Many adults, today, seek to avoid any and all personal contact which might arise from the act of actually living. They may go so far as to move away from their homes (not always a bad idea, especially if the criminals have taken over). They lock themselves securely inside their new homes, or so they think, barricaded behind a bank of burglar alarms, guard dogs, and hand guns. Yet, none of these things make them feel any safer, and they just become more frustrated and lonely than ever.

Some, on the other hand, see any conflict (no matter how trivial) as a personal assault which can only be resolved through brute force or the threat of force. They are determined to have everything their own way, irregardless of the cost to anyone who happens to get in their way. They arm themselves to the teeth and are not usually satisfied to just defend what is theirs, and they will sometimes go out hunting for "bad guys," appointing themselves as judge, jury and executioner. And still, they feel just as bitter, frustrated and alone as their cowardly counterparts.

Neither of these attitudes are healthy, nor will they ever guarantee your safety. The retreaters are constantly running away from the human predators, like rabbits who can only escape the wolves for just so long, while the retaliators always seem to be rushing headlong into danger with some insane notion of self-righteousness. But, both responses are based upon the same primitive animal emotion -- fear.

Do not think for a moment, however, that fear is a negative emotion. It is one of the most practical instinctive responses. Without fear, our ancient predecessors would have fallen prey to any number of carnivorous animals and the human race would have long ago been extinct. Fear is our most basic survival mechanism. Only a complete idiot is without any fear.

Fear is natural, but it is only an emotion; it cannot harm you by itself. The hesitation it causes, though, can get you killed in the blink of an eye. This "intimidation reflex" must be neutralized before any form of self-defense can be initiated with authority and conviction. You must learn to transmute your fear from a stifling terror into a feeling of indignation. A wee, small voice from deep down inside of you should shout, "How dare this person attack me!!" But, notice that I said indignation, not anger.

So, what has anger got to do with survival and self-defense? Nada. Zip. Zilch. And, nothing. It will only rob you of control and speed, through the blinding tension and crippling overdose of adrenaline with which it inundates your system.

No matter how many books you read, no matter how many self-defense courses you take, or how many black belts you earn in any number of bizarre martial arts, if you do not possess the passionate desire to survive at all costs, your fear will cause you to freeze-up when someone unexpectedly lunges at you. Years of experience has proven to me, however, that if the mind is properly prepared for the reality of violence (not allowed to blindly run scared or urged to seek righteous vengeance), the physical body will do whatever is necessary to escape and preserve its life, naturally and without hesitation, uncomplicated by extreme emotion. Every ounce of strength and energy is focused and directed to the end result, survival.

And, that is precisely why 85 percent of all martial art fanatics will not survive a real-life street encounter. In their arrogant overconfidence, they lack such primal determination. They are, therefore, little more than dancers.

Do not sit there and mumble to yourself that you could never develop that kind of instinctive, animal-like focus. When a mother is forced to protect her child from harm, she is automatically in this same mindset. When you are so "pissed-off" and indignant that you no longer care about the consequences, only about achieving what is just and right, you are in this same frame of mind, too. You can, and you must, learn to consciously cultivate it. You must be prepared to fight back as if you were about to die at any moment. Because, if you do not, you just might. This overpowering desire to survive at any and all costs is what self-defense is really all about. And, what good would all of your spirituality and self-improvement do you, or the world, if you allow some punk to extinguish your life?

Self-defense has absolutely nothing to do with breaking boards or bricks with your bare hands, nor is it about slashing wildly at the air around you and making silly-sounding yelps or shouts while wearing a baggy pair of pajamas. No, it is a state of mind, a type of consciousness, a peculiar awareness that keeps you alert to any possible danger, physical or psychic. The rest is merely details of movement and thought, which are totally useless without first achieving this primal mindset.

Life does not often conform to our ideals or our philosophies. We would all like the world to be a utopia of beauty and peace, but it is just as often an ugly and violent place in which to live. This may not be a pleasant reality, but you must come to accept it. I do not mean to imply that you should learn to like the ugliness and violence. You do not have to approve of something to accept it for what it is. As humans, we must not turn our backs to the reality of the negative side of life in order to focus upon the positive. It is enough to realize that good and evil exist in the world, period.

