Welcome to Lesson #7 in your Self-Defense Basics Course! In this video, we cover simple ways to fight back against a physical threat.
This lesson builds on previous lessons, so be sure to review previous lessons!
SELF-DEFENSE BASICS COURSE
Lesson #7 – Transcript
Howdy. I’m Ando and this is Lesson #7 in your Self-Defense Basics Course.
Now, in Lesson #6, we said if you can’t escape a physical threat, then the most effective method of self-defense is offense. Attacking the attack.
Why? Because bad guys expect that you’ll try and get away from them. They don’t expect that you’re going to move closer. Which is why, when you suddenly scream in their face and charge in with hammerfists, headbutts, and hellfire, you ruin everything… for them!
So, throw your attacker a surprise party that they’ll never forget. Get in their space and get in their face.
ATTACK DRILL
Here’s a simple three-step drill to help you add some power when you decide to attack the attack.
Step 1: Wall Work
Step 1 is all about structure. Find a wall and try to push it down as hard as you can. Use your elbows, use your shoulders, even use your head. Yes, your head!
Remember, I don’t want you to fall on the wall or just lean on the wall—the idea is to drop your weight and drive. That is the foundational movement that is going to add power and balance to every move that you do.
If you’d like to power it from the footwork with your shuffle, that’s fine. If you’d rather use your sprint, that’s fine, too. The idea is to practice lining up all of your bones until you feel strong.
The big idea here is unity. Think about turning your whole body into one giant fist instead of letting your hands and feet flap around like a frog on fire.
Maybe you’re slamming into a bad guy to move him out of your personal space. Or maybe you’re defending someone else and you’re slamming into the bad guy like a billiard ball to move them away.
Either way, develop this feeling of bringing all of your power together.
Okay. Let’s talk about hand position. As a general rule…
The closer I get to a bad guy, the higher up I raise my hands.
From back here—if I’m out of kicking range or striking range—then I don’t have to raise my hands at all.
If this distance starts to close and I get into striking range, then I bring my hands up into the middle, like the stance we practiced in Lesson #3.
If this distance closes any farther, well, now my hands are going to go up higher to either protect my head or to attack and hold their head. Of course, I’d rather be attacking and holding their head.
So, when you’re on the wall, practice your distancing. Practice hands down… hands up… hands in… hands all the way in… hands back. Maybe hands down to grab your cellphone to call the cops and maybe order a pizza.
Let’s get a little more specific about what you could be doing once you get into their space. Start off with palm heel strikes. That’s using the bigger bone down here, not the smaller bones of your fingers. You can drive palms heels one at a time or together.
Once your hands are inside their space, then your fingers can come into play. The fingers are great for gouging, and clawing, and grabbing. You could grab their throat, you can grab their ears, their hair, or heck, you can grab their hoodie if they’ve got one on.
Once you get past the hands, then you’re into elbow range. Think about your elbows coming up towards the head or even across.
If you get past the elbows—maybe your hands get knocked down, or you get trapped or tied up—that’s when you can come into your shoulders.
If you get past that, then you’ve got your headbutts.
If you get past that, well, don’t forget—you can always bite.
The goal here is to spend some time exploring all the different ways that you could hurt a bad guy if you really had to. I want you to feel confident that you can always do something, whether you’re at arm’s length, elbow length, shoulder length, or nose length.
A quick word about your head…
Don’t forget to protect it! The closer I get to a bad guy, the more I drop my weight and tuck my chin.
I’m always thinking about building a nest around my head. Think about your head like a delicate egg inside of a nest. Nothing should crack your shell. But to make sure that happens, you have to build the nest.
You can use your hands, you can use your elbows, you can use your shoulders. But never forget—one hit or one cut…
If you lose your head, you could lose your life.
Of course, even if you do everything right, there’s still a chance—a very good chance— that you’re going to take a hit. But don’t let that stop you. Just practice moving in and out from the wall, hiding your head, and staying on the attack.
Wait? That’s it? What about all those cool punches and kicks that you see in the movies or in the cage? Easy…
Remember—this is a course in basic self-defense. Bouncing around with a bad guy, trading punches and kicks—a bad guy who may be bigger, stronger, and faster than you… or two bad guys—is not such a hot idea, even when you have experience.
