Are traditional martial arts necessary for self defense?

Before the rise of mixed martial arts fighting, most people were introduced to self defense through traditional martial arts, like karate or tae kwon do or kung fu. But today we have a variety of “reality” self defense systems and mixed martial arts gyms, which are challenging the traditional martial arts with a tempting value proposition: They’ll get you in shape and develop your fighting / self defense skills without all the baggage associated with traditional martial arts.

That leaves average people like me, people whose primary interest in the martial arts is self defense, with a decision to make: Do you stick with the traditional martial arts or do you jump into the newer training styles, like kickboxing or krav maga?

First let’s deal with the “baggage” I mentioned above. You have to understand that one person’s baggage is another person’s treasure. Just because some people consider aspects of a training style “baggage” doesn’t mean that you will. But I’ll talk about my own experience, with the caveat that your experience and your perception of your own experience may be much different than my own.

Aside from a little judo when I was a kid, I didn’t train in any martial art until my young son began to show an interest. Then, like many fathers, I answered his curiosity by signing him up for tae kwon do classes. After a few months of watching him train from the sidelines, I jumped into the fray myself and began training at the age of 42. In martial arts years, that’s like 110. But aside from the inevitable sore muscles, bumps and bruises, I loved it and trained with passion for about two years.

While I was training at that school,  a local gym began to change its focus from fitness to self defense and fighting. They offered classes in krav maga — which is a martial art based on hand-to-hand military combat and boiled down to brutal, raw self defense — in addition to MMA sport training, consisting of muay thai kick boxing and jujitsu. The man who owns the gym is also the head krav maga instructor, with the additional qualification of being the lead defensive tactics instructor for the Pittsburgh Police force.

I thought the whole deal sounded interesting, so I tried a few classes and got a feel for what goes on in “reality” based systems and MMA gyms. Comparing my limited experience at the new school with a couple years at the traditional school, here’s what I can report:

Tae kwon do training vs. krav maga and MMA

1. Physical fitness. The training in the MMA gym is just as physically demanding as the training in the traditional martial arts school. With continuous training, you WILL get into shape, probably the best shape of your life. And you will be prepared to fight for your life.
2. Complexity. The techniques you train in krav maga are less physically complicated than traditional martial arts, at least tae kwon do. It will still take dedicated training and repetition to get them right, but they are accessible to just about anybody, whereas the complex components of tae kwon do — spinning hook kicks and such — take either exceptional talent and a couple years of training or average talent and many, many years of training. After about two years of training the basics, my middle-age body was beginning to have trouble with the higher belt acrobatics of tae kwon do.
3. Punching. The focus on boxing in the MMA gym is invaluable. If an average person is attacked by a predator, the most natural instinct is to punch. Although my tae kwon do school placed more emphasis on punching than many tae kwon do schools, punching isn’t a big part of the game. In muay thai kickboxing, it is. Same with krav maga. You train how to punch, how to punch hard and where to punch to injure your assailant. To be fair, tae kwon do is known for its kicking, not its punching. Other traditional martial arts place more emphasis on punching, but to the best of my knowledge they never rise to the level of boxing.
4. Self defense productivity. When you train in krav maga, you spend most of your time on direct self defense techniques. This is usually not the case in traditional martial arts because you spend so much time on patterns (called kata in karate). Patterns are choreographed martial movements strung together to form a type of martial dance, a dance consisting of kicking and punching thin air. While I have no doubt that the practice of patterns will improve technique, I prefer to spend my time learning how to hurt people, not perfecting the nuances of complex movements.
5. Self defense scenarios. Krav self defense training covers more scenarios than self defense in my old school. In tae kwon do we trained punch defenses, knife defenses and kick defenses. However, the more likely attack on the street, especially from a sexual predator or kidnapper, is going to come from a bear hug, a head lock, a strangle hold or a wrist grab. There are also many more possibilities if the attacker knocks you to the ground. This is actually a big topic for another post, but for now, let’s just say that the more self defense scenarios you train for, the better off you’re going to be, and krav trains more scenarios than my tae kwon do school did.

Now, there are many benefits to traditional martial arts training beyond self defense. Most traditional schools stress things like discipline, respect, courage, perseverance, etc. , especially with kids. It’s all good. No doubt about it. Discussing those things with children can burn the ideas into their brains and at least get them thinking about what it means to have good character. I didn’t hear any of that at the new school. But, as an adult, I don’t train in the martial arts to build character. I train to defend myself and my loved ones should the unexpected come to pass.

Do simple but brutal techniques provide good self defense?

Finally, what about self defense? Can the fighting skills of MMA and the self defense techniques of krava maga match the traditional martial arts in self defense situations? From my limited experience, I have to answer yes.

