Fundamental principles of self defense

In this blog post, i'll discuss the basic most fundamental principles of self defense in a step-by-step guide with helpful resources. It's important that you understand the process of how to defend yourself. Why? If you don't, you could face time in prison or some other punishment for looking like the assailant rather than the victim. The process is as follows:

* Avoid conflict - Avoiding a violent situation should be your first priority. If you for example are many feet away from a knife attacker and you draw your gun, the authorities will ask "well why didn't you run away when you had the chance?" If you have a way to retreat and you don't take it, you are going to look like the assailant. If you can safely escape be it on foot, in a car, or bike then do so unless it puts you in more danger.

* Attack only when attacked - Under no circumstances can you make the first attack unless you are in physical danger (ex. armed robbers, kidnappers, etc.) Until your assailant throws the first strike, you cannot legally defend yourself. Some schools teaching combat for self defense tell you that it's best to strike first if a potential attacker is in your face. In reality, this isn't self defense according to the law. If someone is insulting you and getting aggressive, it makes no sense for me to throw a punch in order to "defend myself." Self defense only applies if you are responding to an attack at the present moment. If someone wants to fight you and you say "let's take it outside...", you are no longer practicing self defense because you are consenting to it. If someone is in a road rage and you apply a wrist-lock, you are no longer practicing self defense because you are initiating the attack. It doesn't matter if someone was "asking for it" or you needed to "teach em a lesson..." Nothing justifies you making the first attack period.

* Prove your innocence - You'll need to prove your innocence under a court of law by providing evidence that you acted in a lawful manner. Video recordings, eye-witness accounts, etc. of you trying to defuse a violent situation and avoid conflict are all examples of proof of your innocence. Keep in mind that your aggressor can also do the same so it might turn into a legal battle over who acted in self defense.

* Use proportionality - As i said before in previous posts, the amount of force used must be proportional or equal to the attack. A non-lethal threat must be met with non-lethal force. A lethal threat can be met with lethal force. Some self defense schools don't follow this principle and that's what will get you into legal trouble. This video is an example. Shooting someone multiple times because he or she punched you isn't using proportional force. Keep this in mind at all times.

* Address the most immediate threat - You must attack in self defense at the present moment you are being attacked. Not before an attack happens. Not after an attack happens. If someone's threatening your life, you have no business attacking that person because there's no threat involved. If you get beaten up in a brawl and your attacker leaves, you cannot get up to continue attacking then claim self defense. That is retaliation. If you do not, your claim to self defense fails.

* Use reasonable force - You must always be reasonable when acting in self defense. Stabbing someone with a knife because you "feared for your life" is not a reasonable justification for using deadly force. If you get caught up in a gun fight with an active shooter, you are using reasonable force. Why? 1) The active shooter has already proven him or herself to be a deadly threat evidenced by killing innocent civilians 2) The active shooter is using deadly force via. firearms. If you act in a way that a reasonable person would not act in self defense, it's going to look bad on your part.

https://lawofselfdefense.com/the-five-principles-of-the-law-of-self-defense-in-a-nutshell/

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Why i teach principles of combat in self defense

It seems that in today's self defense community, people have forgotten about the simplicity of combat. I see so many self defense schools teaching techniques and what to do in X or Y situation. Not enough time is spent on teaching the importance of self defense principles and understanding them. I'll give you a few reasons why i rarely teach techniques and choose to teach principles instead.

* Principles make you more efficient - When under attack, you don't have time to think about "hmm...i'm going to do this..i'm going to do that...then i'm going to do X technique.." It's going to happen so fast that you will have very little time to react much less act. Let's suppose you are far away and someone pulls a 9 millimeter gun at you in an urban city. What do you do? One of the fundamental principles to defend yourself in that situation is to seek cover and concealment. Soon as you see a concrete wall or anything that can stop bullets, get behind it and conceal yourself. What if someone pulls an AK-47? A shotgun? An AR-15? Throwing knives? Same concept. Get behind cover or anything that hides your presence outside the gunman's field of vision. You don't need to be an expert on firearms. You don't need to invest in years of studying each long range weapon in order to know how to respond. You don't need to have a weapon to find cover and concealment. When your against long range weapons such as firearms, the principle of cover and concealment in response still applies.

