Haters Gonna Hate- Damian Ross, The Self Defense Company

I love the show Kitchen Nightmares. It's not Ramsay's over the top persona, or how he rips into people (if you get a chance to watch some of his earlier shows from the BBC he's a lot more mellow and tolerable) it's the combative attitude of the people trapped in a failing business.

He comes in, a successful, Michelin Star chef and Restauranteur and tells them exactly what they need to know and every time, without fail, they fight him every step of the way until eventually they break down and give in. When I watch the show with my kids we call it "When Adults Cry" and point out every time it happens. What else am I going to do? They're a little too young to play the drinking game...

The same holds true for the show Bar Rescue, Salon Take Over or most any other business make over show. The excuse for failure is ALWAYS something external: the economy, the competition, the neighborhood, etc. It's never something that the business owner does. Yet, upon further inspection it's always the product, service and atmosphere that are all lacking one way or another.

The process is always the same: expert comes in and tells them the truth, their product is awful, their place is filthy and how service is dreadful. The business owner goes through anger, denial, acceptance and finally follow through. Note that the ones that fail are usually too far gone or don't follow through. But the formula for success is always the same.

There's no place better to see this type of angered resistance than in the self defense world. People will fight me to the end, until one day they realize, I'm right because, like Chef Ramsay, I know the truth about self defense. I know what works. You can tell me that I don't own a black car all you want, but I know I drove up in one and it's parked outside. To me you sound like all those failed business owners on Kitchen Nightmares holding on to something that simply doesn't exist. I've been where you're standing and have the black belts to prove it. Eventually you will come around or quit or remain stubborn and cling to a method that really was not intended for life or death situations.

There's a reason that the majority of people who enroll in the SDTS are former or lifelong martial artists who have had real life, adult street fights. They understand the reality of what happens and have had enough insight to reflect on their training and identify the obvious problems.

The biggest issue with most systems is that they're only PART right. They have a few solid ideas and concepts and then fill it in with what ever they can think of to make it larger and more complicated than it needs to be. People get pissed when I tell them you don't need to spend all that time practicing and learning technique upon technique. It's like martial arts hoarding. They feel secure in the fact that they "know" a lot of stuff. But more is not better, it's just more and knowing a lot of things is A LOT worse than knowing a few things well.

"I fear not the man who has practiced 10000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10000 times." ~ Bruce Lee

In fact, instead of training in those complex moves, why don't you lift some weights and do some real cardio? After all, the over all tactical benefit of being physically fit will greatly out weigh the cool parlor trick you're trying to pawn off as self defense.

The road to self defense is simple...but not easy. How many black belts do I need to have to tell you that I know the f'ing difference? Sure, your style is different and your instructor knows the truth. I can't speak for every instructor on the planet, but after 30 plus years of this stuff I know that the vast majority of systems out there are WAY OFF! It only takes me about one lesson to determine whether there's anything worth while. To be honest, I can probably do it in 5 minutes, but I'm just being polite.

People hate me because I will tell you that all of the time and money you invested is pretty much wasted (unless you got yourself in shape and made some friends, than it's not completely useless). From a self defense perspective I can pretty much guarantee that what you're doing is useless. Sure a punch is a punch and a choke is a choke but do you really need to train 8 hours a week just to punch someone in the jaw?!?!? NO YOU DON'T and I don't care what your sensei says (I have more black belts than him, so there).

The funny thing about martial arts, self defense, yoga, pilates or any other subculture you can get your hands on is the people. More often than not, people seek these activities to fill a void in their lives. That explains why people loose their shit when you tell them they're wrong. They come back with the witty retort:
"1 billion Chinese people can't be wrong" my answer to that is, "Shit yes they can, explain communism?"

The truth is, most people are wrong (or right a small percentage of the time). You have to love Jack Nicholson's line in The Bucket List: “If life has taught me anything it’s that 95% of the people are always wrong.” Do you know who's right? The successful, happy people. Heck, they crucified Jesus so I guess I'm doing OK. (Did he just make a Jesus reference? Yes I did).

If you make a stand and no one reacts than either you don't matter or your stand doesn't matter. Hate me if you will, but for every one of you there's a free thinking. ass-kicking person right behind you who's done sipping the Kool-Aide and just wants to know the truth about self defense which can be summed up in a few words:

1. Inflict the maximum amount of damage to your target in the shortest amount of time possible.
2. Cause more injury than you receive.
3. Stay in good physical condition
4. Use whatever tools you have at your disposal to expedite points 1 and 2.

