Martial Arts practice defence at an unrealistic distance.

If someone tries to punch you, martial arts typically teaches you to block this punch before countering with a strike. This means you must be twice as fast as your attacker, aiming a single attack at you. This doubling of speed is an unrealistic goal.

Perhaps the most significant concept that martial artists do not seem to understand is that:

‘Action is quicker than Reaction’.

The closer the attacker, the greater its effect.

Attacker              Defender

Punches               Registers the Punch

                                  Decides to block

                                  Performs the block

                                  Punches

Who is quicker?

Additionally, what many martial artists fail to realise, for a close attacker:

‘Blocks don’t work’

An attacker out to harm you wants to get the job done efficiently, preferably without becoming a fight. This usually means getting close to you before launching the attack.

This is a lot closer than martial arts practice.

Why do the bad guys attack like this? Because it works – action is faster than reaction, and they know from experience that once they have you on the back foot and being defensive, it is tough, if not impossible, for you to come back at them whilst being overwhelmed.

What you should be doing (if you are 100% sure no weapon is involved):

Move forward with an attack as soon as you perceive a threat. Forward also covers ‘forward and to the side’ (i.e. moving at a 45 degree angle).

As an initial training exercise, get someone to attack you and then try to place a palm heel into their face before they have completed the attack. This means training to pick up cues before their attack initiation, such as twitches, breathing and weight shifts. Working up to additional speed and intensity you can target the shoulder, for safety. This will get you into the habit of moving forward into attacks.

Most martial artists are expecting you to step back and block when they do an attack – don’t ever do this again in self-defence training.

I will return to this topic in the future to discuss the ‘gunslinger paradox’ where a famous physicist proved that the gunslinger that drew first also was shot first.