Among the people of this world, there is no such thing as a true pacifist, a being with no aggression whatsoever. Each and every one of us has violence in his or her emotional and mental nature, whether it is the outward violence of an actual physical assault or the inner violence of silent anger. What marks the difference between the ignorant barbarian and the Mystic, however, is the threshold at which this violence comes forth. For the former, all it may take is a single word of insult or even an aggressive look. But, for the latter, it requires a life-or-death situation from which there is no possible escape.

Violence is within each and every one of us, whether we believe it or not. So, what are we to do about it? There are some who think that it is best to just ignore it and pray that it goes away by itself. Others preach against it and declare it to be the "work of the devil," vainly attempting to suppress it and bury it deep in their souls. These foolish people, by thrusting a cap down upon their emotions, are like volcanoes waiting to erupt into even worse violence. To truly know peace, one must also know violence. But, violence does not necessarily need to be destructive. And, likewise, peace is not always a force for good.

By not physically defending yourself, by trying to be a man or woman of peace and allowing your assailant to have his way with you, you harm this person more than if you had actually struck back. Not only does he remain ignorant of the error of such violence, but he will probably go on to commit the same error against someone else. The evil of his actions will continue to grow and spread because you were too selfish to risk a compromise of your morality in order to teach this person a much needed lesson. But, if you had only applied the same strict code to your personal defense and showed your assailant that the error of such actions could lead to his own destruction (without actually destroying him), you could have rescued him from the Law of Retribution, the cosmic cycle of Cause and Effect which will one day bring the evil of his actions back to its point of origin. By taking no action, though, you have helped him to spread this evil in the world. On the other hand, if you were to use too much violence while defending yourself, by allowing your anger to control your actions, you would still be adding to the evil in the world through your own actions.

No one person can dictate to anyone else what action is right and what is wrong. However, the only logical and moral use of violence is self-defense from a physical assault initiated by another individual. No person is ever justified in initiating violence or even the threat of violence against another person or their property. By the same reasoning, violence may only be morally used in defense of yourself, your family and your property against those who have initiated such violence against you. No known exceptions exist to this simple rule.

Because of the "wisdom" of present U.S. law, you may fight back purely in self-defense and still end up in jail or sued for a large sum of money, or both. This judicial danger is so prevalent today that it often outweighs the trauma of becoming a victim.

Anyone may use force to defend themselves, if they are under physical attack, but only in direct proportion to the potential effect of the attack itself. In other words, if a man attacks you with only his fists, you would not be justified in dislocating his shoulder, breaking his elbow and separating his knee joint. The victim (you!), in such case, would be legally considered the offender and you would go to jail for the use of "excessive violence." Depending upon the effect of the blow, striking another person can produce anything from a misdemeanor to a felony.

Only when your life, or the life of a loved one, is in direct danger does the law allow you to stand your ground and respond with crippling or deadly force. You are legally obligated to retreat whenever possible. And, violent reactions to verbal provocation does not constitute self-defense, even if the provocation was a threat of violence. Your life is not legally considered in danger until the actual physical assault takes place.

Only human beings may sink below the level of the beasts of the jungle, and this is the realm of the muggers and rapists. A person enmeshed in this world of emotional insanity will attack, abuse and/or kill another human being for no reason at all, other than the warped sense of excitement and power that the violent control of another person gives him. And, like the jungle predators, they will seek out the weakest and/or most vulnerable prey. To defeat such a street-hardened criminal, you must develop and cultivate a survival mindset, a consuming desire to escape at all costs.

When you are attacked, only one rule applies -- give him anything but your life. Your assailant may only want to beat you up. He will be there to win a fight. But, if you are prepared for the reality of combat, he will be overwhelmed by the ferocity of your counterattack. He will want to hurt you, maybe even lethally, but you are going to destroy him. The cost (for him) is just to high to pay. So, he will be forced to slither off in search of easier prey.

Please, reread that last paragraph. Notice that I said "destroy him," not "kill him." I have never taken a human life, and I am quite proud of that fact, thank you. I have found myself in more than one situation, however, where it would have been all to easy to kill my attacker. But, once I had the poor shmuck in such a position, there was absolutely no need to take his life. He was no longer a physical threat to me. Killing him, therefore, would not have been an act of self-defense. It would have only been cold-blooded murder, plain and simple. That does not mean that they got away without any dislocated joints or broken bones, but they all had their lives.