That's it. Hell, I don't care if you train in the SDTS or not. OK, that's a lie, I want you to train in it, that's kind of my point of this post. But, if you adopted that 4 point attitude you would quickly eliminate a lot of crap from your training.

Always seek to simplify and develop the skills you already have. Sure you can punch, but can you shatter a mans jaw in six places? OK, how about 8?

There's no such thing as overkill because you "can't over win"!
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.

Bullying 2011

This is the story of 13 year old, Philadelphia boy, Nadin Khoury who was routinely bullied by a seven, 17 year old boys. The abuse got so bad that he would come home from school missing shoes, money and showing signs of fighting. This continued for some time until one day it escalated to a horrific level. Fortunately one of the sadistic perpetrators took video and posted it on youtube. You can see the brutality of that video
HERE (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1iaYCNKLkVw)

This goes far beyond name calling, knocking your books over, stealing your lunch money or playing keep away with your hat. The abuse didn't start at this level. All bullying starts out small and escalates. Unfortunately the current wave of anti-bullying policy is increasing awareness but is falling short in effectiveness.

If you have kids in school you know there's a huge anti-bullying policy. Schools have adopted a zero tolerance position and in fact, here in the republic of New Jersey, students can opt to bypass the school administration all together and go straight to the police. This does lead to some false accusations, but all in all, it brings the issue of bullying to the forefront, which at the end of the day is a good thing.

With all awareness and access in place, why did Nadin refuse to seek help? Even after this video was posted on youtube, he was still reluctant to point fingers and name names. His for this was reason was simple, "I didn't want to look like a punk". Say what you will as an adult, but this is the reality of teenage life. Your image in front of your peers is everything. Getting a kid to "tell" above the age of 11 is almost a miracle. Even if they anonymously report a bullying incident, at some point they are going to have to own up to that accusation publicly.

Right now the only solution anti-bullying policy provides is "Report It." This seems to work on the grammar school level, but once they hit middle school it becomes less reasonable and kids will look to avoid the situation all together instead of looking like a "rat". Most kids will try to suck it up and we see the results of that in teen suicide and substance abuse.

Furthermore, a lot of instances of bullying happen off school grounds and after school hours. The "Report It" policy is all well and good, but what about when there's no one around and you're cornered. Just because he's a bully that doesn't mean he's stupid. He's going to wait until he won't get caught. This leaves you with the very real problem of escape and survival and the proverbial "Now What?!?!"

With the exception of California, schools offer no tactical solution and discourage kids from using any sort of physical force to escape. The reason why they don't teach defensive tactics: liability. Teaching kids to fight back and stand up for themselves puts them in an actionable position. But the truth is, kids need another option. Kids need to be empowered and know that there may come a time where running away is not an option.

Now, make no mistake, Nadin beating up 7 attackers who were significantly larger and more mature was not a possibility. But if the kid knew how to fight and escape he may have avoided this all together. If he knew how to stand up for himself, maybe those kids would have just moved on to someone else or stopped all together. One things for certain, he received a beating anyway and sometimes even if you're going down, take one or two of them with you (Life Lesson 107).

In the Family Safe Program (a little plug, but not too shameless) we teach kids how to identify the threat (which is easy) and escape (which is simple). We use methods from SDTS Module 5, modified for kids on much larger targets. The methods are designed to make the attacker pause just long enough for you to make your escape. If the kid can't run, at least he can do something and then make a break for it.

The stigma with teaching kids to fight is that we're teaching them to be violent. This thinking is naive and ignorant. Here's a news flash, people are already violent, it's part of human nature. The thing these putz's don't get is that people are good and people are bad. Bad people use violence to inflict their will on others, good people use violence to save themselves and others from being victimized by bad people. Learning to fight doesn't turn a person bad. If the person is truly bad they will figure out all sorts of ways to do bad things.

Standing up to bullies is a right of passage. We all have bullies in our lives. Some of us have stood up to them time and time again, while others have not had the courage to do so. The day you finally stand up for yourself is one of the greatest days of your life. I was in 4th grade and one of my friends was getting picked on by the local tough (who was a year older than us). I stood up for my buddy and did a little school yard ground and pound. Needless to say, he cried and went home and I felt like a rock star.

The safest way to learn to deal with bullies is as a child when the stakes are low and the risk of injury is minimal. When kids get older and stronger, the violence becomes more severe.

