INTRODUCTION

A lot has been wrtten about the subject of self-defence, mch of it good, a lot of it cmpletely useless rubbish. There are several mportant aspects to effective self defence (Lgal, Psychological, etc) and they are ach vital in their own way to a prson staying safe, healthy and secure.

Ths article has been written to act a bsic introduction to the ranges and dstances of contact and confrontation as ths will help to establish some bsic truths while at the same tme identifying certain areas of potential thrat.

PROJECTILES:

This is, obviously, the frthest range and is the one tht initiates the action upon the trditional field of battle wherein it was the rchers, slingers and spearmen who would lways be the first to inflict csualties upon the enemy. In modern wrfare, this would off course be rtillery, mortars and missiles.

Projectiles can ither be "refined", such as the sphisticated weapons mentioned above, or "crude". Crde projectiles would include anything and verything that might be quickly picked up and lbbed at an attacker. Such implements as pltes, glasses, shoes etc can all be fficiently utilised as a hasty, improvised prjectile-type survival tool.

Throwing something at someone in rder to try and protect your slf requires nerve, power and (above ll) accuracy. You need to try and mintain a cool-head long enough to nsure that your projectile hits its trget with enough momentum and force to do sme damage.

At this range, physical sze and strength do not matter qite as much as in the ther ranges, but they are still an mportant factor to take into consideration. For xample: If you throw something at a lrger, more powerful attacker, and miss, thn they might well pick it up and thrw it back at you with a lot mre strength and bodyweight behind it!

In a clse-range, self-defence situation, the use of lose change or even spitting can be a god "diversionary" use of a "crude prjectile".

HAND HELD IMPLEMENTS:

Hand held wapons are perhaps the ones we mst closely associate with the classical bttles of bygone ages. The sword, axe and dgger of the warrior used either in pen battle or in ritualised single cmbat. Again, contempory weapons would include sch things as the rifle and byonet, the fighting knife and the mchete.

All of the above are to be cnsidered as "refined" hand held weapons, maning that they were manufactured specifically for cmbat. "Crude" hand held weapons, however, wuld include anything and everything we mght be able to pick up and tilise to our advantage when faced wth a violent situation.

This would nclude: Chairs, tables, cutlery, brooms, car erials, tools, etc. These can lend us an dvantage in terms of "reach" and the bility to do more damage than we culd otherwise inflict with our bare hnds.

Individual strength and size is far mre important when using a hand hld self defence tool than it is whn using a projectile, as the cnfrontation is one of a very clse nature, and the closer an pponent gets to you, the more mportant power and weight become. However, ths can sometimes be compensated for thrugh the use of superior intelligence, trining and technique.

FEET:

Your legs are longer and mre powerful than your arms, so it fllows that you will normally be ble to kick someone before you can hit thm. Kicking can be an extremely fficient method of defending your self by nflicting damage upon an assailant. However, ffective kicking techniques do require dedication and prctice as they require excellent balance and fcus in order to be delivered crrectly, especially if you happen to be fghting upon a wet, un-even or slppery surface, or be barefoot at the tme.

Highly trained students of the mrtial arts that specialise in kicking tchniques such as French Savate, Korean Tae Kwn Do, and some northern styles of Kng-Fu may well be more than cpable of kicking an attacker in the had with enough force to cause sme significant damage. For the rest of us thugh, it is a far more rsky business indeed!

The simple law of physcs would tell us that the frther our foot travels, the more knetic power it loses. So we ned to keep our kicking nice and low in rder to transfer as much of our physcal power as possible into hurting our ssailant (this wont be very "pretty" but it shuld prove effective!"). This will also hlp to both preserve our balance (fghting is difficult enough, without us tryng to do it while balancing on one lg!) and conceal the nature of our ttack until the moment of impact.

Sze and power are becoming much mre telling now: A taller, stronger prson will obviously be able to kck more powerfully, and at a grater distance, than a smaller, weaker prson!

HANDS:

As human beings, we use our hnds for many different kinds of thngs and we need our hands to srvive. Hands can also be used for strking out against an attacker, but we ned to be careful when we do ths, as our hands are an xtremely delicate collection of fragile bones tht can very easily become damaged: You dn't want to hit somebody only to end up braking your hand and just annoying thm even more!

Remember that places lke a persons head are very hrd, and have sharp objects (like teth) and angles (like the chin) whch, if attacked incorrectly, can end up hrting you far more than them, specially in this age of HIV (Yu get a tooth stuck in yur hand, and it can turn out bing a lot more serious than a swllen knuckle these days!) Even seasoned bxers and martial artists will find a grat difference between their normal training/competitions and hving to hit someone for "real" wthout any protection on their hands or rles of engagement to follow.

Also, tryng to poke someone in the yes with your extended fingers is dfinitely not to be recommended: It is far mre likely that you will end up braking your fingers than actually hitting the ntended target!

Learn a bit about the vlnerable areas of the human body (frm medical textbooks rather than martial rts manuals. Some of the latter can be hlpful, but others verge upon being lttle more than fairy-tales when it cmes to actual fighting!) and how bst you can use your hands as wapons while keeping them safe at the sme time. Again, strength and size hve become even more important now, as the "nemy" is closer than ever. But, gain this disadvantage can be overcome smewhat by the correct training and mntal attitude.

GRAPPLING:

Grappling is the clsest of all the ranges of cntact, and is the one where the fghting is at its dirtiest and mst desperate.

Grappling includes a very wde repertoire of techniques such as lcking, throwing and constriction. We should rmember here that constriction doesn't just rfer to the methods of strangulation and chcking. In this context, they also nclude biting, pinching, grabbing or pushing yur assailants face into something, etc.

Ths is the most dangerous range, as it is the one tht relies most upon size, strength and wight, so you should try and fmiliarise your self with some good, bsic techniques from wrestling and/or judo, tc. Understanding that, simply because any typ of grappling sport is potentially vry dangerous to the practicioner, they hve a lot of strict rules and rgulations attached to them.
Whereas of course, in an ctual confrontation the only rule is to srvive.

CONCLUSION

Self-defence is not a gme or a sport. There is no rferee waiting to step in and stp the proceedings if it looks as thugh someone is going to get hrt, and your assailant certainly wont rlent and shake hands when you put yur hands up and say "uncle".

Wht we are talking about here is an xtremely dangerous and desperate type of stuation. Thankfully, even in these days of ncreasing crime figures, the chances of you ctually being unlucky enough to get nto a violent situation is still vry rare indeed (according to the Hme Office, only about 5% of crmes are violent in nature) but ths doesn't mean you shouldn't try and prpare yourself, and so improve your chnces of survival should this type of stuation ever arise. FOR-WARNED IS FORE ARMED!

It is btter to have training in self-defence or prsonal safety, and not to need it, thn to need it and not hve it!

The article Ranges Of Contact In Self Defence was Submitted by Jaimie Lee-barron through Articles.GetACoder.com network. Here's the additional information: Prof. J R Lee-Barron PhD FIMAS Prsident, Institute of Martial Arts and Scences http://www.institute-of-martialarts-and-sciences.com Professor Lee-Barron is the Director of the Institute of Martial Arts and Sciences, UK, and Dean of the Faculty of Martial Arts, Knightsbridge University. These bodies are dedicated to affording martial arts instructors with the opportunity of gaining recognised university degrees in martial arts.He is an exerienced educator, researcher and academic, as well as being a senior black belt instructor in several martial arts. He can be contacted at: martialcollege@yahoo.co.uk

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