lazy. But some of us earn black belts while others don’t. Most people who try out a martial art quit after the first week or two. Why is that?

My teacher always said, “the hardest part of training is getting in the car”. It’s often been said that of those who start training in karate, less than 1 in 100 will ever attain black belt. Less than 1 in 100 of those will ever stay long enough to get a second degree black belt.

Why the high drop-out rate?

Like many people, I was drawn to martial arts as a boy by watching martial arts movies. I dreamed of having superhuman powers. Then, I started taking karate and realized – holy crap this is hard work! You don’t take a month of classes and become Chuck Norris. Oh yeah … did we forget to mention there are a lot of push-ups and sit-ups involved?

One of the first factors that cause people to drop out is the school not meeting expectations. Some money-oriented schools have caught on to this and have created fast-track black belt programs, leadership academies, and watered down promotion requirements to keep students from quitting. Unfortunately this is missing the point completely.

The next issue is one of habit. Like I said, humans are lazy. We are habit building machines. In order not to think too hard, every day we tie the same shoe first, we lead off with the same leg when we start walking, and we loop our belt in the same direction. This is actually a good thing most of the time. As habit machines, we don’t have to dedicate much thought to daily minutia. Unfortunately, habits are hard to break, and new habits take time to develop.

Training regularly has to become a more important habit than catching your favorite TV show, or going to bed at a certain time, or going out with friends. It takes three weeks to a month to build a new habit – this is why I think most people quit a martial art in the first month.

Another factor is simply enjoyment. Some people enjoy martial arts training and others don’t. that is why it is really important to find a school you like – bacsue that is going to be key to your success. Do you think Seth Wescott ever says, “dang, I can’t believe I have to go jump on that snowboard again”? I doubt it.

For me, I found training that I resonated with – that I really enjoyed. I trained myself to enjoy even the tedious repetition of basics. I know there are some schools out there where you can get a black belt in 18 months, but not with me. It took me the better part of 9 years to get a black belt in ketsugo jujutsu, and I earned it. If I didn’t love what I was doing, there would be no way I would have lasted that long.

The final factor is priority. The two biggest complaints I hear with training revolve around time and money. Both are ridiculous. If you want to train, you’ll find both the time and the money. You may have to sacrifice some things. You may have to work out a deal with the instructor or school.

I see a lot of people who complain about money but who have large flat-screen TVs with expensive cable plans, the newest cell-phones, a newer car. In this economy, some people really are struggling to make ends meet. Most instructors will understand this and put you on a sliding scale or let you do work around the dojo to help defray costs.

The following is a cute animated video which displays the mentality I’ve seen around this.

There are many reasons one could study a martial art: for sport, for exercise, to relax, build self discipline, or because you think the costumes are cool. All reasons are valid. In my experience, most people start training in martial arts because at least one of their goals is to learn how to defend themselves. All martial arts will do this to some degree.

Do not be fooled by the haters with low self esteem on the Internet who need to feel good about themselves by insulting other systems, or teachers. Lack of respect is a lack of self-discipline and it is a clear sign of mental weakness. Even if you dislike what another martial art teaches, keep your mouth shut. Those who speak out on internet message boards under the guise of “educating others” are being ridiculous, since only their fellow chairborne-commando haters read those things.

Self-defense (or self-defence if your British) training, ultimately, is not about style or system or what you wear or what you call it. It isn’t even about ultimate deadly unstoppable techniques culled from the jungles of some war-torn country by special operations commandos. That stuff is exciting, but it’s mostly marketing puffery.

True self-defense training is about one thing only (in the very humble opinion of this author) – transforming the individual into someone with skills and attributes to survive and escape danger. And, no two human beings will have identical skills or attributes, so throw out the silly notion of the ultimate best system on the planet to turn you into a superhuman fighting-machine.

In computer programming two skilled programmers can create exactly the same software using two different languages, two different development processes, and deploy them onto two different platforms. Which one is the “best”? Neither – just live with the fact that in life there are no absolutes. Thinking things are either all good or all bad is lazy thinking which is unbecoming of a true martial artist.

First, let’s talk about attributes that will help you survive a violent attack. In my opinion attributes are more important than skills.

