3 Keys to Surviving a Fight
Omne trium perfectum.
Understand?
It means “Everything that comes in threes is perfect”.
You see, many things come in threes.
Book authors use the rule of three as a basis for keeping humor funny or to give story’s a pattern and a rhythm
Many consider good health to be comprised of having three things: a sound mind, body, and spirit
And who doesn’t love The Three Stooges?
Self defense is no different. Here are three VERY important things to remember when practicing or making up your own bunkai/fēn jiě.
These are the three things you want to take away from your opponent.
Vision
If you can’t see, you can’t fight.
At least not well. You might be able to blindly throw haymakers but it will be as wild as the old west. It will definitely be much easier to block or evade. or to, y’know, get the heck outta there!
Here is a rundown of some ways to take away vision.
The obvious thing. Finger strike to the eyes a la Larry, Curly, and Moe.
A strike to the nose will cause the eyes to water. Definitely follow up afterwards though. Couple adrenaline with high emotion and some strikes (like this) might not be as effective as they usually would be.
Throwing dirt or debris is alway good. Drinks, rocks or pebbles, and cloth are all fair game.
Breathing
If you can’t breath, you can’t fight.
Here’s an experiment for you. Shadow box as intense as possible for as long as possible.
How long did you last?
Oh yeah, almost forgot. Do it while holding your breath.
Round two. How did you do this time?
If you can’t breath then your ability to fight is severely limited.
That’s not to say it is impossible though. Just because you locked them down in a firm rear naked choke doesn’t mean they will just…give up.
Heck no! They are going to be struggling theirbutt off! Scratch that, they won’t be struggling their butt off, it’ll be yours they’ll be trying to tear apart. And your ears. And eyes. And limbs.
Stay cautious!
Here are some ways to rob them of functional breathing:
A blow to the solar plexus usually does wonders
Any number of strikes to the throat will get the job done
Of course, chokes work well. Remember! There are two different types though: Blood chokes and air chokes. Both deprive the body of adequate oxygen and work quite well
Movement
If you can’t move, you can’t fight.
Let’s talk about two different types of movement.
Local movement and general movement.
Local movement is categorized as the ability to move a limb.
Moving your arm towards that cup of tea? Local movement.
Lifting your arm (and thus said cup of tea)? Can you say local movement?
Racing around town to tell everybody about this amazing cup of tea? NOT local. Now we start getting into general movement.
General movement can be defined as the ability to run, walk, crawl, or just overall move around.
Both do wonders but if you have a choice, you want to take away general movement over local. Take away their ability to chase you and you can just mosey on along your way.
Remember the difference:
A wrist lock is controlling local movement.
Hyperextending their arm is local movement.
Kicking out their knee would be taking away their general movement.
One last piece of advice!
Remember everything I just said (er, wrote)? Yeah, all of that applies to you too.
Watch out.
If you want to fight well:
Keep your vision and awareness wide and alert.
Stay breathing (*cough* kiai! *cough*. Ahem, strange cough…)
Stay in a solid stance that is able to move at a moment’s notice.
You and your opponent aren’t as different as you might think.
You both become decidedly more vulnerable if you take away even just one of these three.
Be sure to protect your three while you try to take away his.
Make everything as simple as possible, but not simpler.
– Albert Einstein
