Soft, Hard, or in between?

Fighting, at its core, and as we concluded after watching thousands of hours of videos and reading reports from police, military, and other experts, boils down to brawling.  Thats pretty much it.  One can spend years practicing an art, but when the moment comes, and that primal instinct kicks in, we do what every animal has always done: we brawl.

When we teach self-defense in our classes we realize a few critical things:

1. For most, the minimal training they receive by us is all they will ever get.  
2. Most people won't, nor should they, ever get into a fight.
3. Many of our members, even after all of our best intentions and efforts, will just not be as proficient as others.

Reality is that when we teach a skill we try to make sure two things happen: 1) our students cause as much damage on their opponent as they can, and 2) they cause as little damage as they can on themselves.  Because at the end of the day, when you fight you will get hurt.  It's the nature of the encounter, and we must expect it, accept it, deal with it, and move on.

Our body, as is that of your opponent, is comprised of different types of tissue, from hard substances such as bones, to soft components such as organs, and some are in between such as muscle tissue (which some have more than others).

whoever designed our bodies (I will not dwell into evolution, creation, or other theories here) did a pretty awesome job.  It's amazing to learn how everything works, and how every little aspect of our being has a function and a goal.  For example, our skull is designed to protect our brain.  It is a strong bone.  It does a pretty good job at its intended mission.  Which is why punching at the skull makes little sense…unless of course you want to break your hand.  

Going back to our previous point, if you want to create as much damage on your opponent as possible, while minimizing how much damage is done to you, you must be accurate in your delivery of strikes.  You must allocate the right tool to the right target.

Hence our rule: if you are targeting something hard, hit with something soft.  If you are targeting something soft, hit it with something hard.  A few examples: if you are striking at a bone, hit with a meaty part of your limb (palm, bottom of your fist, etc.).  If you are hitting at a soft target, like someone's gut, then hit them with a hard weapon, such as your fist or knee.

Hitting a hard surface with another hard surface will degrade the fight into a physics equation where the more dense material will remain intact while the less dense will break.  It is as simple as that.

Lessons to take away:

1. when your instructor tell you to strike in a different manner, or to defend in a slightly different angle, listen to him/her!
2. stop punching at your partner's head.  you'll break your hand if that was a real fight.
3. don't punch at their behinds either…it's sexual harassment…not an effective target.
4. there's a reason we say a proper punch should be executed with the top two knuckles.  Avoid that boxer's fracture.
5. wear your shin pads!

As always, stay safe!

Tzviel 'BK' Blankchtein

Masada Tactical