Martial Arts: Are You Learning To Get Your Arm Battered In A Real Fight Or Street Attack?

When it comes to protecting our targets against an opponent's attacks, especially striking attacks, a martial art student focusing on real-world\effective self protection must be careful that you're not overlooking one. While this particular target may be practically invisible to most attackers, not to mention martial arts students and teachers, facing a skilled fighter who knows how to exploit this weakness can have you on the losing end with a broken arm, if not more, when everything is said and doneit's all over.

What is this target?

And how can an attacker get to it and you end up with a broken arm, or close to it, as a bare minimum?

Before I answer that question, let me ask you one.

Have you ever seen a boxer's stance? Have you ever watched boxers move around in a ring?

I'm sure you have.

Now, where are their arms?

Up. Right?

And they do it for cover - to guard their heads and faces from being pummeled by their opponent's fists, right?

Of course.

Here's another question.

Have you ever seen pictures or film footage of one of the old-style boxers? You know, like Joe Lewis, or even those before his time? Have you ever seen how boxers stood back then, or positioned their arms...before boxing gloves came along?

If you haven't, you really owe it to yourself to take a look so you can understand what I'm getting at. Especially if you're committed to the idea of being able to defend yourself against an assailant who's intent on beating, breaking, or even killing you.

To get to the point, I'll tell you a little about the old school, bare-fisted fighters. Even those who fought with gloves, didn't have the kind of padding that you see today. So, they held their arms and fists in very different positions than modern boxers.

Why?

Because they knew that holding your arms up and out in front of your attacker's fists, would get them beaten. They also knew that if their arms were hit while in this position, that they also stood the chance of punching themselves in the face with their own knuckles!

What does this have to do with martial artists learning self-defense. Simple. Because many programs are teaching their students to fight or defend themselves with their arms in this modern boxer position.

"So," you might be saying, "what's the problem?"

The problem is that not knowing why something is done, or why it works in one context, can lead you to believe that it works all the time. And, especially when we're talking about self-protection and not-dying at the hands of some crazy maniac, this is certainly important.

The reason that modern boxers can position their arms the way they do is precisely because of their gloves. Sport martial artists fighting in tournaments can get away with this too. It's because the opponent's knuckles are covered with padding that keeps your arms from getting damaged. So, these fighters never go for the arms as a target. They know that it's useless.

But, without gloves, the knuckles can deal a lot of damage to the narrow bones of your forearm. Something that's just not an issue in in a sport fight.

The point here is that, if you're studying martial arts to win trophies or to get belts, do whatever style you want and all the luck to you. However, if you're trying to develop the skills to protect yourself against a brutal assailant who will do anything to brutalize you, there are certain mistakes you can't afford to make.

So, regardless of what you've been told, avoid holding your arms vertically or at least turned with the thicker back of the forearm out and rely on distance to keep the bad guy from being able to damage your arms. After all, it's going to be very difficult to throw your own punches with arms that have been weakened or even broken because you put them out there for him to hammer on.

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Jeffrey Miller is an internationally sought-after self-defense expert. He is the creator of the unique EDR: Non-Martial Arts Defensive Training System and teaches individuals, security professionals, companies, and organizations how to be more safe in Today's often dangerous world. Go to his web site at => www.warrior-concepts-online.com