[Ren]

Let's review the main points here.

Why is it important to keep your hands at your center?

You're able to block, no matter what the angle of attack, as it’s a short distance for your hands to travel to block. It also gives you a passive appearance.

When practicing your defense technique, what is the purpose of placing your hands on the shoulder when defending in advance from the centered position?

It is a reference point to understand when and how the opponent attacks. It also prevents the opponent from getting too close to you. 

When practicing a knee strike to your opponent, what vital positioning of the body must you get right in order for your technique to work?

The hand positioning and the leg positioning. How you lay your hand on the opponent’s neck allows you to gain control and prevent him from forcing into you. How you place your hand on the neck is crucial, depending on how you want to attack with the knee if you don’t want to give the attacker the opportunity to strike with a headbutt, for example. Having your leg in the right position gets your knee ready for a powerful strike while maintaining your balance.

[Ren]

Now, it is a self-defense test. Try to answer it honestly without watching the correct answers (they will be posted in the next post).

1. Where should your hands be positioned when you’re trying to be passive?

a. On top of your head.
b. At chest level.
c. At your center.
d. Near the opponent’s shoulder

2. If your hands are too far back on your opponent’s neck, what happens?

a. You gain more control.
b. You can better move his head.
c. He can slide in and headbutt you.
d. He can bear hug you.

3. To make it more difficult for your attacker to headbutt, you can:

a. Shift your feet.
b. Shift his head from side to side.
c. Move your head from side to side.
d. Force the head down.

4. Where is your center located?

a. On your head.
b. The center of your chest.
c. Your navel
d. Your neck.


5. What is the purpose of linking your hands together when keeping your opponent out of your personal space or when he grabs hold of you?

a. It applies more power/ strength to the technique.
b. So you can go for a double attack.
c. It gets you ready for a defense and an attack technique.
d. Both a and c.
... ...

[Ren]

The Answers:

1. c
2. c
3. b
4. c
5. d

[Ren]

Are you ready to continue with the defensive techniques?

[Alexa]

Ready. Go!!!

[Ren]

Defensive Techniques

Good.

Well, talking about the kicks...

Defending Against Kicks

When it comes about the kicks it should covers the basics on how to defend yourself against 3 types of kicks: front kick, round kick and side kick. In each scenario, the attacker aims his/her kicks towards the middle section of your body because that is the most common place someone will try to attack you. The instructions mentioned in here are similar to each other while defending against each type of kick (front, round, side), so please pay close attention to the details mentioned below.

From the beginning, as soon as you are made aware that someone is attacking you, you should keep your hands up at head height and in front of your face (like the traditional boxing stance) to protect yourself. Your next objective is to flawlessly combine two actions: the first is to quickly step back and out of the way to avoid being hit and to lower the impact you may potentially receive from the kick. The second is to use your hands to strike and control the movement of the kick as it comes towards you.

Once you have successfully parried the kick, move in to your attacker with your strike. For the most effective strike against your attacker, make sure you move in a straight forward direction. Direct your attack towards his/her lower body, using your heel to give a devastating blow to the front or back of his/her knee or thigh. You can direct your heel to the leg closer to you, or to the other one, or attack both the legs. Whatever you decide, make sure to extend your leg outward, inflicting severe damage and possibly causing the attacker's leg to break at the knee (you should know this).

While you train this exercise with a partner, it is okay to snap your foot quickly out and back to get used to the movement. But in real life application, remember to extend your leg outward. Some people also encourage you to turn your body after your initial foot strike because this helps line your body up to make a second attack with your other leg. This training will not only help you defend yourself against kicks, but will also help you follow up with controlled and devastating attacks. Make sure to train regularly with a partner and practice the movement so that you can control the power and accuracy of the attack. Whether you are out with some friends, playing sports, walking on the beach or just happen to be at the wrong place at the wrong time, I hope my self-defense knowledge will help you be safe and efficient in practicing the good self-defense.

[Ren]

How to Defend Against Front Kicks

As I said, you can break a leg, so, you should know this. And, to be safe, aim your knee (instead of your heel) into his/her thigh to immobilize him rather than risk breaking his leg. For example, in this scenario: Let's say you’re out playing a game of soccer with your friends, and a group of people you have never met come to play with you. At first they are friendly, but after suffering a few losses from your team, their players start to get a bit aggressive. Suppose your teammate just scored a goal and you are cheering, and then you are confronted by a member of the opposing team. He yells at you first, and then pushes you back. You manage to keep your balance and notice he is coming at you again, but this time with a front kick. In this moment, you would get your hands up at head height and take your step back while using your hands to strike and control the movement of the opponent’s kick. Immediately after, you would move in and aim your kick towards his lower body.
 
 Well, about the front kick. This kind of kick is the snapping motion of the leg targeting the stomach (or the groin area) using your foot to make contact with the body. This kick looks similar to most common soccer kicks. When someone approaches you with this kick, apply the steps mentioned here already and continue as follows. To pull this move off, the attacker has to invest a lot of their energy and momentum into charging into you with this kick, so this is what we will use to our advantage. As soon as they come forward, strike and block their kick with your hand, allowing you to immediately shift the direction they are facing, forcing them to face off to your side. This puts their legs in the perfect striking position for you. Perform a drop kick to their knee to get them to bend their leg and then execute a low side kick to the same knee to drop them to the floor. (And remember the dangers mentioned above.)

