In this video from the online course “Martial Studies: The Accelerated Method to Become an All-Round Practitioner without Illusions or Frills”, find out why it is necessary to work on contact during your self defense training, thanks to a personal anecdote.
Table of Contents
Go for contact!
I want you to understand the importance of touching each other, of “going for contact” during self defense training. It may seem obvious, but still, it is very important.
Your evolution
When you are a beginner in pure self defense, it is quite logical to touch your partner in training. The opposite would be almost inconceivable.
However, it is different when you first started practicing traditional martial arts like Karate which means that for years, you were taught to stop each of your gestures, each of your strikes, even if it means brushing past your partner, but never really touching him.
A quick anecdote
During a seminar, I was slapped for the first time by a Kempo practitioner!
And yet, I was a 2nd Dan black belt, quite confident, neither too much nor too little. However, I remember telling myself “ouch”!
And then, I even surprised myself with a small tear. “What is this?” and I can assure you that it hits the ego first.
Now, once you’ve “accepted” the slap, you can react in two ways:
- either, like most people, you take the blow and tell yourself “it was a bad day, I was not in good condition”
- or you tell yourself “there is something wrong” and you analyze the situation.
Touch without getting hurt!
Your level doesn’t matter. As long as you haven’t felt that contact and you’re not used to taking hits, you can be the king of the gym until one day a 12 year old street fighter with a scarred face – and who is probably used to being hit – is going to hit you so hard that you’re going to tell yourself “Fuck, I’m giving away my black belt, this is wrong.” Do you see what I mean?
To put it more simply: in self defense, contact is very important, but you should not go as far as to hurt yourself!
