Street-Fighting-Techniques.info

On the face of it the game of chess might not seem to have very much in common with self-defense and street fighting. But don’t forget that the game was actually invented to help military commanders hone their strategy. And there is one particular aspect of chess that is highly relevant to a person ability to defend themselves against an attack in the street.

When you play chess you have to think at least a few moves ahead - its the only way you stand a chance of winning. In a fight it is slightly different, because you can’t (and shouldn’t try to) intellectually think through the possibilities in the way a chess player would, but still thinking ahead and holding possibities in mind is vitally important.

When it comes to actually defense -blocking, dodging and so on - anyone who has been in a real street fight will tell you that the hardest thing is not getting the techniques right, but being able to react quickly enough to use them at all. The single most effective way by far to increase your reaction time (and therefore increase your chances of winning a fight and of walking away unhurt) is to condition yourself to react automatically to your oppononets moves, so you are not wasting time thinking about what to do before you actually do it. That is why many martial arts classes devote so much time on repetative drills, designed to condition automatic responses.

A similar effect can also be created in the moment of an actual encounter, using a simple technique that anyone can useto good effect, but which requires a certain mental flexibility to fully master (sparring is a great way to develop this mastery). As you might of guessed from the first paragraph, it involved thinking one move ahead of your opponent.

Although there are hundreds of ways a person can attack you, and thousands of branching possibilities for how a fight can unfold, at any given moment in time during a confrontation there are usually only 2 or 3 main avenues of attack open (unless of course they have studied a martial art that specializes in unusual or deceptive attacks, but it is generally safe to discount such unlikely possiblities). As you both move around the possible attacks will constantly change, but they will always stsy at around this level (except at close range, where this techniue often breaks down). If you can hold these in mind, along with an appropriate response from each, then the instant they make a move you will be in a position to respond automatically without having to make a decision.

As I said, anyone can make use of this at the simplest level - thinking it they charge at me I’ll do X, if they start swinging punches I’ll do Y- to gain an advantage. But the real skill comes from observation. The more you can practice doing this the more you will be able to whittle down the number of possible attacks. Watching the shifting weight distribution on their feet, for example, can show you which side they can strike from without shifting slightly first, and whether they are capable of unleashing a kick at any given moment.

With a little practice, and a little flexibility of mind, this techniue can have a dramatic impact on the outcome of a fight.

For a mixed martial arts training drill designed to help improve your reaction speed click here