(it's my day off - last thread
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For reasons I won't go into I became obsessed with self-protection, aka self defence. It took me a long time to realize that most of the promises of marital arts teachers regarding self-protection was bullshit.
And it wasn't until I came across Marc Macyoung that I realized awareness, avoidance and non-verbal communication is the best form of self-protection, and any physical skills are secondary. But that's not what the majority of marital arts schools teach, most treat self-protection as a primarily physical skill.
What I know now is that relaxed awareness, good posture and being comfortable with yourself - is a large part of self-protection.
Like Richard Grannon says psychological state transmits - if you aren't overtly aggressive, or fearful 'predators' won't tend to feel a psychological attraction to you.
Marc Macyoung on the foundation of self-protection
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6oRVpyD0esQSelf protection and body language (great video)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQYEaeQAyIMAt the cash machine
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fpEQICb-9SgThe only downside to the above, is that you can't 'fake' being comfortable with yourself, having good posture and relaxed awareness. It requires training.
I remember a story from a renowned self protection instructor called Dennis Jones (who I can attest, hits fucking hard). He once trained a guy who was being bullied to be a capable fighter. But when an opportunity came to 'assert his boundaries' to the bully outside a nightclub where Dennis was working the guy became incredibly scared and reverted to his meek state.
Dennis actually stated that he believed getting the guy to meditate on life and death would have been more benefit to the guy than learning how to fight well - because his mind was filled with fear, and that's what contributed him to being a victim of bullying.
He realized after that the importance of training a person's heart and mind in regards to self-protection. The majority of his articles and videos talk about character as a vital aspect of self-protection.