It is time for a rather unpleasant reality. You will get hurt. This is definitely not a popular fact with the black belt crowd, but you must accept it as an extreme possibility and prepare yourself for it, both physically and intellectually. Remember, when two wild animals fight in the jungle, one gets hurt and the other dies. It is far better to be injured than to be killed.

People put way too much importance upon pain anyway. What most of them do not seem to realize is that pain will go away in time. Pain itself is no real threat to your life. It can be a real hassle, but it is not a threat. It is nothing more than your body telling your brain that something is not right. Only the dead feel no pain. And, I am sure, if your forearm has just been sliced, you already know that something is not right. You do not need pain to tell you this.

When you possess the burning and driving desire to survive at all costs, an injury is only an inconvenience. It should not, even for a second, slow down your efforts to escape. Afterwards, when you are finally safe and far away, you can relax and pamper yourself. But, when you are trapped in the midst of a life-or-death combat situation is no time to be distracted by an injury.

Once you have made up your mind that physical violence is necessary in order to escape, you must go into action aggressively, with all of the physical power at your disposal. It is always best, if at all possible, to simply flee and avoid a fight whenever you can, but do not hesitate to strike back whenever given no other choice.

Do not, however, leap to any misconception that this allows you to do as you wish and rationalize it away through the tenets of any religion or convenient philosophy. Be assured that the Law of Retribution, known in the Orient as Karma but to the more materialistic westerner as Cause and Effect, will catch up to you just as it will to your assailant. Think of it as a spiritual boomerang, which you toss out into the etheric reaches of space with every action you take. If your actions are constructive and beneficial to others, then "good luck" will come back to you. But, if your actions are selfish and harmful to others, then the boomerang will return and hit your in the back of the head, making you wonder what you did to deserve such "bad luck."

Whenever possible, help those less fortunate than yourself to learn their lessons in life. But, this does not mean that you should interfere with their chosen course, unless it threatens your well-being or that of another. Help can take the form of offered advice, shown compassion, or merely acting as an example through your own experiences. Do not seek to take charge of anyone's life, except your own, but do not turn your back on anyone either. If you can give assistance, give it freely and with joy.
 
 

All forms of self-defense, as well as the countless styles of the Oriental and Occidental martial arts, no matter how different they may seem from each other, are all based upon the same three (3) simple and universal principles of mechanical application. All possible techniques, or combinations of techniques, no matter how complicated, are merely a manifestation of the essence of one or more of these three principles.

The first, and most practical, principle of self-defense is that of Evasion. Simply stated, this means that the best method of defense is... "do not be there when the attack arrives." In a real-life street situation, this could easily spell the difference between life or death. It could be something just as simple as turning and running like a bat-out-of-hell, or it could be exemplified (in the case of a sporting competition) by the bob and weave of a trained boxer. Or, it could be something as utterly simple as just stepping out of the way.

In more scientific and technical terms, however, Evasion is the motion of a particular object (the defender) into alignment with and away from the direct line of motion of an incoming force (the attack). This may be accomplished along either a horizontal line, by sidestepping or spinning out of the way, or vertically, by leaping up or dropping down.

If an initial attack is successful, you may not get another chance. This is why realistic self-defense places so much importance upon Evasion. There is also the general consideration of those people who so dislike violence of any kind that they will not raise a hand to another human being for any reason, even in self-defense. But, even they would like to learn how to avoid an attack before it can arrive.

The second principle of defense, Projection, is the most widely used aspect of self-defense. It may manifest itself as a fluid throwing technique, redirecting the force of the attack downward and away from the defender, or as a simple parry and counter combination, absorbing the energy of the assault and projecting it backward to its source of origin as a retaliatory strike.

In more technical terms, Projection is merely an application of the universal laws of physics, which allows any line of force to be intercepted and redirected around the perimeter of a spinning body (in this case, the cylindrical boundary of your own spinning movement). This force may, then, be carried around the spinning body by its centripetal energy and projected away, along any tangential line in any direction desired, by its own centrifugal force.