Speed, endurance, coordination, agility, and strength are physical attributes which will help you whether you choose to run away or stand and fight. The physical training of most MMA fighters is simply incredible and gives them the advantages that conditioning brings. Pain tolerance, and the ability to carry on when injured relates to resilience. Boxers and special forces soldiers have excellent resilience due to their training regimens. Timing and awareness of distance almost always trump speed and other physical attributes. Weapons arts like kenjutsu, Kali, Arnis, silat, and fencing are incredible to imparting this level of skill.

The key attribute, more important than all the others is awareness. The ability to be aware of your physical surroundings will mitigate most attacks and make you less of a target. No skill or attribute will work if you are completely unaware of an attack until it lands. Snipers, drones, and smart bombs are effective weapons of war in part because they are hard to detect. You cannot defend against what you can’t detect.

So, a lot of self-defense oriented training will be geared towards developing advantageous attributes. In our school, due to our traditions, we look at timing and angles, off-balancing, body alignment and awareness as primary attributes. We teach understanding of concepts and principles. Here is the important thing – other schools have different foci and are completely effective.

All martial-arts schools tech skills. Skills are the technical lessons, the specific vocabulary with which you express your attributes. A skill may be punching, parrying, blocking, etc. Many schools are technique-oriented, having hundreds or thousands of techniques. Some may teach forms, some drills. All are equally valid teaching methods.

Our school focuses on teaching self-defense. What that means for us is the following:

• We focus on building attributes and understanding that we have found effective for real-world self-defense
• We throw away dogma, tradition, and ceremony where it doesn’t suit is
• We place less emphasis on archaic weapons than on modern weapons
• We focus on what happens to the human body and mind under extreme stress
• We do our best to train honestly, yet safely so we don’t develop bad habits
• We strive to understand local self-defense law and how it applies to us

This is not to say that our school or our system is better than anyone else’s. It isn’t. It is the best school and system for me and the people who choose to train with me because it makes sense to us, and we feel we can dedicate ourselves to the training. The best system for you is going to be the one you can stick with and train in for a long time.

In self-defense, defensive tactics, or hand to hand combat – environment matters.

Early in my life, as a traditional martial artist, I always trained in keiko-gi (training uniform). I would don a white canvas Japanese-style uniform, no shoes, and train on a hardwood floor.  I would train with others dressed exactly like me.

I live in Southern Maine now, and generally don’t wear a jujutsu uniform around during the day. Most of the time, I am not barefoot. Those who have grappled both with a uniform and without can tell you that it makes a huge difference.

In Maine, sane people wear coats for a good part of the year. People wear boots, hats, gloves in winter (and during the latter part of fall). All of these affect how we move, how vulnerable our bodies are to striking, and how we might grapple.

Further considerations effected by the weather

• Training on surfaces that may be wet or covered with snow or ice
• The effect of temperature on physiological processes like breathing
• The fact that being in a higher latitude means it gets dark earlier in the day

It’s fine to train in uniform, but once in a while put your street clothes on and train. Train outdoors once in a while. Limit tactics which rely on your opponent wearing specific articles of clothing.

In English, the Japanese phrase “kihon waza” is sometimes translated as “basic techniques”. I don’t really like this translation, because many Western minds grasp this to mean “the basic stuff I need to learn, get out of the way, and then move on to the advanced stuff”. The translation I prefer is “fundamental methods.” These movements are the foundation of everything we practice. Advancement means internalizing and building atop the fundamentals.

In our art, and all others I am aware of, people who are really good practice fundamentals often. Take boxing, for example, there are only four basic punches – jab, cross, hook, and uppercut. Imagine the beginning boxer learning these four fundamental strikes in about a half an hour, now knowing that he has mastered all the “techniques” of boxing, and expect to enter the ring with a pro. That is a recipe to get killed.

However, go to the gym of a pro boxer, and what do you see them practicing? Jab, cross, hook, uppercut. You’ll see them doing a lot of conditioning, sparring, and jumping rope. Footwork will be basic, and sparring sessions will contain the same elements.

Why would a pro need to practice fundamentals every day?