Another point to keep in mind is that both the victim and the bully learn their lesson. When a bully gets his nose bloodied he learns that people fight back and what he's doing is wrong. Current policy, depending on the severity of the harassment or assault may have the bully talked to or transferred. Which might not be such a great deterrent and cause the bully to become smarter about who and how he does it. While the bully knows he will get in trouble, he also knows that his target won't fight back. Bullies stop when they get resistance. A true bully picks on the weak because he knows there won't be a fight. Now that there's a fight, it changes everything.

The spirit of the anti-bullying laws are in the right place but like most laws, are only there to protect you after the fact. There will come a time when your child is off school grounds and faced with a potentially dangerous situation. Kids need the tools to stand up mentally and physically and grammar school is the time to do it. Like lion cubs, this age is meant for sparring and understanding all aspects of human nature. Children need to learn that it's not right to bully and be bullied and sometimes violence or more appropriately, use of force is necessary to stop unwanted action. As parents we want to protect our children, but in doing so we only prolong the inevitable.

I know people want to eradicate violence from the face of the earth. While this is a noble cause it's impossible. Instead you must arm the righteous with the tools to survive against the tyranny of others. The attempt to isolate our youth from the reality of physical violence is only creating a generation that is not equipped to handle those situations and in turn will become victimized mentally and physically. If kids can't learn how to deal with these issues at an early age they will no doubt have to face them when they are older and the stakes are much greater.

Side Note: In Nadin's case I have one question, Where was his mom?!?! Her kid's coming home missing shoes, bruises and finally when she sees the video on youtube she "urged him to go to the police." I don't know about you, but where I'm from no self respecting black woman is going to let her child take a beating like that. The women that I know would go down to that school and whoop some 17 year old ass! Needless to say, parents need to play an active role and assume some responsibility.

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.

Garter Snakes and Cobras

(Title Courtesy of SDC Instructor Tom Powers)

If I asked you to pick up a garter snake, unless you had a fear of snakes, you would most likely walk up to it and simply pick it up. You know the snake is harmless and even though it may bite, it won't do any real damage. But then I asked you to pick up a king cobra, you would probably look at me like I'm out of my mind.

The same holds true for defensive tactics. Most methods of martial arts and self defense work is because the world is mostly filled with garter snakes. They're somewhat harmless to mildly dangerous people who may look scary to someone who doesn't know the difference between a copperhead and a corn snake but at the end of the day, would rather back off than withstand any physical pain. They're the local bully at the bar, the gym tough guy or the junkie trying to get over on you. They chest bump you on line or take your parking spot. They're the person who gets a little froggy, but will back down if properly threatened or receive a little pain. The garter snake can be handled easily. Against a garter snake, a lot of martial arts, verbal judo and self defense methods will work. This is why martial arts still survive. Most people simply don't want to fight if they think they're going to endure injury, embarrassment or legal ramifications. While most people talk about fighting, they'll avoid it when push comes to punch. And give the old "He's not worth it" line.

Martial arts train you for garter snakes and against a garter snake a lot of what you're doing will work. Personally, I don't give a shit about garter snakes, I train for king cobras.

A king cobra is that 1% of society that doesn't give a damn about me, my life or my family. He doesn't care about the consequences of his actions. He's experienced in using violence to get what he wants. He's an apex predator and will use whatever means necessary. He's cunning, knows all the angles and will have you boxed in as soon as you as you give him the chance. You can feel his presence when he walks into the room. He cannot be ignored.

I train for that guy and that guy alone because I know if I focus on the king cobra, I can handle the garter snakes with ease. Compared to a cobra, the garter snake is a rubber stick. Most people would just as soon avoid the king cobra all together. Wise move, but what if you can't? What if the cobra stands between you and survival?

If you're not training to deal with cobras you're already admitting defeat and submission. You are saying that you will eventually roll over at the first sign of a 100% certified bad ass. And if you're willing to accept that defeat, than good luck to you, I will continue to talk to the people who prepare for the worst.

If you haven't been pitted against a true sociopath predator...it's one of those, if I have to explain you wouldn't understand. I have dealt with cobras and am better for it. It's funny, I've come in contact with them more through my personal life than my professional. When I had my bike shop we did some dealings with some outlaw bikers and attended their functions. Needless to say, most went without incident while a few did not. God bless my wife for dealing with me...

