(Approx 2 minute 20 second read)

I was recently sent a video of a thug attacking a guy with a machete – a blade over 12 inches long. As you can imagine, a frightening experience.
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As I watched the video, it looked as if the person being attacked froze in place while the attacker waved the machete around, posturing and threatening long before any strike happened.
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The threat continued, and the poor guy ended up being sliced across the face.
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It’s possible he just froze. When you’re under extreme stress, your brain triggers a fight-flight-freeze response. Not many people talk about the ‘freeze’ aspect, but it’s a common problem.
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While watching the video I was almost shouting at the screen – “Get out of there.”
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The person being attacked seemed to have many opportunities to remove himself from the situation. Of course, we don’t know what the outcome of that effort would have been, but there seemed countless times he could have at least made an effort to escape, as the distance between the two at the start of the confrontation was considerable.
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Most people are not really prepared or trained – physically or psychologically – for a physical encounter like this. A big part of that is mental: visualizing possible scenarios, staying aware of your surroundings, and spotting danger before it’s too late.
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Good self-defense starts long before any physical technique – it starts in your head. So in training for self-defense it’s best to concentrate on something that will work – beginning with avoidance.
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Self-defense is about doing the minimum a situation will allow to ensure your own survival. Not standing there trading blows – that’s street fighting, not something we should be interested in.
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Be honest with yourself about what a real attack actually is: it’s terrifying and violent, it’s explosive, it’s unpredictable, it’s savage and it does not abide by any rules.
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If you underestimate it, real violence can shatter you, or worse. Too many people in the martial arts grossly underestimate it.
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And if you are teaching any martial art as self-defense, you have an obligation to qualify the potency of everything you teach as self-defense, because someone’s life may one day depend on it.
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Attempting to disarm someone with a weapon is a high-risk, last-resort decision. Even for someone with years of training, it’s a terrifying proposition. In most cases, handing over your wallet or car keys is the smartest decision – give up your material possessions if it means walking away with your life.
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In my opinion, the only time you should fight an armed assailant is if you truly believe they intend to kill you. Even if you do decide to fight back, no amount of martial arts skill guarantees you can defend against a weapon. If they’re just after your wallet, give it to them. Nothing is worth risking your life over.
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Real-world self-defense is not glamorous, it’s nothing like sparring in the dojo. Why so many people still view self-defense this way is beyond me, and very few dojo train for such scenarios realistically.
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The best way to survive any confrontation like the one above is to train to avoid the fight whenever possible – and get the heck out of there while you still can.
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Written by Adam Carter – Shuri Dojo
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Photo Credit: Taylor Daugherty