There is a big difference between understanding how to throw a punch, and internalizing the action of punching so much that you no longer have to think about it. At a high level of skill the punch just happens, the timing is perfect, the targeting is spot on. This is not something which can be grasped intellectually, it is a visceral understanding.

Bruce lee once said, “I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times.” Why? Because a master of that one kick could deliver it powerfully, without thought, so fast you couldn’t see it coming, and plant it on a vital target.

At the highest levels of martial practice we have the concept of “mushin” or empty-mind. This means, basically, proper action at the proper time with the interference of thought. It is instinctive action. Whether you are swinging a sword, throwing a kick, or evading a charging grappler – you simply do what’s right without thinking, “I wonder what I should do here.”

The only path to get there is intense meditative practice of fundamental movements.

From terrorists, to drunken and disorderly passengers, to simply the unruly – air crews continue to face threats to the safety of themselves and their passengers. With the ultimate responsibility of the safety of everyone on a plane, I’d like to see airline crew-members regularly trained in combative self-defense and defensive tactics.

I am aware that some training is done, and airline crews carry handcuffs and other restraints and have training in how to use them.  I do believe that regular training is necessary to update skills as well as to keep them in muscle memory.

Here are some of my recommendations for the makeup of this training:

• A full range of force from restraint to lethal and crippling tactics
• Use of improvised weapons with objects available in all air cabins
• Group tactics – for cooperative self defense with other crew members
• Practice in a simulated cabin  – since space and terrain will dictate tactics
• Defense against weapons – edged, impact, firearms, and thrown
• Arrest and come-along techniques to remove passengers from seats and escort them safely to different locations
• Concept and principle based training with focus on most statistically likely self defense scenarios.

Again, the most important element is regular and consistent training to ensure a high skill level. Single seminars are just not enough for the level of threat involved.

The failed attempt to blow up a Northwest Airlines Flight over Detroit should serve as another wake-up call to average citizens around the world. Once again, a tragedy may have been averted by the actions of passengers and crew acting to subdue the terrorist. We see the same spirit that led the passengers of United Flight 93 to overcome the hijackers – averting further disaster, and the actions of the passengers who stopped the shoe bomber.

In the days to come, I expect the investigation to find out how explosives were smuggled on to two flights. The lesson here is that we will never be 100% safe. No matter how much security is in place anywhere, there is always a threat. Not every flight will have air marshals on board, not every TSA screener will be 100% alert, machines and procedures are all subject to flaws.

Your chances of becoming a victim of terrorism is miniscule. However, your chances of becoming a target of violent crime is fairly high. Home invasions, carjackings, workplace violence -  are all crimes which have similar characteristics to terrorist attacks. Police and emergency responders are highly trained professionals who are very good at their jobs, but they cannot be everywhere. Ultimately you are responsible for your safety and that of your loved ones.

You should train in self defense or combat oriented martial arts. You should learn how to use a knife and a gun (even if you never plan on carrying or owning either). You should learn how to use improvised weapons. You should analyze the safety of your home and vehicle, and teach your family what to do in case of home invasion or carjacking

First – there is nothing wrong with women, or anyone, wanting to learn to defend themselves. Protecting yourself and your loved ones from physical harm is a natural instinct. Second, I personally have taught “women’s self defense” classes throughout Boston – particularly during heavy activity by two serial rapists in the area.

I do think that some training is better than no training, however, I have several observations, and a couple of problems with, the way many women’s self-defense classes are taught.

• Many women are attracted to women-only classes because of a fear of training with men who may be stronger and who may dominate the class or ogle the women. This fear isn’t unfounded and is similar to fears about gyms which have led to a growth industry of women’s gyms.There is an advantage to having training partners of both genders and many different body types. This leads to better skills, and a more internalized feeling for the movements.
• Many classes teach women differently than men. There is this pervasive philosophy that women have more lower than upper body strength. This is actually anatomically true for everyone (your legs are stronger than your arms). The issue is that many women’s programs have taught women to throw themselves to the ground and kick. We believe this is a terrible idea for many reasons:
  • Lying on the ground means you can’t run away, and now you are in a ground fight.
  • Unlike the matted gym, the ground may be covered with obstacles which can hurt you.
  • Relying on techniques which are only successful with significant strength is a problem.
  • You should know what to do on the ground, while sitting, while standing etc.