There's nothing better than standing up for what you believe in and being able to protect the people you love. It's like the day you stood up to the bully (only multiplied by 10!). Remember how you felt inside? Like all was right in the world and you could do know wrong. Standing up for yourself against true danger is a feeling every man, woman and child should know. It's a feeling of real self worth and there is nothing like it in the world.

Chances are you'll go through life and only play with garter snakes. I truly wish that for everyone. Unfortunately, the king cobras are out there and you don't know if you have a king cobra or a garter snake until it's too late.

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.

The Start of Something Fantastic

This past summer the Self Defense Company's Intensive Training Summit marked the start of something incredible. It served as the blueprint for next year's event as well as the years to come. After only 3 years I have been fortunate enough to have shared time with some fantastic people and I have been honored that they have chosen to represent the Self Defense Company and the Self Defense Training System over all others. If you attend next year's summit, you'll have the opportunity to meet these people.

This week we released the first Training Summit Video. I have to credit SDC Instructor Tom Powers for suggesting I put it on video and make it available. Normally I would rather put more of a produced piece together instead of the "run and gun" format of a typical seminar video. But I'm glad I did. It enables people to reap the benefits of the summit and makes it more accessible. I you didn't have the time and opportunity to attend the live event, now you can at least be included.

The Training Summit Video managed to capture the spirit of the event. The comradery, the intensity and the diversity of the group set the benchmark high for years to come. We were lucky enough to have SDC Instructor from Virgina Beach, Dennis Daroczy a former SEAL, Chopper Pilot and firearms expert give his presentation on Handguns. We also had SDC Instructors Ruben Bean and Joe Landry demonstrate training methods they developed for the SDTS. I was able to implement new partner and group training drills and saw success with both new an experienced SDTS practitioners.

Next year along with myself and Micheal Archangel, we'll have formal presentations from Level 4 Instructors Darren Poesel, Reuben Bean, Joe Landry, Dennis Daroczy as well as life long friend and training partner Pete Barry (Pete's the primary guy in the videos and the one who kicks my butt on the iFightback app).

For now, you can have the 4 set DVD package for $87.00 on the www.sdctraining.com site. We only made 1,000 and I think we're already down to 700 and something. The running time on the video set is almost 8 hours long and to tell you the truth, it could have been 20 hours but the editor and the producer told me I would be nuts to try to release it. However, they did a great job in capturing the core material of the Training Summit.

Next year we're working with a local college to provide housing and meals. The goal is to lower the cost of the overall experience dramatically. Instead of paying a couple of hundred per night in a hotel, plus meals, we'll cut that cost in half for you. As soon as I have the details, I will let you know. In the meantime, please enjoy the Training Summit DVD Set and I hope to meet you next year.

Oh and by the way, if you do get the DVD set and wish to attend next year, there's a coupon code on the DVD Box you can use to get the full $87 off of your registration for 2012.

Enjoy your Halloween and until next time...
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.

What's the Best Stance for a Street Fight? - Damian Ross, The Self Defense Company

Schoolyard fights start in fighting stances, real fights are over before you know it.

When I started Tae Kwon Do as a teenager, I would get into my fighting stance ready to kick ass and take names. Later I would work jobs based on my martial arts training. This started with crappy gigs in places most people would normally avoid. The violence I witnessed during this time barely resembled anything I prepared for in training.

The problem was my martial arts training consisted of sparring and self defense. Sparring had me face my opponent on an equal, controlled playing field. Self defense taught me to wait to be attacked and then defend myself. Both of these behaviors have no place in the real world. Nothing ever happened like the way I was told it was going to happen. People can be ruthless, unforgiving and do or say whatever it takes to impose their will on you. One minute you think a situation is over, the next a bottle is getting smashed over your head.

The few fights where guys took a fighting stance out in the parking lot or when they just started pushing each other usually didn't end up with any serious injury. The worst assaults happened when two guys (or girls) had a beef, until one of them assured the other he didn't have a problem any longer. After you thought it was over, the one who backed off would just turn around and knock the other one out. Or they waited until they left and ambushed them in the parking lot. These are the people who concern me. The ones you didn't see coming. They're the most violent and have no apparent regard for human life.

I observed that good street fighters actually don't "fight" at all. They convince you that everything is OK and then attack you when you're relaxed. It could be at that moment or hours later. They could use their hands, a weapon or their friends, depending on how tough they think you are and how much they needed to impose their will on you. These little details were left out of my martial arts training.

