When people think of self-defense, they often think of martial arts. But the truth is, while both are beneficial in their own ways, self-defense and martial arts are very different beasts.

Many martial arts claim to be useful for self-defense (and a couple are), but most are way too complicated. When it comes to the crunch and panic sets in, you don’t want to have to decide which of the 1000 techniques you have learnt in class to use.

Effective self-defense, on the other hand, concentrates on learning a handful of techniques so you can react quickly when the time comes.

You have probably heard this principle before used in various contexts, but for those that haven’t, KIS stands for ‘Keep It Simple’.

Martial Arts often teach a variety of escape moves for various scenarios, but to be effective in self-defense, it is better to focus on fewer techniques that can be adapted to a variety of situations.

When you have less choice, you can react faster, and the faster you can react, the better chance you'll have of escaping.

Although size and strength has its advantages, a smaller person can level the playing field somewhat by hitting where it hurts.

This of course refers to choosing target areas that cause maximum pain or damage with minimal force, while still being fairly easy to hit - not like a pressure point where high accuracy is needed to be effective.

The shins are a great spot to aim, and a hard couple of kicks will do the trick.

The groin is also a good target area depending on how the individual is positioned.

You could also go for the throat or eyes though they are trickier to target.

The nose is also good. It bleeds easily which is demoralizing and it will make the person’s eyes water which in turn makes it difficult for him or her see.

This last tip is a training tip, and that is to repetitively drill (practice) what you learn. A lot of people take a self-defense course and that’s it.

You have to keep training. Drill the moves you learn. Use it or lose it!

So in short, here is what you need to do.

Learn effective techniques, like the ones in ‘The Self-Defense Handbook’. Get it here: www.survivalfitnessplan.com/self-defense-handbook.

Concentrate on the fundamentals. It is better to concentrate on one thing and master it rather than learning to do everything at once.

Do them while visualizing the target areas you would aim for.

Practice those techniques over and over again, so when the time comes you won’t have to think about what to do.

Safe Training!

Did you find these tips for self-defense useful? If so, please share them with your friends.