  Many classes also teach groin kicks or knees as primary defenses for women. Groin attacks are only OK. Someone who is intoxicated, full of adrenaline, on drugs, enraged etc. may shrug off a groin strike. Pain based techniques are fine, but to defend against a determined attacker – you must learn to attack the structural weakness of the body (such as eyes or joint). A powerful and determined attacker may have to be physically disabled from continuing an attack.

• Training needs to be repeated and expanded upon and should be quite broad. I’ve done single day or multi-day trainings. Certainly skills and confidence can be built shortly. The issue is that skills left unpracticed atrophy.I encourage my students to also train with firearms and edged weapons so that they can understand and respect the threat these weapons carry. I also teach improvised weapons, awareness exercises, combat breathing and mindset.

In this day an age, everyone needs self defense training. The right time to train is now – before you need it. But self defense training should be regular prevention – like dental checkups – repeated, tested, and updated.

There’s an old rule of thumb in the martial arts that less than one percent of those who start out will last long enough to earn a first degree black belt. Less than one percent of those people will stick with training long enough to earn a second degree black belt. I’m sure that this statistic varies by system and school, by my experience shows that this is pretty accurate.

One of the signs that a person is not going to last long in the art is their level of frustration or boredom with practicing the basics (Kihon Waza). I remember demonstrating a fairly complex drill one time, watching a pair of beginners do it exactly twice, and having one of them say, “ok I got that, can we do something different now?” My jaw must have dropped. Here’s a beginner who believes he can master the martial arts by practicing each drill or technique once or twice – best of luck.

If you’ve ever been to a pro basketball game, what happens before the game? The teams come out on the court and warm up by practicing shooting baskets, they practice passing and throwing free-throws. The best skilled athletes in the world practice their basics daily. Professional boxers still jump rope, hit the heavy bag and speed bag every day. Even if you have gotten to a level of relative mastery – practice of basics is necessary to keep your skills.

At the risk of sounding like my grandfather who tells stories of walking to school in 9 feet of snow: When I was coming up in jujutsu, my teacher would sometimes have us practice the same 10 basic movements for 3 solid hours with no breaks. A lot of people dropped out, they didn’t have the mental fortitude to keep training like that. Those who stuck with it got very good very fast. The movements became second nature. Their body alignments and kinesthetic awareness grew quickly. Advanced techniques became easier to learn. They moved like jujutsuka.

One day, I spotted a man walking about 1/2 mile down a busy street. I couldn’t see who he was, but could tell by how he moved that he was one of my training partners. He spotted me walking towards him at the same time and his hand went up in a wave. I waved back. When I got closer,  sure enough, it was a buddy of mine from the dojo.

It is very difficult to practice basics too much. What you are doing with repetition is building efficient neural pathways and “muscle memory”. By practicing properly, and getting adjusted by an instructor with a keen eye, you will instinctively form proper body alignment when executing under stress.

I am a big fan of unconventional training and, since awareness is the greater part of self-defense, here’s an unconventional drill you can do during the day:

I once read that the first thing a professional burglar does after breaking into a building is to look for escape routes. This would be pretty important should someone come in unexpectedly to foil their theft. Getting caught is the last thing a criminal wants.

Self defense is all about awareness and escape. Unlike the movies, self defense isn’t usually a toe to toe stand up fight. Your best bet to avoid getting hurt or into legal trouble is to escape danger.

To tune up your awareness, do the following drill throughout the day. Any time you enter a building or a room, make a quick mental note of the exits (windows, doors etc). Do this as fast as you can. Even if you have been somewhere numerous times, like in your home, still do it. Note if there are obstructions that would have to be cleared to use an escape.

This is a simple exercise which will begin to train your survival awareness.

Here’s a second drill for the car:

When stopped at a red light, always leave enough room between your car and the car in front that you could pull out in an emergency (even if pulling out puts you into oncoming traffic). Do not stop inches away from the bumper in front of you.

Think about what you would do if an armed attacker rushed your car, and tried to gain access. If you have kids or friends in the car, how does that change what you might do?

Both of these drills can be done in seconds, yet they start to build your situational and environmental awareness and make you a safer person.