Some years ago, I was sparring a highly talented black belt, whose striking and footwork prowess were amongst the best I’ve seen in my 35 plus years of martial arts study. While not without skill myself, I knew, however, that I was trading blows with a far superior fighter.
At one point in a rather competitive round, my opponent threw a five strike combination that involved different ranges, weapons and targets. For whatever reason, I was in “the zone” and successfully blocked all five, while countering with a two strike combination myself. I was so proud of myself for executing so well against an expert combatant, that I took a momentary mental vacation; I partially lowered my hands and just basked in my success.
Without missing a beat, this black belt, realizing that I was suddenly distracted, threw a straight punch right to my face which landed squarely on my chin. Upon hitting me, he dropped his hands, smiled and said “ Dude, where’d you go?! “
Embarrassingly, I must admit that I did something that I was scolded for doing by past instructors: I was ” admiring my work “. I was so pleased with myself for defending a complex sequence of attacks from a superior opponent that I mentally relaxed. This created a mental distraction whereby I was no longer “present” in the match, which gave my friend and worthy opponent an easy shot to my face!
Let this example be a lesson to each of us, that we are not done in any violent situation until we are clear of the danger. In the sporting event of sparring, that moment occurs when the bell rings. In an actual violent encounter on the street, you’re only done when you have disengaged from your attacker and have reached a safe location.
Many times in the drill work used to teach self-defense, students will relax somewhere in the middle of a defense because they finally accomplished an objective that they had earlier struggled with. This is understandable. What is not to be overlooked, though, Is that executing one tactic in the middle of a technique does not make you safe. Successful self-defense requires that the defender complete all the tasks and meet all the objectives required to achieve safety.
At Krav Maga Personal Safety, we make sure that you stay on task and finish each drill by getting to safety. It is certainly important to work individual movements within a technique, but always remember successful defense comes with concentration and singleness of purpose to neutralize your attacker enough so that you can beat a hasty retreat as quickly as possible. The only time to reflect on how well you did is when you’re sharing your successful defense stories back home with friends and family.