[Alexa]

Good.

[Ren]

How to Defend Against Round Kick

Now about the defense against round kick. The round kick is the rotating motion of the leg targeting your ribs (or the stomach area), using the top part of the foot to make contact. This is the kick you do when you want to hit someone on the sides of their body rather than head-on. When someone approaches you with this kick, apply the steps mentioned above and continue as follows. Since this is a rotating kick, you have to rotate your body as the kick comes in to distribute the force of the kick. If successful, the attacker's foot will land right in front of you on the floor. Use this opportunity to move in with a knee to the back of the attacker's leg. Become comfortable with blocking the kicks and immediately stepping in to attack.

[Alexa]

I am going to become a great self-defenser.

[Ren]

Oh, yes, I hope so.

[Ren]

How to Defend Against Side Kicks

Now about the side kicks. The side kick is the snapping of the heel targeting your stomach (or chest area). The heel is the point of contact, making this kick the most powerful of all the three kicks discussed over here.

When someone approaches you with this kick, apply the steps mentioned above and continue as follows. Similar to how we deal with the round kick, you have to step back just enough to create distance between your body and the kick and then immediately step back in with a kick to the attacker's knee. Well, I always aim for the knee because without the knee, your opponent can't kick or chase you anymore.  Remember to use the same hand to block as the foot your attacker is using to attack you with. So, if he is kicking you with his right foot, step back and use your right hand to block (from the outside of the kick -- pushing it away in the direction it was moving).

[Ren]

Introduction to Defending Against Punches

Many people just punch or start their attacks with punches. There are three main concepts that we should think about here: 1. maintaining your balance, 2. practicing safely, and 3. the arm placement. The first concept is the basic technique and the manner in which to apply it. First, it is very important to understand that the following technique is an answer not only to hooks but to every attack made by arms coming in at an angle, including slaps and, in theory, haymakers.  This technique is appropriate to use any time your opponent tries to impact you by bringing his arms in. The technique for dealing with this consists of two crucial parts.

In the first part, you learn how to defend varies punches, starting with the most simple and popular punch – the straight punch, and the hook. It doesn't take an expert to throw one of these punches, but it will take some skill to defend one of these punches.

So, read now.

How to Defend a Straight Punch

The first part is to block the inside of the attacker's attacking arm with the outside of your defending arm.
The outer edge of your hand or arm – the part opposite of your thumb – should make contact with the inside of your opponent's forearm, the same side their thumb is on, at the middle of the forearm. Once you've contacted this area, you should employ the second part of the technique.

 

How to Defend a Hook Punch

For the second part of the basic technique, you should deliver a strike with the outer edge of your hand to your opponent's shoulder. Together, these techniques control your opponent by giving you control over the arm he makes the attack with. Your blocking arm can hold your opponent's arm from the front, and your strike checks the opponent, making sure that he can not continue to attack you effectively.

Did ever hear about the "weapon replacement"?

Well, the concept of "weapon replacement." The weapon replacement is replacing your attacks with different types of attacks. For example, the strike to your opponent's shoulder could be an elbow to his head, followed by a slap to his nuts by extending your arm.  Or, it could be a chop made with the intent to chop his head off. When starting out with training, we want to keep things simple. This ties into the second major point. You need to practice safely but in real time too. Seriously, practice safely!

To be continued.

[Ren]

How to Defend a Body Hook

Some incels know it, others don't know it but there is a punch called body hook. How to defend it? It's easy to block when you move your hand down, next to your body. Important: clench your teeth and push your tongue against the roof of your mouth when there are punches. Why? Clenching your teeth will keep you from cracking or breaking them. Pushing your tongue to the roof of your mouth will keep you from accidentally biting your tongue.

I will also point out that there are a ton of variables that come into play in an actual self-defense situation. So how do we practice this technique safely in a way that still prepares us for a self-defense scenario? The safest way to practice these techniques is to keep your hands open and simply check your training partner's shoulder. Once you have a better understanding of moving your body, you can start taking the techniques further by striking at your training partner's neck. It's important to restrain yourself so that you don't end up hitting your partners's neck.  That could injure your friend and prevent you from finding training partners. Seriously, practice safely!!! Otherwise, you will be running out of partners to train with.

[Ren]

How to Defend an Uppercut

There are people who attack with uppercut. To defend is easy. You can do it by leaning away, countering with a straight punch, rolling it, or blocking it. The final point to make here is about maintaining balance. A common pitfall students fall into when first practicing this technique is leaning forward. The practice demonstrates that this leaves you highly vulnerable either to being pulled forward into a bad position or simply falling on your face if your opponent takes a step back.  To combat this, I instruct you to either step forward into the strike such that you can still block the opponent's strike correctly (and make your counter attack), or to simply stay where you are and block your opponent's strike correctly without moving. It's necessary to practice both approaches to understand what you want to do and when you need to do it because real self-defense situations have many different variables.