Just for kicks, stop your channel surfing next time you see an MMA fight on television. (It’s brutal, I know.)  Watch those guys pound each other for a minute or two and ask yourself whether they could handle themselves if attacked by your average street thug. The answer is a categorical yes. [EDIT: The day after this post was published, a story broke about MMA fighter Jon Jones chasing down a thief in New Jersey the afternoon of UFC 128.  According to reports, Jones kicked the suspect's legs out from underneath him and helped hold him down until police arrived.]

This thug took a pounding, MMA style. Image via Fox 23.com.

But you don’t have to be a trained MMA fighter to pack a brutal punch in the face of crime. Check out the guy to the left. He’s a criminal with a long rap sheet who cut the telephone lines of a house before breaking through the window last week. The homeowner came home from work and started to fix himself a sandwich when the criminal approached from behind and told him to get on the ground.

The homeowner turned and slugged the guy, and then jumped into an MMA-style ground and pound. You can tell by looking at the thug who got the better of that situation. The news report doesn’t mention whether the homeowner was trained, but I got the feeling he wasn’t. He was just a guy who knew how to use his fists.

Are traditional arts still necessary for self defense?

So where does all this leave people like you and me, average people who will probably never earn a fifth-degree black belt in a traditional martial art and will never get anywhere near an MMA cage? People who are just looking for a little insurance should we meet up with one of the many thugs in our midst?

There is no single answer. I know many good people from my old tae kwon do school who absolutely love the training and will probably do it until they are too old to drive to class. They are second, third, fourth and fifth-degree black belts who are strong, fit and more than capable of defending themselves against your average criminal attack. If this is the route you decide to go, you may love it as much as they do.

As for me … I’m convinced that the more recent self defense and fighting systems — such as krav maga and MMA — are perfectly suited for people like me. I respect all martial arts, but I think the simple, brutal and realistic techniques I see in the new gym will get me to my goal faster and more efficiently than the other alternatives.

But that’s just me ….

Teen girl stops attack with head-butt

If you’ve ever had a squirming baby smack his head into your nose, you know that a head-butt can hurt like hell … and that’s a lesson to remember.

A teenager in the UK did pretty much the same thing to a man who attacked her at night along a roadside as she walked home. The man grabbed her from behind and put his hand over her mouth. She tried to kick him and slammed the back of her head into his face. That ended it, and she took off.

Local police told the Manchester Evening News: ”Thankfully she had the presence of mind to fight him off and raise the alarm.”

The backward head-butt is a very simple self-defense tactic. Picture someone behind you at close range, his arms wrapped around your body in a bear hug. The back of your head is inches from his face, and the back of your head is much, much harder than his nose. Simply lean your body and head forward as much as possible and slam your head backward into his face, trying to hit the nose. Do it two or three times or until he lets go.

Here’s a video that shows the basic move at a slow speed … followed up by a groin strike and takedown.

Like all self-defense techniques, the head-butt is easier said than done. Get proper training gear and practice — or better yet, sign up to have a professional show you how it’s done.

But in a pinch, know that an attack from behind can be stopped just by using your head. Literally.

Can of chunky beef stew stops attempted robbery

The guy pictured below is accused of attempted robbery and related crimes stemming from an attack in a Massachusetts Walmart store. According to the victim, the suspect punched and beat him — in the middle of Walmart — in an attempt to steal his money.

Photo courtesy EagleTribune.com

The suspect and the victim were standing in a cashier’s line when the victim was cashing a tax refund check. The cashier announced — apparently a little too loudly — how much the check was worth, and the thieving suspect took notice.

After the victim collected his money, the suspect jumped him and punched him repeatedly, demanding the money. In self defense, the victim grabbed a can of Campbell’s chunky beef stew and smashed the can of stew against the suspect’s head. The can exploded and chunks of beef splattered on the victim. But the damage to the would-be thief was done.

Check out the gash on the suspect’s upper left forehead. He ran bleeding from the store just as police pulled up.

We’ve seen a lot of environmental weapons used in self defense here at Fight-Back Files, from pens and rocks to keys and bug spray. But canned beef stew takes the prize.

The lesson, as always, is simple. If you’re in a dangerous jam, grab the closest thing you can find and swing it, stab it, throw it or spray it. Some people may claim that their hands should be registered as lethal weapons, but I’ll always place my bet on a heavy aluminum can.

Crime description reported by the Eagle-Tribune.

More Fight-Back Files on Environmental Weapons:

1. Pittsburgh women fights off attempted rape with knees and keys
2. Woman sprays rapist with bug spray to escape
3. Woman stops attempted kidnapping with pen stabs and punches
4. 66-year-old female bashes bad guy with rock
5. Creative 14-year-old fights off abductor

Craigslist Crime Roundup: buyers, sellers under attack

Craigslist first came to my attention last spring when Washington state resident James Sanders was shot to death in his own home during a home invasion.

