IMO:
the best skill you can have for self defence is awareness, to be aware of your surroundings and 'who' is near you.
You get one bloke giving you grief right in you face, you defend yourself against him, while his mate(s) who you hadn't noticed kick the shit outer you.
I did I.T.F Taekwon-do for many years - and if I knew what I know now - I'd never do it, it's crap, but as a sport for scoring points it's fine, want to do something with flashy kicks, it's fine. To defend yourself you don't have to kick any higher than the knee joint, take some ones knee out, they aint going anywhere fast!
Aikido's great, but no good for guys with muscles, when you've spent years building your muscles up, it's very hard not use them to grab someone and put them down, Aikido's all about using your opponents strength and aggression against them, then you throw them into the ground! some of the wrist and arm locks are really quite nasty.. and believe me, a lot of you big fellers wouldn't last too long with some one who's proficient at Aikido.
Now.... Muay Thai, there's something if you want to defend yourself, others may disagree - it's nasty, you'll learn how to take a few punches. Most of their kick are low chopping kicks to the thigh area (Knees for self defence.) + boxing techniques + clinching work + knee's to the body and head.
The only problem with any kind of grappling or wrestling in a street situation is that when you're on the floor you're just too vulnerable to further attack...
..sprinting... there's a good form of self defence..... |