The Worst Self-Defense and Fighting Stance

Martial artists may not agree on what makes up the best fighting stance, but I’ll bet we can all agree on the worst!

In this video, I talk about the worst self-defense position that anyone—white belt or grandmaster—can find themselves falling into… whether they want to or not!

But don’t worry—I also have a tip to help you recover and survive if you find yourself in trouble. Check it out and stay safe!

If the video doesn’t play, you can find a summary below.

SUMMARY

You’ve heard of fight, flight, or freeze. Well, the worst position in self-defense combines all three!

Let’s say you’re suddenly under attack…

Your head leans backward, taking flight… your hands punch forward, ready to fight… and your mind freezes, unable to commit to either plan.

I call this the Triple-F Stance. First, because your body reacts with fight, flight, and freeze all at the same time. Second, because if you fall into the Triple-F Stance, you are Triple F’d.

Let’s take a closer look…

The Worst Fighting Stance

The Triple-F Stance can look a few different ways. The first I detailed in my video, How to Land More Punches In a Fight.

The attack comes in and your chin goes up as your hands swat down.

The second way occurs when the bad guy’s punches come raining down, forcing you to duck. Your head goes down as your hands swing up.

The third way starts with a flinch, but leads to turning away completely, exposing your back. Your hands try punching backwards anyway, even though you can’t see.

Sound familiar? Or even scarier—does that feel familiar?

Let there be no doubt about it—all three of these Triple-F Stances will get you killed if the bad guy is committed to coming after you. That’s why the most important habit in fighting is maintaining a strong, balanced fighting stance no matter what happens.

Punch, kick, push—whatever. You must never allow your fighting stance to break!

It may sound crazy, but I’d rather take a solid shot while I’m in my fighting stance than slip a punch and turn my back. Why? Because I know once I fall into a Triple-F Stance, I may never get another chance to fight back.

You should also know that all three variations of the Triple-F Stance are made even worse when you move straight back.

That’s Martial Arts 101, right? We all know that a bad guy moving forward is a lot faster and better coordinated than a good guy moving backward.

But that’s exactly my point! Even though we all know that, when the pressure is on, we do it anyway!

I don’t care what belt you’re wearing or how cool you think you are, you have a breaking point… we all do! When you put yourself under enough pressure, you’ll find out—like it or not!—that some of your good habits stick and other habits break.

And that’s okay! Anyone can be exhausted, caught off-guard, overwhelmed by multiple attackers, or get injured and start panicking. So, don’t beat yourself up…falling into a Triple-F Stance happens.

Falling into a Triple-F Stance is not the mistake… the mistake is staying in a Triple-F Stance!

Being frozen between fight and flight will get you killed. To survive, you must break the indecision and commit to a plan of action as quickly as possible. If you decide to run, run. If you decide to fight, fight.

So, if you feel yourself being pulled in opposite directions, snap out of it! Stop flailing and fix your stance! Seriously—if you try fighting from the Triple-F Stance, the next stance you’ll find yourself in is the Flat On Your Back Stance.

Always set your focus on putting yourself in a position to punch with power and connect on purpose. Never allow yourself to flap your wings like a headless chicken with a desperate dream of connecting by accident.

It’s tricky because under pressure, when you’re flailing around and throwing wild flurries, you’ll feel like you’re still in the fight. You’ll feel like you have a chance…

But you’re kidding yourself! You’re relying on luck, not skill. Well, unless you have a knife in your hand!

If you’re flailing with a knife then, yes, you still have a chance of slashing and injuring your attacker. But with empty hands? I wouldn’t bet my life on it.

The main point is this—don’t even think about fighting back until you’ve recovered a strong position. Chin down, hands up, and positioned off-line. This habit is so important, I recommend running drills that focus on stance alone. Here’s one dway you can do that…

FIGHTING STANCE DRILL

ROUND #1: Get a partner. Give him a shield so he can push you around for a while. Even better, let him pad up so he can grab, punch, and kick at you.

Either way, don’t hit back. Just focus on protecting your head, staying on your feet, and getting out of the line of fire.

Every time you feel your stance get broken, snap back into position. Chin goes up, snap it down. Chin goes down, snap it up. Head gets turned, snap it back. Make it automatic.

ROUND #2: Turn up the pressure. Increase the speed and power. Then add another attacker… or two… or three.

Don’t hit back yet! If you’ve given your partners permission to really come after you, you will have a hard enough time just staying on your feet.

ROUND #3: Okay, you can hit back now! Once you’re able to snap back into your fighting stance no matter what, follow-up with your own punches, kicks, and takedowns.

You can make things more interesting by creating a “safe zone” in a corner of the room. If you decide to run instead of fight, reaching the safe zone will end the round. You can also create scenarios that either allow the possibility of escape or do not.

This is a simple drill, really, but it’s a great way to strengthen your foundation and get your priorities straight. The biggest mistake of all would be to think that you don’t need to do it!

Seriously—if your skills and habits haven’t broken down lately, then you’re not training under enough pressure! If you want to be the best you can be, you owe it to yourself to find training environments that will challenge you… or even make you cry!

Read Breaking Down In Martial Arts.

That’s what the dojo or the gym is built to do. It’s a safe place to build your strengths and discover your weaknesses.

It’s better to see your habits break on the mats than on the street.

So, put your fighting stance to the test. Turn up the pressure, find your flaws, and get to work fixing them.