Sanders had offered a diamond ring for sale on Craigslist for $1,050.  A man and woman showed up at his home to buy the ring, but the male buyer pulled a gun, two additional suspects barged in to help, and Sanders was eventually shot to death in front of his wife and two young sons.

The Sanders murder made national headlines, which sent a warning signal about the dangers of private transactions through the media. Maybe some people took note. But not enough.

Rarely a week goes by without a report of a violent crime set up by a private transaction. Craigslist is not the culprit. Any other online classified ad system or traditional newspaper presents the common street thug with the same opportunity. Find a buyer or a seller, craft a plan, meet in a private place and walk away with free merchandise or cash. Sometimes the crime goes off without a hitch. Other times the victim isn’t so lucky.

Late last year a 26-year-old man was shot to death in Georgia after he tried to sell his motorcycle. He met the “buyer” at his home and the buyer killed him and took the bike.

Earlier this month a Michigan teenager was shot to death after posting a “wanted” ad for a cell phone. He invited the seller to his home and met him in the front yard. Moments later the seller shot the teen and stole the $95 he agreed to pay for the phone.

Please take note: In all three of the above crimes, the buyer and seller agreed to meet at the victim’s house, where the criminal could pull off the crime in relative privacy.

In yet another Craigslist case last week, a 27-year-old Wisconsin woman answered a help-wanted ad posted by a New York man for “domestic assistance.” The man tied her up, beat her, raped her and told her she was going to be his sex slave.

Private transactions are common in our economy. There’s no reason not to sell valuables you don’t want, and there’s no reason not to purchase used goods. In many circumstances, you can complete these transactions on sites like Ebay without interacting with the buyer or seller. When transactions  require face-to-face contact, however, caution is required.

In all circumstances, use common sense personal protection techniques. Take someone with you, meet in daylight, in a public place, in open view of others. Crowded restaurants, open parking lots, local parks — anyplace where your transaction will be easily witnessed by lots of other people. Criminals are a lot less likely to go through with their plans if they know they will be caught.

Other types of transactions, such as service ads for “domestic assistance,” should be viewed with extreme suspicion. Maybe the poor guy does need help because he has no family, no friends and no service agencies to help out.

But maybe not.

More Fight-Back Files on Craigslist Crime:

• Crooks Use Bogus Craigslist Ads to Lure Victims

Good call: cell phones can be your best weapon against attack

A colleague of mine was looking for her car in the parking lot of the Pittsburgh International Airport this past week when she realized she was being followed. It was about noon, and she had just returned home from a business trip.

Pulling a load of documents and a computer in her luggage, she was walking along a row of cars, looking for hers, when she noticed a man in a white vehicle slowly driving along directly behind her. When she stopped, he stopped. When she moved forward, he moved forward. It suddenly became clear that he was not just looking for a parking space.

Could it be an attempted abduction in broad daylight?

Sometimes we think that daylight shields us from harm. After all, it is true that most bad things happen after sundown. Especially late at night after the bad guys have had a few beers. So when something fishy starts to happen in the light of day, in a public place, it can seem surreal. My colleague was confused and frightened, but being who she is, she decided to confront the man.

She turned to face him and aggressively shouted, “What do you want?”

He wasn’t shaken. “You wanna ride to your car?” He was a big guy. Lots of muscle and girth.

For a second she wondered if the guy could be an airport employee working a shuttle system. But he was in an unmarked car, and the Pittsburgh airport runs shuttle buses, not cars.

“No!” she shouted, and continued walking.

Her first hunch was right. It was an attempted abduction in process.

She walked for another few seconds and found her car. She got in, and he passed. She locked her doors, took off, and reported the incident to security.

Faced with an unnerving situation, my colleague did everything right. She turned and faced the man so she knew what he looked like (and he knew that she could identify him). She displayed aggression, shouting a question at him and shouting back a response to his.

All of these things demonstrated that she was not going to go easy, that she would put up a fight.

The one thing she could have done, the one thing that probably would have ended the situation sooner, was use her cell phone.

Using cell phones for self defense

What would the perpetrator have done if, as soon as she noticed she was being followed, she pulled out her cell phone, held it to her ear and turned to face him? He would have thought she was reporting him to police. He would have thought that time was on his side, and he probably would have burned rubber out of there.

It’s not a guaranteed solution — predators are insane and often won’t act in rational self interest — but a cell phone in hand can deter many would-be criminals, even if the crime is in progress.

Earlier this month a female student at the University of Delaware was followed into her dorm by a stranger intent on sexual assault. She was able to text her resident assistant for help, and the man was scared away.

Also this month a woman in Niagara, Canada, was being sexually assaulted when she was able to dial 911. She kept the phone on during the attack, which gave emergency responders the signal they needed to identify the woman’s location. She was rescued and the perpetrator was arrested.

Whether you’re dealing with a threat or saving yourself when you’re under attack, your cell phone can be your very best weapon.