I always stress that there are three components to reality based self-defense: an aggressive mindset, simple techniques that can be performed under stress and the one people always pretend not to hear: physical fitness. It is no coincidence that the best-selling martial arts and self-defense books and DVD’s are those that detail secret techniques, such as lethal blows and pressure points that require little training and no physical effort or exertion. As long as you read the book, watch the DVD etc, you don’t need to worry about what you eat or whether you ever step out on to the mats to train. Of course, if you fall into this category (Non-practitioner with books and DVD sets) be sure that you post all of your opinions and thoughts regarding self-defense and martial arts on some forum using the name, “UrbanWarrior” or “StreetNinja” etc. Believe me the world desperately needs to hear what you have to say.

Firstly let me caveat this blog post by saying, we could all be fitter, we could all be stronger etc. and anyone who steps out on to the mats or gym floor regardless of their current physical condition has my respect. Too many people, and I’m guilty of this myself, live off past fitness glories e.g. “you should have seen me when…..” Mine and your(s) past physical condition have no relevance currently or historically. Where we are now is what counts, and if we have to improve – and we all do – then that’s where our collective heads should be.

One of the great things the U.S. Market did when it started promoting Krav Maga was to emphasize the importance of fitness in self-defense. Unfortunately at the same time much of the fighting and self-defense skills were lost at the expense of promoting the fitness and workout component of Krav Maga e.g. doing 50 push-ups followed by 50 punches doesn’t really improve punching ability, just the ability to do push-ups followed by punching. Much of what is promoted as Krav Maga in the US would in Israel be defined as “Cosher Kravi” i.e. Combat Fitness.

I often couple mental aggressiveness and physical fitness. If you give up or stop when performing a physical activity, can you be sure you won’t do the same when confronting and dealing with a physical aggressor? If you grimace and show exhaustion when made to train with physical intensity, will you be able to prevent yourself from showing or demonstrating fear? Giving over to your emotional state and being an open book is something to avoid. Whatever hurts is never relieved by exhibiting the fact to those around; train to show no emotion when you’re tired and you’re learning a skill that can be transferred to other emotional states as well.

Fitness is important in a street-fight because once the adrenaline has gone that’s all you will have left. Although most physical confrontations last under 10 seconds, the entire incident takes much longer. The majority of violent situations will involve threat identification a period of verbal aggression etc before erupting into a full blown physical assault. From the moment of identification, the adrenal system is in action. The adrenal system may well give you a 20 second shot of super-human energy but if 15 of that has been taken up as part of a verbal confrontation, you’ll have only 5 seconds worth left. If your aggressor has only just started to get fully adrenalized at this point, you’ll be working from the back foot.

Next time you step out on to the mats understand that this is an opportunity that has been given you so that you can improve both your fitness and emotional control. Whatever your fatigue level don’t let anyone else know, if you want to have an easy session – without pushing yourself – don’t. The time on the mats is yours and you shouldn’t waste it. Train with energy and enthusiasm: every time you hit a pad, hit it with everything as if your life depended on it. Next time you feel you physically can’t go on, do one more punch, kick or repetition, then another, then another etc all the time without letting on your pain.
The ability to appear indomitable and un-fatigued is enough to make 99.9% of aggressors mentally crumble.