by Damian Ross
Founder, The Self Defense Company
Your Will to Survive and Protect is Key.The single most important thing you need for protecting yourself and your loved ones is YOUR WILL.
You must be willing to go as far and as deep as you possibly can.
Without your desire to protect and survive, it doesn’t matter what style or system you use, you will fail.
Consistency over time, it’s a marathon, not a sprint.
Too often people equate learning self defense to a martial art or any other physical endeavor.
You feel you need to be in shape and jump in, head first and start physically training like crazy.
This approach NEVER works and should be avoided.
Because eventually something will happen that will knock you off your course.
You can NEVER keep that pace up. Even elite athletes have an off season.
Life has a way of derailing you.
You get busy at work, have a family obligation or emergency, get sick, injured or even bored. You’re not a machine and you’re not training for the Olympics.
In truth, self-defense is mostly an education.
Police, Fire, EMS, Soldiers spend more in the classroom learning and planning than they do physically training for a mission.
Even elite athletes, study, break down film and learn using a multi-media approach.
Studying and watching is just as important as doing and you need a combination of both learning and practicing to get the most out of training.
Even a few minutes reading an article or watching a drill will go a long way towards being better prepared and aware.
The reason most people QUIT or NEVER EVEN START self-defense training is because they think it requires a huge commitment of time, energy, skill and money.
This should not be the case.
If anything, your self defense plan should be for when you’re at your worst physical and mental state and include a variety of weapons as well as empty hand skills.
The times when you’re feeling good and in top condition are a bonus – then your training will work EXTREMELY WELL.
But don’t make your ability to defend yourself contingent on your fitness level – this has never worked because there will come a time when you’re sick older or injured and that’s the time you will most likely be targeted for attack.
If you only know techniques that require fitness and athletic ability they will FAIL when you need them most.
At the end of the day, take your time, practice and learn when your schedule allows you and above all… Train Honestly
