There are a ton of Self Defense Seminars out there, primarily targeted towards women, that claim to prepare you for a brutal and ruthless attack. Let me ask you, do you really think that after a day of hitting some pads, practicing  a few self defense moves and learning to “Just Yell Fire” that you’re going to be able to fight off a determined, capable and dangerous attacker?

No, of course not.

At best you’ll learn how to identify and avoidder combines vide a potential threat without any contact whatsoever, at worst you’ll get killed because you’ve been lead to believe that you can knock attackers out with ease or do complicated maneuvers to disable them.

Most of these seminars are more about empowerment and less about any real tactical solution. They teach you some moves and make you feel great, but without any continued education and training the skills you just learned will be gone in a matter of days. It’s irresponsible for these “experts” to lead you to believe that all it takes is a day or two you’ll have all you’ll ever need to know to protect yourself.

A self defense seminar is a start, not a solution. 

There are two aspects of self defense – mental training and physical skill. Both need reinforcement and consistent practice. Without any further training you’ll forget what you learned and any real physical skill deteriorates almost immediately after you learn it for the first time.

A simple rule to remember is the longer you practice, the harder it is to forget. The less complicated the skill, the less you have to practice, but even the simplest of skills still need to be practiced from time to time. 

Before you even suggest it, let me tell you that martial arts is not the answer.

The martial arts community will have you believe that in order for you to get REAL SKILL you need to train with them for 4 or 5 hours a week for the rest of your life.

This suggestion shouldn’t surprise you since the martial art’s business depends on you training longer and more often. Remember martial arts is filled with sport and ceremony. You will spend more time learning forms and sparring than anything that directly relates to self defense. At best, the self defense you’ll learn is a handful of moves which you’ll completely forget when you’re attacked in an abandoned parking garage after a hard day of work.

No wonder this stuff is so confusing. On one hand you have people telling you that all it takes is a day at a seminar and on the other hand you have people telling you it takes years of intense practice.

How can you have such polar opposite ways of thinking – Who’s right, who’s wrong?

Well, neither…and both (Now before you think I’m getting wishy-washy let me explain).

All training is not permanent.

A seminar or a martial arts membership can be a good start, but its only temporary. Eventually, something will make you stop.  You’ll get injured, change jobs, get bored, start a family, in short as your life changes your ability to get to the dojo changes. Unfortunately your need to self defense is constant and the more out of shape you get, the greater your need.

The good news is self defense is a simple skill that can be developed with a little consistency and effort. It’s a marathon, not a sprint so as long as you just stay in the race you’ll be fine.

In order to do that,  self defense must be a part of your weekly routine no matter your age or fitness level. To accomplish this you need to incorporate self defense practice into your everyday life. That means your training has to be accessible, convenient and affordable.

Think of self defense like fitness. All it takes is 2 or 3 times a week you to keep yourself “self defense fit” – Hey, I just thought of that, wait a minute..#selfdefensefit.

It can be a few drills on the heavy bag or a mental awareness exercise on your way to work. You could just read an article or a discussion in the SDC training forum. Whatever it is, those 5 to 20 minutes here and there will go along way towards your self defense fitness.

Somedays you may want to train like crazy, others, not so much. The truth is all training goes in cycles. Personally, most days I don’t feel like doing anything, I just have it on my schedule -“Training” and then I just do it. Wherever I am, it doesn’t matter with the SDC Training Programs I can practice anywhere.

Let’s face it, if you have to be at a class and something comes up you’ll miss it. Even if you get to class, between the time it takes to get there, train, chitchat and come home you’ve already spent 2 to 3 hours. In the beginning, getting to class is no big deal, but eventually it starts to get harder and harder. It’s OK, it happens to everyone. Fortunately there is a way for you to keep your skills sharp without even leaving your home (more on that in a minute).

At the end of the day, training with a qualified instructor or attending a seminar (especially an Self Defense Company Instructor or Seminar) is a great start, but in order for you to really be “self defense fit” your training needs to become personal and not something that you practice “at a place” but something you incorporate into where you live, work and play.

To enable you to accomplish this we’ve created the Self Defense Company Insider Training Platform.

All you need is this to train with The Self Defense Company.

Insider combines video lessons and drills, manuals, research and live training (through SDC Instructors in person, online or in the forum) as well as round the clock technical support – all for a fraction of the cost of traditional training and it can be done all from the comfort of your own home or any place else you have an internet connection.

Look, I hope you take that self defense seminar but don’t think for a minute just because you took a a few days out of your life to learn some moves that you’re going to be able to protect yourself for the rest of your life. Self defense is a life skill and should be treated as such.

That seminar is a start but you need to keep the ball rolling.

Let me show you how you can live your life and stay self defense fit HERE.

Train Honestly,

Damian Ross

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Damian Ross
Founder, The Self Defense Company