Fighting, and self defence, is as much a psychological matter as a physical one.
When defending yourself in, say, an attack on the street, what are your aims?
This may seem like an odd question with an obvious answer, but believe it or not this varies from person to person.
1. INTENTION
In order to effectively defend yourself you have GOT to mean it, and want to fight.
This does not mean picking a fight and assailing an innocent person. It means switching on mentally, engaging your attacker and INTENDING to inflict pain on them.
The activity of passively putting your hands up and trying to weather an attack is not an effective strategy against an aggressive attacker. If you do this you’re likely to be overwhelmed and beaten in the fight.
2. TRAINING
Train with intention, or in other words practice techniques as though they are being used for real.
Don’t allow your mind to wander; don’t just go through the motions.
When you are punching pads, for example, have the intention to punch THROUGH and damage those pads.
3. BELIEF
Training in this way will give you that extra confidence as you know you really are training for a real fight.
This self-belief can be the key to sticking a fight out to the end.
With this you’re able to say, “I may get hit but I will keep going”.