In class we either sparred out of a fighting stance in sparring or we practiced self defense. Self defense training was when you're given a series of attacks that you and your partner practice on each other. You stood there waiting to be attacked, when your partner attacked, you did the prescribed self defense. Even when we ramped it up and practiced against multiple attackers it worked. The problem was in the real world it never happened that way. You were never just attacked with a single technique and given time to react. The bad guy always came with a series of attacks and in ways never imagined. In life, the guy who attacked first won. That never happened that way in class. It was always the "never throw the first punch" mentality. While this may work in elementary school, it's an extremely naive way to deal with adult violence.

It quickly dawned on me that what I was learning in class was fun, but not exactly what worked and outside the dojo. It wasn't until I started training in the SDTS that I actually learned how to start attacking from a non-threatening position. I discovered how to take advantage of position, distance, balance and momentum. I trained for proactive and reactive self defense. I knew how to react with non-specific gross motor techniques.

The funny thing is I was kind of doing these things already, but I didn't realize it until I discovered the SDTS and reflected on my experience. I realized how my martial arts and training for self defense in the SDTS were as different as NASCAR racing is to NHRA drag racing.

Sure they're both cars and they both will get you down the track, but I wouldn't want to race a NASCAR on a drag strip and I sure as heck wouldn't want to race a dragster on the NASCAR circuit. Yet, that's what I was doing with my martial arts.
Martial arts is like NASCAR where cars are meant to meet on equal ground where the skill of the driver is tested over longer periods of time. Self defense is like a drag race: do whatever you can as fast as you can to finish first. Start first, finish first. Sparring in the street might get you a few wins, until you come up against a dragster.

Assuming a fighting stance does more harm than good. First it lets the guy your fighting know that you have some knowledge and you're willing to fight. This is going to cause him to do one or all of three things. Get you to relax, tell you there's not a problem and then when your guard is down, sucker punch you. He could get a weapon or even some friends to give him a hand. Listen, a street fighter isn't looking for a fair fight, he's just looking for a win and he will do anything he can to get the job done. If you want to compete with that you better start playing his game.

Another thing a stance does is let every witness around you know you're willing to fight. Heck, months later at trial, it can be turned around to make it seem like you started the fight. There are a lot of issues surrounding defending yourself, one of them is legal. You might as well train in a way that will put you in the best light legally and tactically.

Smoke him out.
We have a rule in the SDTS, keep him far enough away so that if he tries to hit you, he has to shift his weight. A bad guy is going to want to close the distance on you. Once you establish the distance and he crosses it, you know his true intentions. Now is the time you escape or attack, the choice is yours.

Take a "Non-Fighting" Stance
Learn to fight out of a talking position or what we call in the SDTS the "Interview Stance". There are 4 versions of this depending on your distance to target. They're meant to present a non-threatening posture to your target. This will set your target at ease and show the world you're not looking for a fight. Listen, I'm not in the "talk tough" game. If a guy isn't a real dangerous person you're probably going to walk away without incident, so there's no sense in giving him something to defend his ego over. I'm concerned with the 1% of the world who's not going to react to sabre rattling. That's the guy I need to take by surprise and end it before it starts. No need to let him know I have a clue about fighting.

If you're going to go, go, if you're not going to go, don't go.
Once you make the decision to attack it's an all or nothing proposition. Practice explosive gross motor combinations to non-specific, target rich areas. This will enable you to get the drop on him and take advantage of your body's natural fight or flight response. Always train in multiple combination of 3 to 6 or more. Train the techniques as fast and as hard as you can. Remember to take ground, stomp your feet and move forward. Stop when there is no longer a threat.

Street fights are not sparring matches where two guys are pitted against each other until one gives up or is even knocked out. Real fights are assaults, rapes and attempted homicides. Watching an actual assault will get you sick to your stomach (which is a natural reaction of sane people). Just be prepared for what's out there. There are people who will do anything to impose their will on you. You may live a life and never run into one, but all it takes is one wrong turn, one bad break and you're in a tough situation.

Martial arts, wrestling and other sports instilled in me a great work ethic, sense of fair play and honor. This is how I live my life, but not how I defend it.

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.

How to Defeat Multiple Attackers- Damian Ross, The Self Defense Company

How do you defeat multiple attackers? One at a time.