That’s why I hope you’ll also take some self-defense classes or at least hit a heavy bag once in a while. But if this is the only self-defense lesson you ever see, then stick to the plan—get in his space and get in his face.
It’s not about techniques, it’s about taking it to him!
Step 2: Pillow Fight!
Hey—remember that pillow you started beating up every day in Lesson #2? Well, it’s going to come in handy again.
Now, I’d like you to take that pillow and put it up against the wall so that you can practice your strikes. Now, hang on—I’m not asking you to break your hand or put a hole in the wall.
Don’t think about power at all right now. Instead, focus on applying pressure. Constant pressure.
Here’s the idea—put your pillow on the wall and then don’t let it fall.
If you let the pillow fall, that’s just like letting the bad guy get away, which is fine if he’s running. But if he’s going to fight you back and you give him this time and space to think, then he’s going to come back at you smarter and harder. I don’t want that!
So, practice putting this pillow on the wall and leave it there. Practice your palm heels, practice your elbows, practice your headbutts, your hammers, whatever you got. Heck, you can even bite the pillow. Just keep constant pressure on the pillow.
Don’t worry, your pillow can take it! 🙂
Step 3: Turn the bad guy
Here’s some good news—if you commit to your counterattack, most bad guys will be scared off and run away. That’s because most bad guys are lazy cowards.
They want to beat you, they want to rob you, but they don’t really want to fight with you.
Now, unfortunately, that’s not always the case. So, if your bad guy is crazy enough or high enough to keep coming at you, we should be prepared to take our counter-attack to the next level. And today, that means I want you to cut them in half.
No, not with a sword. Although, if you happen to be carrying one, that makes this a lot easier.
I mean by positioning yourself to your attacker’s side. Look—if you face me straight on, you have to fight against two arms, two legs, and all of my coordinated bodyweight.
But if you can turn me or drive to my side, now you only have to fight against one arm, one leg, and half of my coordinated bodyweight.
In essence, you cut me in half. If you can get behind me, hey! Even better.
So, when you practice or visualize defending yourself, make that your goal—drive to your attacker’s side.
Ideally, when you put your hands on your attacker’s face, you want to lift the chin and turn their head. If you just lift the chin straight back, that’s okay, but usually, someone bigger and stronger can power through that and they’re still going to smother you.
If you turn their head, though, three good things happen…
One, you take their weight off of you.
Two, you take away some of their ability to find you and hurt you.
And three, when you turn the head, you get where you want to go—to the side.
Of course, it’s difficult to practice positioning without a partner, and it’s impossible to practice on the wall. That’s why I recommend investing in a heavy bag or maybe a standing bag.
Now, if you don’t have the space or the budget for that kind of thing, no problem. You can always go practice with a tree, or a telephone pole. Heck, you could practice with a coat rack or maybe your refrigerator.
You’ll figure it out. Just find something that you can relate to. Practice getting in the space, getting in their face, and driving to the side… and behind.
TWO QUICK REMINDERS
First, when you go on the attack, remember that your goal is to solve the problem, not necessarily destroy the person who’s causing the problem.
If you can knock your attacker away and then run to a door, do that. If you need to stay on the attack a little bit longer so they fall down and can’t chase you, then do that.
If you always make it your goal to get to a safe place, then you’re a lot less likely to end up in a bad place—like prison.
Second, don’t worry about fighting the “right” way or the “wrong” way. If you’re fighting for a righteous cause, just fight.
Remember—you already know how to hurt somebody. The real issue is allowing yourself to do it.
So, when you practice these moves, make sure you also practice the feelings behind the moves.
Imagine that someone is hurting someone you love. Imagine that someone is hurting someone who can’t fight back. Imagine that someone is hurting you.
When you feel that you have to do something, you have to take action, don’t just attack with your hands, attack with your heart. Because a little hellfire is more effective than a lot of technique.
I hope you’re finding value in this series of lessons. If so, please share them with someone you love. I’ll see you again in Lesson #8.
Until then, keep pushing and keep fighting for a happy life.
Thank you for sharing these lessons with someone you love!