Personal defense
“context” was it presented. Certainly in the context of training we
are very conscious of blading our
stances to protect the groin area,
making it a very difficult target to
hit with the linear motion of a front
kick. So in that context of “training”,
the argument holds up.
But what happens when “training”
is translated to the realities of the
street where it is not a friendly activity or contest, but all out survival.
What happens when the adrenaline, cortisol, and endorphins kick
in, and the brain switches from the
neo-cortex to the amygdala where
we lose much of our sensory capacity and physical/mental abilities?
Do we set our students up for success by providing a bridge from the
safe training environment to survive
the realities of the street where
things happen fast and not to plan?
I’m not proud of it, but back in my
Marine barfighting days I used front
kicks to the groin 3 times in real
altercations and each one stopped
the fight on the spot. One was
against the leader of a gang attack
where it may well
have saved my life
had I lost the upper hand.
Dissecting the
details of these
fights, I never
used the front kick
as the first preemptive strike, but
only after either
verbal or physical
action had started.
The reason these
kicks were effective was because
in the heat of
battle each of my
Dojo Digest • April 2014
69