There's a new series on the National Geographic Channel called Brain Games and anyone who is into defensive tactics needs to watch this. Especially the episode that focuses on attention and multitasking. In one segment they put a chronic multitasker through a series of tests like driving a car through an obstacle course while talking on a hands free cell phone. The results were less than spectacular. It was impossible for the subject to talk and drive a car at the same time. What they proved was when talking on the phone, you focus on the conversation NOT you're driving. You may be looking at the road, but you're not processing that information, your just staring at it. It's funny, how many times have you turned down the radio when you're trying to find an address? That's because in order to concentrate you need devote complete attention to the task at hand. The truth is we're not multitaskers at all it's impossible to focus on two things at once. What we really are is serial processors. We can process things one at a time in rapid succession. The best we can hope for is to shift our attention from one thing to another very quickly. It may appear like we're doing multiple things at the same but we're only going back and forth between tasks. It's like the guy spinning plates, you just dart from one to the other trying to keep them all in the air.

How this relates to self defense is that when you're under stress, this inability to multitask becomes intensified to the point that you are only able to do one thing at a time. Your ability to shift attention drops as does your ability to perform multiple movements.

Take a multiple attacker scenario as seen in many martial arts demonstrations. This is where you see the defender standing in the middle of a group of attackers. While he's still fighting the one in front of him he will engage another attacker. While in practice, in the safety of the training hall this looks like it would work, it's misleading. If you pay close attention, he really can only handle one attack at a time. The problem is that he is trained to stand in the middle and wait to be attacked. This is what's going to get him killed (aside from what he's trying to do). You are lead to believe based on the structure of this drill that you will be able to stand there and take on all comers.

The problem is obvious, if everyone decided to attack at once you would be bum-rushed and crushed.

You can only take care of what's right in front of you. The thought of shifting your attention in mid technique to another attacker, while maintaining the same level of effectiveness over two attackers is just not going to happen. Your best bet is to eliminate the threat right in front of you as fast as possible and keep moving in a direction of escape. Squaring off against multiple threats is ill advised and foolish. When everything else is equal and the threat is 1 1/2 times your forces you will most likely lose.

Years ago we practiced keeping one person in front and using that person as a shield to fend off the others. The best you could do in this situation is grab the person closest to you and watch the others behind him using the person in your grasp and keep them in between you and the next threat. In the dojo, it looked like it worked (when there were only two attackers) and no one was really trying to beat me senseless. But as soon as the attackers turned up the juice, you were forced to eliminate them one at a time as fast as possible. The other tactic of shielding only wasted time and burned a lot of valuable energy. Which brings us to our point.

The way you defeat multiple attackers is the same way you defeat a single attacker: as fast as you can. Repeat the process as needed.

You need to assume that every situation is a multiple attacker scenario. You can't see who's with your primary threat, he may have friends blending into the crowd or hiding near by. Plus, you'll be completely focused on the person standing in front of you to even scan the area. The only way to account for multiple threats is through distance and movement. Engage the initial threat, keep moving forward and continue to steam roll over whatever pops up in front of you. Drive, attack and move. By moving you'll create distance between you and what you don't see. You don't know where they are, but you can control where you are. The only way to make sure you will do this under stress is to incorporate that movement in your training.

Can you train to engage multiple attackers like they do in the movies? The Brain Geeks say it's impossible. Yet people continue to force feed themselves something that goes against their body's natural programming. The obvious problem is that you're only going to find out if your training works when you're actually attacked. If you want to risk your neck on someone's best guess, have at it. I'll stick with science and nature.

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.

Ridiculous Attacks- Damian Ross, The Self Defense Company

People spend countless hours training for scenarios that will never, or could ever happen. Yet masters all over the globe teach them without any thought to what they are actually to the content or context of the attack itself. It's mindlessly regurgitated techniques in "because I said so" fashion. Well it's time to seriously take a look at what you are doing and ask your self "Am I being ridiculous?"

There are three factors that make an attack ridiculous, the way it's practiced, the attack itself and the circumstances around the attack. The video gives an example of each of these with the wrist grab, the "stiff arm knife" and the POW execution.

The wrist grab is an ever popular attack and if you walk into any self defense seminar or martial arts school you will most likely be placed in this deadly hold.

