Most Effective Self Defense Styles 

I often get asked, "what is the best type of self defense to study?".

There can be several answers to that question. I will answer it in the light of the "average" person.

I have trained in several disciplines but I believe that striking (as opposed to grappling/wrestling) arts are best on the street for the average person. I an not knocking the modern jujitsu styles as they can be very good, one on one. The problem is that on the street you don't want to get bogged down in a grappling match on the ground. There are too many things that can happen. Like for example, more than one attacker.

The grappling arts require too much training for the average person unless they are willing to invest two or three nights a week for a number of years. Even then, it's not the best choice. Most schools of this type do not focus on street fighting but rather submission or competition, which is quite different.

The average person needs something that they can learn quickly and easily which will give them the best chance in a real situation. That means the techniques need to be simple and direct.

The striking arts have, for the most part, their limitations as well. Many of the striking arts use techniques and combinations that are:

1. Too many in quantity.
2. Too complex.
3. Require pinpoint accuracy
4. Require too much fine motor coordination.

All of the above can be a problem when under a full adrenal dump. Here are some of the reasons.

Quantity: If you head is filled with dozens of various types of striking weapons, targets, multiple combinations, chances are in a real situation you will not be able to pull them off. Your cognitive thinking processes are dulled or worse in a real attack.

Complexity: I have watched traditional instructors teach highly complex combinations which are not only unrealistic in real fighting but require too much thought which may not be available in combat. Often they do not take into consideration the effects of each blow and how the person they are hitting will react.

Accuracy: Some arts depend on hitting specific (small) targets in order to effect the result they are looking for. An example of this is pressure point fighting. Some of the strikes are really soft taps or rubs in certain areas or combinations of areas to cause great pain and disability. They work fine in the dojo (they really hurt too) but under duress it is unlikely that the defender would be able to be that accurate considering the adrenal rush and a moving fighting opponent.

Motor coordination: Techniques that require fine motor coordination probably have little use on the street. It is one of the first things we lose under the adrenal rush.

In an effort to make things simple, easy to learn and effective we developed a system that we teach in our Street Self Defense 101 videos. Many of the same techniques are taught on this site as well. http://www.easy-self-defense.com/