* Principles make you fluid - You may have seen Krav Maga practitioners when faced with a gunman, they'll grab the gun as they punch the face multiple times or perform a technique as shown in this video. This looks good but it's not always effective. Your attacker might have high pain tolerance and the adrenaline might make the pain less severe. He or she might even see you going for the gun and move back then shoot you. How would you resolve that with principles? Quickly redirecting the line of attack and establishing firm control over the weapon via. controlling the arm with both hands. If the gunman moves back, you move forward and apply the same principles. Another principle is obstructing your enemy's field of vision. If you got an object (any object) in your hand, throw it in your attacker's vision. You can control the arm and attack at once. As long as you understand principles, you can defend yourself more fluidly. If you forgot a technique or it didn't work, your in a big trouble.  

* Principles help you understand combat - It's one thing to know techniques but it's another to completely understand combat. Techniques are static and only work in particular situations. Combat is fluid and changing. What did techniques teach you about maintaining distance? Controlling your opponent? Accuracy? If you keep thinking in terms of techniques and what to do in different scenarios, you won't understand the essence of combat. Want to know the best way to counter a headlock, a chokehold, a bearhug? Preventing that from happening in the first place by keeping your distance. As soon as your attacker tries to go into grappling range, you could use your footwork to get out of range and land a kick to the groin as a stop hit then explosively go for a knock out punch. Creating distance isn't just used in hand-to-hand combat. It also applies to weapons as well. Whether your holding a knife, a gun, a stick, or a rock - you will need to control the distance between you and your attacker to ensure your own safety while maximizing the effectiveness of your attacks.

I'm not saying you should never use techniques but don't depend on them to save your life. It's understanding principles of combat that teaches you how to better defend yourself more efficiently and effectively.

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If you have a weapon, why learn martial arts?

The guns vs. martial arts debate has been a fascinating one even to me. A question people seem to be wondering is "if you have a gun, why learn hand to hand combat?" As i mentioned in my blog post "why relying on weapons will get you killed" (http://everythingselfdefense.blogspot.com/2016/12/why-relying-on-weapons-will-get-you.html ), i've already listed several key reasons why using only weapons is a bad idea. Why should you learn hand to hand combat?

First, most situations don't require a gun and would be legally or physically dangerous if you do use one. Many people use guns and think about survival than about the legal consequences that follow. According to law, you are generally only allowed to shoot if someone is using lethal force against you. Other than that, you could be convicted of a crime and sentenced to prison. If you want to do time in jail or prison every-time a violent situation arises and possibly get your gun taken away then by all means use a gun for self defense. If you want to learn how to avoid that then you should learn hand to hand combat in addition to firearms training.


The other critical reason why you should learn hand to hand combat in addition to gun self defense is because you need to create distance, time, and speed in order to use your gun effectively. Guns are long range weapons. Fists are short range weapons. If you don't know how and when to use each one appropriately, you may find yourself wrestling with an attacker over your gun. If you can land the first shot with no problems and your enemies scatter then good! If you lose the gun then that's very bad for you. I once saw a video of a gun defense instructor teach students that when faced with multiple attackers, you should punch one guy and then clinch as you fire two shots in him before you shoot at the others. This is very bad advice because the other attackers could hit you from behind and take the gun away from you. By using guns and hand to hand combat together, you are better equipped to defend yourself. When fighting multiple attackers, you beat them up. If someone draws a gun, you could either disarm or use an attacker as a shield before you draw your own gun and fire. If the gun jams or you run out of ammo, you could still use it as a melee weapon and do some serious damage.


While this would work in theory, the chances of you needing a gun in self defense are rare and often pose more problems than solutions. A study done showed that there was no advantage to using guns than other means of self defense.

In conclusion, you can't just simply "point and shoot" without considering the potential consequences that follow such as killing an innocent person by accident.

If you enjoyed this post, subscribe to my blog for updates, more advice, and exclusive content in the near future. I'm proud and excited to offer a FREE sample chapter of my E-book "Jeet Kune Do: How to build your own fighting system for self defense!" It's essentially a step-by-step guide on how to make your own self defense system suited to fit your own needs using Jeet Kune Do. If you would love to receive your FREE chapter of my e-book, click on the link below and share a post via. social media then it's yours for FREE! Be sure to also fill out the survey on the right and provide feedback on my blog. Leave questions, comments, and suggestions below.

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