Why Punching and Kicking for Self-Defense is Bad Strategy
I regularly see videos of self-defense classes where the instructor is teaching punching and kicking as a primary defense. I strongly disagree with this strategy, so I’m going to logically break down why you should avoid this type of training for self-defense.
In many cases, your attacker will be bigger than you, and if he or she is fighting you unarmed, a size advantage is almost certain. This means your attacker will have a denser bone structure and more muscle mass, rendering your strikes less effective. Your attacker’s strikes will be more effective, increasing your chances of being knocked out. The size difference also increases the risk of injury to your own body, especially your hands. Have you ever punched a bowling ball as hard as you can? This is close to what it’s like to punch someone in the head, so you can imagine how that would feel. MMA fighters have proper boxing technique with taped hands inside of gloves, yet broken hands, fingers, and wrists are still common. There is a reason that a broken pinky knuckle is called a boxer’s fracture. If you break a hand, you’ve just reduced your options for fighting back, using weapons, and escaping.
Something widely ignored is the fact that trading punches on a hard surface is a potentially lethal scenario. Let’s assume you do knock out your aggressor. He goes down in an accelerated free-fall and hits his head on the pavement and dies from a traumatic brain injury. Congratulations, you won the fight, but now you may be on trial for manslaughter. The reverse of that scenario is even worse. You misread or mistime a punch, and now you are the one with a life-threatening brain injury. I’ve worked with criminal defense attorneys who have litigated these situations, and “one punch kills” are far more common than you might think.
What about kicks, you ask? Also a bad idea. If you are throwing kicks at someone, you are at a much higher risk of slipping or being caught off-balance and falling. Outside of the gym, the world is basically one big hard surface. If you slip and fall you can very easily break something, knock yourself out, or worse. Even if you fall and avoid injury, you have allowed your attacker to gain a top position on you. Unless a kick is well-placed to the groin, or even more well-placed to the solar plexus or liver, it’s just not going to stop someone who is aggressively advancing on you. Head kicks, while damaging, are hardly practical in a self-defense context due to clothing restrictions and the required range to use them effectively. Head kicks also carry greater consequences if they are caught or if you fall.
Additionally, if your aggressor hasn’t shown intent to strike you, you could escalate a grappling situation into a more dangerous striking situation when it may not be necessary to do so.
When I teach, I always emphasize this point:
If you find yourself in a kickboxing match, you’ve screwed up.
Self-defense is all about risk mitigation. Everyone, regardless of skill level, risks getting knocked out if drawn into a kickboxing match with someone possessing the necessary power. If you are unconscious, then you are unable to defend yourself, and that is a scary thing to consider. This is why I feel rolling the dice by giving your opponent a “puncher’s chance” is simply bad strategy.
While it may sound as though I am anti-striking, I can assure you I’m not. Like I said, self-defense is all about risk mitigation. There are ways to strike which minimize risk and injury to yourself, yet maximize damage to your attacker. To learn them and to gain a better understanding of my striking strategy, schedule a time to stop in for a private training session.
