Self-Defense

Bl1zzard SG

From the Martial Art(s) you've learnt, whats the most practical moves for self-defense? For me (Taekwondo) its :

1. Front Kick (I think this is the best)

2. Roundhouse (Extremely effective if it lands correctly on the attacker's temple, but poses a great threat if missed/mistrike.)

3.SideKick (Saves you time from turning your body to hit attacker(s) from the side)

This is pretty much what i think is useful in a self-defense situation, other kicks like 360 degree roundhouse, rear horse kick etc are useless.

Share yours here.

Pallova2 SG

This is from silat point of view...

You mention all the effective kicks in your art and I tend to agree that they will definitely be effective to keep your opponents away... However you did not mention any punches, blocks or scoops that are arm and hands movements from other martial art techniques...esp from silat...

Having said that, there is no martial art that is superior than the other... It is how much a practitioner has refind his/her own techniques against the opponent. In other words the martial art is as good as the person that is practising it.

All the techniques are effective and not useless but are not appreciated enough. Fight techniques can only be effective when the user truly knows how to execute it well and the timing to let it go is very crucial for maximum impact...

I do not really know the term you use and may be mistaken... but the rear house kick version that we employ looks like a back-thrust and definitely fooled our attackers thinking that we are running away and invite them to lunged at us...executing it at that particular moment can at least floored him down....

I've organized a mixed martial art with a twist and it allows all martial artist and street fighters to converge and discover first hand how effective their individual skills thus far...

Bl1zzard SG

This is from silat point of view...

I've organized a mixed martial art with a twist and it allows all martial artist and street fighters to converge and discover first hand how effective their individual skills thus far...

Sorry Rear Horse Kick, typo error. For punches I think that all punches are effective as long as they land on the right spot. Also Taekwondo don't really focus much on punching.

Pallova2 SG

Then my question to you is... How effective do you think you are with the Martial Art technique you have acquired ?

Want to know the answer? Support me by entering the tournament I am going to organise very soon. It is safe and you can discover a lot about your techniques whether which one is effective and which is not...This is because you are going to compete with other forms of Martial Art. The objective is not find the weakness of any martial art but to celebrate the differences by raising the respect and awareness of all forms of Martial Art self-defence technique.

I termed it as Martial Art Tanding Tournament. In short MTT..

eastpaw SG

1. Front Kick (I think this is the best)

2. Roundhouse (Extremely effective if it lands correctly on the attacker's temple, but poses a great threat if missed/mistrike.)

3.SideKick (Saves you time from turning your body to hit attacker(s) from the side)

This is pretty much what i think is useful in a self-defense situation, other kicks like 360 degree roundhouse, rear horse kick etc are useless.

Share yours here.

In a "real" situation, unless you are hella sure of your own speed, power, and stability, kicks above the waist are very dangerous to do. If you get parried, blocked, or even shoved while you are attempting a high kick, you could end up on the ground, which is not where you want to be. Also, too many martial artists are trained to step into a high kick and whack you in the family jewels.

Actually, I wouldn't recommend kicking at all unless you are confident of flooring your opponent with one kick. TKD fighters in the 70s were feared throughout SE Asia for their frighteningly fast knock-out kicks. TKD fighters today, however, generally cannot generate enough power to be effective because the emphasis has shifted from KO fighting to point fighting.

On the other hand, "dark" kicks (a.k.a. hidden kicks) are actually very useful. These are kicks which have zero or almost-zero telegraphing. Even experienced fighters are usually unable to defend well against such kicks; they have a very high chance of connecting cleanly. I have never seen a hidden kick in TKD, though the horse kick in Taekkyun is sort of a hidden kick.

Most hidden kicks are shin or knee level kicks, such as this one. (Actually, this is not really a hidden kick; a hidden kick involves even less body movment than this.) There are some martial artists who can kick at waist or chest level without moving any part of their bodies besides the kicking leg, however.

In the final equation, like Pallova has said, there is no such thing as a useless technique. It's really whether or not you've honed it into a deadly weapon. That said, some moves (e.g. TKD reverse kick to the head) are more difficult to pull off than others (e.g. boxing jab) and require a lot more dedication to make useful.

Pallova2 SG

Hi guys... looks like the thread that I started on the tournament thingy is going to be locked up very soon... Perhaps they do not want me to use this space as an advertisement or something like that...

Hope everyone tuning in can pm me if you are interested and we will take the discussion from there... I mean thru email instead...

Eastpaw is right to say that kick above the waist level exposes too much for others to capitalise upon... Perhaps because of this the MMA fighters feel that they can licked all other Martial Art Styles as TKD style is so widespread and I am not surpried if most of the MMA athletes may have taken up TKD before venturing in without checking out all other styles first... It is very easy for a MMA athlete to bulldozed their way into a round house kick to the head just to do a takedown and pummel the opponent up soon after.

Coach Jason SG

I agree with east paw and pallova2 on the idea that no martial arts are superior and that about hidden kicks.

1) No martial arts are superior. Ok, Lets not dwell on this age old question anymore. the answer has been repeated over so many years and yea..it is the fighter that matters; and by that I mean he or she must be well trained in 3 main areas.

- Emotional; in the event of any real confrontations, the emotions that run through the individual varies for everyone. However, there are a few that is present in everyone of us, the ability to manage these will make the person a more superior fighter or to defend themselves. EG: if you have only one opponent or attacker, and you doubt yourself for any reason (self doubt usually stems from the primal emotional feelings that occur), then you would have been outnumbered.

- pshycological; you have to know what makes criminals or agressors tick, why and how do they choose their victims, what goes on during the process of crime and also, when you are engaged in such a scenario. What goes on in your mind? what are the pre-indicators or pre contact cues? etc

- Skills; simple! you can be a 100th black belt in some mystical art with 1001 techniques learnt, now for the moment of true, how many of that do you think will work in a real confrontation or even say a competition? most probably 3-5, provided you have the balls to remain calm and steady under such stress. EG: gross motor skills, compared to fine motor skills. which do you think comes to you first when engaged, be it a real confrontation or competition?

2) Hidden kicks. For this, I would prefer to say low or non telegraphic kicks. Why? for most physical or violent encounters to occur, it happens usually in the close quarters range, and within this distance, it will be very hard for anyone at all to effectively create momentums for the usual kicking moves. Also, usually attacks come as a suprise where you have exactly no idea of how or when the assualt is going to come, makes sense? under that shock and stress, will a normal high kick come to your mind? of course, unless you got involved in the fight somehow like a competition or a street fight 1 on 1 etc. and such “hidden kicks” involve things like low shin kicks, stomps, toe stepping etc. and a very important arsenal of tools in close quarter fighting, esp in self defense.