Self-Defense - 3 necessary Elements of a Good Self-Defense Stance

Almost everyone is well-known with the idea of the martial arts or self-defense stance. Every style or school of self-defense seems to have it's own unique forms or stances. Some are said to be derived from the movements and natural defenses of animals, while others seem to have been created at the whim of the system's creator.

Learning a martial art for aesthetic reasons, as in the case of those who simply like anything Japanese, Chinese, or for health and fitness motivations is great. But, if you're taking up the study of the martial arts or enrolling in a self-defense procedure for the purposes of developing the quality to protect yourself in a real-life street fighting situation, you must be very primary of all that you are being taught.

Self Defense

And, one of the first lessons you will encounter after joining a class, is the idea of the stance or defensive positioning. In the martial art of ninjutsu, also referred to as budo-taijutsu, the word used to refer to these stances or "positions of safety," is kamae (pronounced "come-eye"). While other styles of martial arts, like Aikido (pronounced "eye-key-doe" - not "a-kee-doe") use the same term, most karate-based martial systems use the word dachi (pronounced "dah-chee").

Self-Defense - 3 necessary Elements of a Good Self-Defense Stance

Regardless of the word used, or the way the body is formed to make each posture, you must keep in mind that when the law was being developed, the focus was on self-preservation - not seeing "cool." With that in mind, you must make sure that each stance or kamae that you're being taught and spending so much time learning, has 3 primary elements. These elements, or key points, vary with the intended use of the posture, but they are there in every good, solid, and efficient stance.

If all three elements are not present in any given self-defense stance, you either need to get clarification as to why, ask what's missing from your insight of it, or throw it away!

The 3 primary Elements of An efficient Self-Defense Stance

Most martial arts and self-defense systems have, at their foundation, a basic protective posture. Again, this stance can have many forms agreeing to the system, but it should have three qualities if you are to be able to trust using it in a life-saving, self-defense encounter with a real attacker bent on doing serious damage.

These 3 primary elements are:

1) generate and control the length in the middle of yourself and your attacker. The key to remember here is:

"If you control the distance, you control the fight."

2) The lead arm creates a shield or wall in the middle of you and your assailant. The primary strategic point here is that:

"If he can't hit you, he can't hurt you."

3) Blades (profiles, or turns) the body sideways to the attacker. The key idea here is:

"If he can't hurt you, he can't beat you."

Your quality to control these three vital, strategic elements with your body positioning...

The length in the middle of you and your opponent

Keeping your weapons "between" you and your attacker, and...

Controlling the placement of your own targets relative to your attacker's weapons

...will settle how much energy, effort, and attentiveness you'll have to put into your own self-defense.

So, remember this uncomplicated slogan that I learned from one of my own teachers:

"If he can't hit you, he can't hurt you. And, if he can't hurt you, he can't beat you."

This is a great way to remember the 3 key elements that make up a good self-defense stance. And remember, laying a allowable foundation for mastery is like construction a house. Without it, nothing else will stand up for very long. And the last thing you want, either house or self-defense training, is for all to come tumbling down when the storm comes!

Self-Defense - 3 necessary Elements of a Good Self-Defense Stance