I decided to start a self defense of the week series. There are many great self defense techniques out there, and equally as many terrible ones.

Over the years I have had many self defense techniques presented to me with the question “Would this actually work?” The answer is almost always, maybe depending on the situation. As a result I decided it would be a good idea to do a full review of many of the techniques taught within the systems I have learned.

No self defense technique is ever full proof. Things can change depending on your surroundings, size differences, athletic ability, and just plain luck. My personal definition of a good self defense technique is one that does not need much change to apply to a variety of situations. The more you have to change the technique to fit the situation, the weaker it is as it simply will not work in multiple instances.

This upcoming series will pick a technique and explain how it is supposed to be applied, common mistakes, what could go wrong, and some simple modifications that can make the technique more effective.