So how did a guy like me get hooked into a show like that? Well since January is "Self Defense" month. Yep, I forget it is every year (and I'm in the business) and it seems Natalie and the good Dr. are the only ones really doing anything about it. They elected to open their show and "let me in."
I have to say, it went well and I enjoyed the interview because they presented two perspectives, Natalie is a professional woman with no real self defense training other than what she has been exposed to by mainstream media and Dr. Rey who is an avid martial artist. When he had his Dr. 90210 show on CBS, he was a yellow belt in TKD, now several years later, he's a Black Belt in BJJ. Needless to say he has more martial arts experience than a lot of the general population.
The fantastic part of the interview was that they asked specific questions and really didn't let me off with a standard answer, they has real concerns. But both of them had the same misconceptions of people with their respective experiences in the world.
As an average citizen with a realization that there's a need for self defense training but doesn't have the time, or patience to go about it because she feels there is a long term commitment associated with it and then there's Dr. Rey who looks at each situation as if it were a sparring match. Both had some misconceptions fostered by the information they have been given over the course of a lifetime. Information that will cost them serious harm or worse.
Misconception 1: You have to defend yourself unarmed.
Most people feel that they will be facing an enemy unarmed, while their enemy has a knife, gun, club, etc. While we train for worst case scenarios, most martial arts programs spend little time on offensive weapons training. The problem this creates is that people don't think to arm themselves before an attack. Listen, you never bring a knife to a gun fight and you never go out of the house with an ace up your sleeve. Like we show you in the SDTS, that "ace" could be anything from a screw driver to a roll of quarters. But you should have and edge, the bad guy will. Even bad-asses like myself carry pepper spray. Don't you think that if I'm out with my family and some idiot tries to jack me, I'm not going to juice him and get the hell out of dodge? seriously, it's about winning and surviving at all costs, not style.
Misconception 2: You have to stick around.
Dr. Rey talked about going to a crappy part of town to fill up his car late at night. Well, if you know you do this and it puts you in danger, why do it? Change your habit and go someplace else. Some people feel that they have to "stand their ground" when in reality you want to pick your own battles and avoid exposure if you can help it. Why create a situation when it can be avoided. If you know that there will be trouble some place, change your routine and lower your risk.
Misconception 3: If I stand close to him, he can't punch or kick me.
Yes, but he can stab the shit out of you. Martial artists tend to put everything on their terms that's because they are trained to think one way, in terms of all they know. If you wrestled everyday, you would want to break everything down to a wrestling match.
Listen, in the SDTS we assume that every one is armed, had friends and is capable of injuring you. To that point, letting someone get close to you is a HUGE mistake. It doesn't matter how many belts you have, at that distance all the bad guy can just start stabbing you or one of his buddies can cold cock you. Even if it is just mano y mano, the first punch isn't a concern a good street fighter will attack first with a barrage of punches.
You should do the same.
In the SDTS we establish distance. The distance is far enough away so he has to shift his weight in order to attack me. This way you can react on the shift of his weight and then shift the momentum in your favor.
We all have a notion of FAIR PLAY. Martial arts helps perpetuate this notion. It's not an intentional fault of the martial artist since martial arts were designed to foster good sportsmanship and community. They're not designed to with a "WIN AT ALL COSTS, FAIR OR FOUL" mentality.
That's where we come in. "Hit with hate, hit to hurt". Look, the bad guys don't care, if you have something they want, they'll take it. There are only three things bad guys care about: getting caught, getting identified and getting hurt. It's up to you to create the largest opportunity of all three.
To listen to the show today at 5pm Eastern time go to:
http://www.voiceamerica.com/channel/246/voiceamerica-variety
To listen to the recording go to:
http://www.voiceamerica.com/episode/58684/resolve-to-protect-yourself-against-attack-with-damian-ross-most-lethal-self-defense-in-the-world
Train Honestly,
Damian Ross, CEO The Self Defense Company
Damian Ross is CEO of the Self Defense Company and developer of The Self Defense Training System, the most lethal and effective self defense system in the world, The Guardian Defensive Tactics Police Combatives Program, 60 minute Self Defense and the Family Safe Program. Mr. Ross also founded the Self Defense Instructor Program that helps people develop their self defense careers from the ground up. Mr. Ross is originally from Ridgewood, NJ where he was a High School Hall of Fame Athlete in football and wrestling as well as a varsity wrestling coach. He then went on to Lehigh University where he was a varsity wrestler and football player. Mr. Ross has 3 black belts, 4th Degree in Tekkenryu Jujutsu, 2nd Degree in Judo, 2nd Degree in Tae Kwon Do. In addition to his martial arts experience, Mr; Ross spent 8 years in the professional security and personal protection business. He is internationally recognized as one of the foremost authorities in reality based self defense.
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