Why do we practice it?
You practice this attack because like most other attacks, it's left over from Judo's Goshinjutsu. In the 1900's Judo developed a series of self defense techniques and called it Goshinjutsu. Yes JUDO (doesn't sound so sexy anymore does it?) No other martial art prior to this used this term, no matter what your sensei says. After the introduction of Goshijutsu, every style of martial art from Tae Kwon Do to Brazilian Jiujitsu, took liberally from it and of course put their own twist on it. To be honest, the original Goshinjustsu left a lot to be desired. It was based on outdated Japanese Jujutsu techniques. Seen here:

Part 2 is here:


Look familiar? I want to go on record and say that its not all rubbish, there's some good stuff in there if you know what to look for and I could probably spend hours talking about it. Truth be told, I love this for what it is but it's confusing and misleading for direct translation to self defense. More to the point of this post, you have probably seen a lot of these techniques or variations of them in your local school. Even the formula of strike, joint lock and control is taken from Judo's Goshinjutsu.

Would a wrist grab even happen?
Sure, if you were going to be pulled and dragged or even just pinned and distracted while you were assaulted. You even have the drunk brother in law situation. In any case, the actual grab on the wrist is not life threatening and in reality, you shouldn't even pay attention to it. Your brother-in-law can be pushed, yelled at and you can pull your arm away, all others need to be hit repeatedly and very hard I might add.

Attacks like the "stiff arm knife", the "stiff arm Frankenstein front and rear chokes" and collar grab series are all pretty useless.

Why do you practice these attacks?
Because anything works against someone when their arms are extended. All joint locks, grabs, holds and releases work. Unfortunately, you do not get attacked like this, EVER.

Would this attack happen?
Yes, but not like it's practiced in most systems. During mugs like these your attacker will pull you close to intimidate you. He will also want to conceal what's happening from the rest of the world. In the case of a knife mug from the rear, its obvious that he's trying to get something from you and doesn't want to kill you yet. So he's going to keep you close and talk to you to keep you calm and under control. In order to do this he needs you to feel his breath and make it seem like there's no one else in the world.

Now before you start handing him your wallet, keep in mind, he may want to move you and in that case you're most likely going to die, be rapped or worse. The reason a criminal wants to move you is because they want to do something to you that they can't do there. Believe it or not, some people are just sick and twisted and not just interested in money.

The POW- Gangsta assassination defense. A favorite among white suburbanite self defense enthusiasts. This is the one where the defender is on his knees and the bad guy puts the gun to the back of his head and right when he's about to blow his brains out, the good guy spins into action and takes the bad guy out without even harming him.

Why do people practice it?
I guess the reason why people practice this is for self confidence. You think of the worst case scenario and you put yourself there. The thinking is if I can get out of this, I can get out of anything.

Would this situation really happen?
Sure, anything can happen. Maybe your drug deal went bad or you couldn't pay the vig. Perhaps you're Jason Bourne, you have a flash drive with the launch codes inserted in your rectum and you need to get it to the embassy, heck even the more realistic scenario of a home invasion gone bad is still a stretch. Let's just say a lot has to happen before you get to this point. Hopefully you would have done something along the way, but in case you didn't and you're kneeling with your hands behind your head confidently waiting for your moment to pounce, there are a few things you should know.

First, if he's going to pull the trigger on you, he's not going to press it against your head (unless it's a revolver), the slide on a semi-auto needs to, well a...slide, no slide = no bang, bang. All it takes is 8 pounds of pressure to lock a gun up. In other words, he can't fire when it's pressed up against your skull.

Second, there's a little matter, brain matter that is. When your melon is pierced with the bullet it will spray and splatter. No self respecting criminal is going to get your gray stuff all over his Dolce and Gabannas. Chances are he'll be a foot or more away when he actually puts a "cap in your ass", is that how the kids say it?

Finally there's the matter of mobility. How long have you been kneeling? Try getting in that position for five minutes and "jumping" into action. I assure you, it will not be pretty.

In short, if you are going to train for this situation make sure your attacker is a foot away and try to defend yourself after sitting there for 5 minutes. Yep, that's what I thought. Like my Judo instructor said about being choked, "best defense is not to be there."

Time is valuable. I don't know about you but I seem to have less and less of it. It's hard enough to get in proper training let alone wasting time with situations that will never happen. If you only have so much time, wouldn't it be better to focus your efforts on what will most likely impact your life? Its more likely you will be approached while getting into your car or apartment than be executed gangland style. Its probably more likely you will have to hit someone than apply a rear naked choke. If you only have a handful of hours to train, prioritize your training, don't glamorize it.

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.