Self-Taught Self Defence?

[Hostage]

Anyone ever tried teaching themselves self-defence? Like some home-made martial arts or something.. I may have seen too much fight-club, but I wanted to check what you guys thought, and if it worked for you.. (im not that keen on going to martial arts lessons, especially in my country)


if it worked for you, how did you get it to work out? and what about the 'real experience', i doubt someone would just go out and start fights just for the experience haha
:blushing:

[red cat]

Don't try it without an instructor; you might hurt yourself seriously.

[FreeFocus]

I have limited formal instruction at the moment (that is, I'm currently not training at a gym, but will definitely be next year), but I shadow box and imagine what I would do when put in certain positions. Since you don't want formal instruction, you might want to consider watching some boxing, K-1 and MMA, and practicing some strikes and defense. Basically, keep your hands up and your chin tucked in.

[MilitantAnarchist]

Theres a book by Charles Bronsan, called Solitary Fitness...
I've not read it but i was thinking of doing the same thing... he's spent most of his life in solitary confinement in jail, and its how he kept fit whilst there...
I'm not sure if its 'self defence' but im sure its gonna have ways of getting to a level where you can defend yourself.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_ss_1_15?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=charles+bronson+solitary+fitness&sprefix=Charles+Bronson

[Pogue]

I don't think you can do it by yourself. The only meaningful thing you could do is get a punch bag and just practice your technique on that so you have a solid punch. You can't self teach MMA though and if you really want to learn some decent self defense you need to spar with someone so I reccomend joining a boxing club.

You could just fight with a few friends. Thats really fun. I reccomend doing it only with really good friends though, so you know when to stop and don't just batter the shit out of each other. Me and my mates do 'play fights', its really good, because you know when to stop, etc. It can be painful (bare knuckle boxing anyone?) and also dangerous if not done properly, but its really good for getting used to how to handle yourself in a fight. The safer and better option would be joining a boxing club and doing sparring, self teaching is bollocks. Having said that shadow boxing has benefits, if your practicing technique, speed, etc. If you shadow box do it realistically though, i.e. act as if you were actually fighting (so duck, dodge, guard, etc).

[Dr Mindbender]

Just join a registered club. The camaraderie, insurance of an expert instructor and knowledge you're learning a legitimate martial art with centuries of lineage makes it worth the money.

[The Douche]

I reccomend joining a club. I have a friend who trained for probably a year or so, I watched him fight another friend who is just a generally tough dude, who's been in fights and stuff but with no formal training.

Guess who won? The dude with the training made real short work of the tough guy.

[Pogue]

The reason why self taught is useless is because you dno't practice fighting. Thats the main thing with self defence, your meant to get used to combat situations, and you do this through sparring. Otherwise its just technique and fitness, which you can work on, sure, but that doesn't compare to experience. I remember my first fight still, and it wa sos different too now, because I was so less prepared and confident. Each sparring session, each play fight you have, you learn better how to defend yourself, whereas if you say, just hit a bag or shadow box, your not learning what its like - how much you can hit someone, how much damage you can take.

[FreeFocus]

The reason why self taught is useless is because you dno't practice fighting. Thats the main thing with self defence, your meant to get used to combat situations, and you do this through sparring. Otherwise its just technique and fitness, which you can work on, sure, but that doesn't compare to experience. I remember my first fight still, and it wa sos different too now, because I was so less prepared and confident. Each sparring session, each play fight you have, you learn better how to defend yourself, whereas if you say, just hit a bag or shadow box, your not learning what its like - how much you can hit someone, how much damage you can take.

This, nothing beats actual experience. It's a lot different when you know someone is coming at you with ill intent, and you know you're going to get hit back.

[The Broke Cycle]

If you haven't been punched in the face so hard you see spots and have trouble standing, you can't have taught yourself anything.

[ellipsis]

I taught/ am still teaching myself how to use thrown weapons, mostly knives and spears/ pikes.

[Decolonize The Left]

Your best bet is not to practice 'self-defense,' but to get into shape so that when you join a club or take a lesson, you aren't lagging behind.

Push-ups (flat hands, knuckles, legs raised, torso raised), sit-ups (crunches, leg lifts, bicycle), pull-ups (standard and reversed), stretching, jump rope (absolutely great for your feet and movement, and cardio), and running are basics for everyday training. Unless you are willing to commit to this, why take a class or join a club?

Bruce Lee claimed that training one's body (the above is a rudimentary outline, but will suffice for most people) is paramount to any martial art, and that the art itself is impossible without the trained body. Furthermore, if you train your body well, then when you actually do join a club/class, you will work with the teacher/others much better and learn much quicker because you won't have to train while you learn.

Just some thoughts.

- August

[danny bohy]

boxing is available every where and while its not as good as other martial arts its better than nothing. other martial arts also require alot of fitness and discepline. if you really wanna be self tought try to get a krav maga manual of the net. its the closest youll ever get to learning a martial art from a book.

[Chambered Word]

I've heard Krav Maga and boxing are really good to learn, but I don't personally train.

I'm trying to get in shape and practise punching and kicking though.

[RedRise]

I keep fit and sometimes practice tussle with friends but I figured since I'm not usually in a position in which I need to defend myself it doesn't make sense to put time and effort into martial arts training. I can, however, pack a powerful punch (as I have proven to myself in the past).

[Delenda Carthago]

Instead of doing it yourself,do it together.find a comrade that is really good in martial arts and make a class.

This one,
A.will be good for everyone
B.might bring you closer to people from your hood.

Here in Greece we are doing it in most of our haunts(together with other courses like music and foreign langueges lessons),mostly with Muay Thai.

[RotStern]

Theres a lot of boxing videos on youtube that look quite realistic.
I used to box myself I never lost :P
My record was 17 0 0.
Id recommend Muay Thai because it is easy to learn, effective and can be implemented into a normal street-fight.
Of course not as the orthodox Muay Thai but it certainly helps.
It focuses on the 8 ''Limbs'' of the body.
The Fists Elbows shins Knees
2 fists 2 elbows 2 knees 2 shins.
If you have a enough space then im sure you can learn some boxing basics the jab right straight and left hook combination is essential for any Orthodox boxer (Right handed- Im both handed myself :D).
But a commonly forgotten element of a fight is the dodging.
The best way to train your body to do this would be jump rope as said above.
Hope this helps. :D

[Red Saxon]

I'm in a Brazilian Jujutsu class right now, which is loads of fun. You learn how to exert more power with less energy, and you learn especially how to take advantage of pressure points. Right now, we're learning how to attack arteries so that we can make people faint/die.