Does anyone actually need to learn self defence?

Then that could be taught by so-called security consultants......... These companies provide training for corporations so their staff can learn some basic means of threat recognition. However that does make it better than years of hard training in a martial arts school

 

Depends on the school really.

:evil:

 

You shouldn't be teaching anyone to "fight" at all - you should be teaching broad concepts and that includes physical.

 

Do you?

 

The thing with all the non physical S D skills is that genuine S D ,to me is just suddenly being attacked violently before you get chance to even do any of that stuff. Then you are relying on your physical skills, your will to survive and your ability to be more violent than the attacker.

Not getting into a fight while in a social situation with someone who is being abusive to you or wants a fight is just good social skills and confidence. And can it even be called real S D. Door work is not S D ,police work is not S D ,military is not S D in my opinion in the same vain as a random attack. These professionals know already what they are likely to be attacked. Is that really S D ?

 

No one is saying it is - but I can teach avoidance and target hardening in 30 minutes that can mitigate the vast majority of te requirement for a physical solution

Physical encounters are statistically rare, so making them less likely still is sensible.

Some people simply cannot do a martial art - like my last seminar for 20 people. All over 80, 4 couldn't walk at all an most had mobility issues beyond that. Are you suggesting we ignore them simply because they cannot engage in physical training? I didn't - I spent and hour and a half with them an was rebooked for another session

Awareness and avoidance trumps physicality for SD

 

Rory Miller covers this with his work on social and asocial violence and how to integrate training for both into your regime.
I can't see why both aren't SD, after all even the eejit on the street corner can require a little more skill to deal with than just your usual social skills.

 

Do I what?

I'm not under any onus to prove anything here - I've not made the claim.

All I've got is the experience of people who've had tiny amounts of training hitting hard enough to deck a person after only a little training, people who've had a few hours instruction doing perfectly well fighting off armoured people really trying to hit them under pressure in simulations, students who've had short safety briefings identical to my lectures telling me situations where they've seen the issue coming thanks to the training and avoided it, or used soft skills taught to defuse it. I don't expect to get much feedback from the few hundred people I teach a year - in part because I don't see them again so they'd have to seek me out, in part because if I've done my job and they've followed my advice, they'll either have avoided situations or talked their way out of them.

 

Yes but what you taught them really work? You assume it will but in reality you will never know and if one tbese individuals does attempt to use what you taught fhem fails......whose fault will it be....yours or theirs

 

The bottom line is there are a lot of people teaching S D who have not fought or learnt to fight and cannot fight to a high enough level to be able to teach fighting in a safe and progressive manner to beginners up to being fighters. They don't understand how to take someone from no contact to full contact with no pads in a safe and progressive way. It's not easy to do and that's the problem. Learning to fight is not easy, fighting is not easy, chaotic violence is not easy.
That's my opinion.

 

You mean does avoiding dark alleys, groups of teens, locking doors,
Securing valuables, drawing attention and planning safe routes work?

Gee, let me think.....

Of course it does - it is absolute stupidity to argue otherwise.

 

Plus if ANY instructor offers a guarantee on anything working all teh time they are a damn liar - physical skill or otherwise

 

What you call 'good social skills and confidence' is something that some people have naturally. It is one facet of a broad topic of self protection (like Target Hardening as Hannibal mentioned) and soft skills that comes under the umbrella of 'Conflict Management'. Not all situations kick off with an attack, in fact men are statistically more likely to be confronted with a demand in a robbery rather than being involved in a hit and run.

Those who go into a situation to deliberately deal with aggression and violence as part of their job are in a different place mentally to those who not involved in a situation by choice. This means that when it comes to self protection they are likely to have a broader more polished skill set, and if they are attacked or have to preemptively intervene physically for the safety of themselves or others then their self defence repertoire is also likely to be more polished. It does not change that what they do is SP and SD. There will be elements of training that overlap and other elements that don't and differing training weightings.

 

I don't know Rory Miller's work well but will have a look. For now I'd like to know how violent Rory Miller is or can be to make him the expert.
Yes that may sound dismissive or arrogant but the problem with the S D world is no one questions it enough and just buys into it all, when lots is nonsense. I refuse to do that. I will take things on board and take my own responsibility, which is what more should do.

 

How much access do you have to statistics, MO's, interviews, victimology, mindsets, crime patterns and intel?

None I am surmising, hence your opinion is based either on a very narrow personal experience filed (which is too specific to offer any genuine value) or else you are entirely at the information provided to you by others.

 

This is common sense.....when one grows up in a bad area they learn these things right away

 

You mean my 15 years plus of being a street cop ........how many years do you have of dealing with crime. How many dead bodies you have come across....ho many victims have you interviewed?

 

When one DOESN'T grow up in a bad area then an illustration of potential is necessary. And as good areas in the western world significantly outweigh the bad it is a small step just to get people to consider their surroundings more

The same can apply to driving and cooking - more awareness reduces risk