When I speak of force and the redirection of force, though, I do not refer to the application of brute physical strength. That would not only be stupid... but suicidal. If your attacker is much bigger and stronger than you, which he most certainly will be, it would be nearly impossible to overpower him by brute force alone. No. Instead, the proper application of a slight centrifugal force (less than 10 ounces per square inch) with speed and control will reap the greatest results for the least amount of effort expended.

Your defensive actions should feel "effortless" and natural. A truly effortless and effective technique, however, cannot be adequately described or explained in either writing or illustration. But, you will definitely know it when it happens for you. It will surprise and amaze you almost as much as it does your assailant. It has an almost "surreal" feeling to it, making it even harder for you to believe that you actually did it all by yourself. The attacker must have simply allowed the technique to succeed, without any resistance. It will seem far too easy, too simple, too unreal. In fact, it will feel as if the attacker actually helped it to happen, destroying himself. You will feel as if you had very little, or nothing, to do with it.

If you try too hard to accomplish anything, your muscles will tense up from the effort and interfere with the control necessary from your finer motor skills. Or, if you struggle to succeed through bursts of brute force and strength alone, you will quickly become exhausted. The contraction (read contra-action) of your larger muscle groups will actually hold you back, robbing you of speed and power.

And, speed is power! This is simple physics, which you may witness in operation all around you. For example, it is not the mass of the water that turns the giant mill wheel. No matter how much water surrounds it, if the water does not move, then the wheel will not turn and the mill is useless. It is the speed of the flow that makes the wheel move. A certain amount of mass is necessary, however, or it will not have enough force to push the paddles. After all, zero multiplied by any number is still zero. But, once sufficient mass is achieved (a lot less than you might imagine), it is the velocity of the current that is the determining factor.

Speed is not a thing which must be developed, though, but a thing to simply let happen on its own. The more your body relaxes, the greater will be its speed of reaction. Remember that tension creates a state of contraction in the muscle fibers, which causes them to stiffen up and stifle every movement. This lengthens the time necessary for the arms and legs to break free of their initial inertia and get moving again. Thus, your reactions become slower than if you had launched the same action from a state of relaxation.

Just like mass, a certain amount of tension is necessary. If the body becomes too relaxed, it will collapse and become useless. But, if it becomes too tense, it will not move at all. This is what happens to many people when they "freeze-up" in terror. Adrenaline pumps into their bloodstream in such quantities that the muscles overdose and lock-up in a state of tension that can get them killed. What is required, instead, is a peculiar state of "relaxed tension."

To better understand this paradoxical condition, consider the following example. You are given two pieces of wood, which must be glued together along their narrowest edges, but you do not have any clamps and a steady pressure is needed for a specific period of time for proper bonding to take place. Holding the pieces together by hand, you must remain relaxed enough to hold them for the required length of time, yet tense enough to insure a good bond.

Congratulations, you have just discovered the peculiarly useful and satisfying state of Relaxed Tension.

When the entire body moves with a consistent and continuous sensation of Relaxed Tension, a synergetic balance is achieved. All parts of the body move together with maximum efficiency and economy of motion. From this condition, all effort is natural and effortless.

The third, and most difficult, principle of self-defense is that of Neutralization. This refers to the countless methods of immobilization, such a joint-locks, pressure point manipulation, or even bone-breaking and crippling an attacker. The proper application of such techniques, however, requires much more focus and control than any other aspect of defense.

Technically speaking, Neutralization is the ability to redirect any incoming line of force along a decreasing spiral, which will turn its own energies back upon itself. This action will redirect it into a static condition, effectively neutralizing it. The only difference between this and the principle of Projection is that, here, the defender is utilizing his or her own centripetal force to either contain the attacker's motions or to generate the power necessary to physically disable the attacker, so that he cannot pursue the defender as he or she escapes.

Projection, on the other hand, utilizes the opponent's own centrifugal force to redirect his line of motion away from its intended target.

I know that all sounds pretty complicated. But, remember that self-defense has absolutely nothing to do with slashing wildly at the air around you while making silly-sounding yelps and shouts. It is a state of mind, a type of consciousness, a peculiar awareness that keeps you alert to any possible danger and compels you to survive at any and all costs. Everything else is merely details of movement, which are totally useless without this primal mindset.