Fighting is different to Self Defence.

There has been a lot of talk about the superiority of BJJ/MMA when compared to other systems and when tested in challenge matches for the most part that seems to be the case. But challenge matches are not real life, regardless of whether its no rules fighting or not. For the record I love MMA and BJJ but its not real fighting nor self-defence. Does it provide you with real-life skills? Absolutely. Is it 100 times better than most other systems? For sure. But if your learning this stuff for street applications or to protect yourself or your family should the need arise then you must cast a wider net and explore some broader ideas than those presented in most BJJ/MMA classes. And its not about what type or how many techniques you know or how well you can apply them.

These four authors cover most of the ground that I feel is necessary knowledge in this area, I have read their books, watched and listened to their tapes, googled them and navigated through their websites. I have discussed their ideas and theories with my friends in law enforcement and the military who design and run defensive skills programs and I have tried and applied their work in training. I am the first to admit that I don’t have much “live” experience in these areas as many others do have. Street fighting has never been my thing but if you need to learn what works I’m sure getting amongst it is great. In some respects you can’t beat experiential learning.

Anyway here are the four authors…

Dave Grossman http://www.killology.com/
Marc Mac Young http://www.nononsenseselfdefense.com/
Tony Blauer http://tonyblauer.com/
Geoff Thompson http://www.geoffthompson.com

Much of their work is aimed at people who must deal with violence as part of their work including police, military and security applications but there is a strong cross over with civilian self-protection strategies. Concepts of awareness, avoidance, fear psychology, action triggers, criminal psychology, pre-fight and post fight management, legal issues, multiple and armed attackers, pre-emptive strikes and scenario based training are important areas that must be studied and practiced in depth. Each author has their own presentation style and come from various backgrounds but they all come to remarkably similar conclusions.

Here's a clip from a Tony Blauer Seminar