The argument over what system is “the best” for self defense, has been beaten to death for years. Every day it happens, in a hundred different ways. A few people may change their mind or “come to the light” (some for better and some for worse), but the reality is, this argument solves nothing.
The fact is, there is no right answer.
Let’s not even talk about the fact that not every krav maga school/instructor is the same, not every bjj school/instructor is the same, not every (enter arbitrary name of system) school/instructor is the same. There are krav gyms teaching old school traditional krav in kimonos, krav gyms wearing fucking camo pants, and krav gyms teaching wrestling. There are karate instructors that teach more of a form of american kickboxing, then actual karate. I’ve seen knife instructors teach a seminar based in their system, then openly admit, they wouldn’t use half of it in real life.
The true fact is, every person has a different set of needs and skills. You have no idea when that person will be attacked (if ever). You have no idea how that person will be attacked.
All too often, we look at what a system is capable of doing for me in the long term. There’s no doubt that if I spend 10 years dedicating multiple hours a week to the system of kali, that I will be ruthless with a blade. If I spend 3 years training multiple hours a week in bjj I’ll be pretty damn good on the ground. If I spend a few years training krav maga, I’ll be aggressive and able to hold my own in various places. Hell, if I spend 5 years truly training and dedicating multiple hours of training to ANY system, I probably have a decent chance of surviving.
The question is, what happens if I get attacked in two weeks?
If you TRULY want to be better prepared to survive a real life violent encounter, then you need to find out, what is the absolute most important thing I can learn TODAY that will make me significantly safer.
Every session you walk into, you need to have that in mind.
Seriously, think about it. Does one hour of kali today, make you safer if you get attacked tomorrow? It might. Maybe you have 5 years of boxing, bjj, and other arts. Maybe you feel really confident in your unarmed ability but need to improve in knife or stick.
Does that same concept apply to the person that has never been in a fight or even thrown a punch?
Does that same idea apply to someone that can’t walk up a flight of stairs without being winded?
Is it possible, that the best thing for your self defense TODAY, is for you to eat better and just begin working out?
Is it possible, that the absolute best thing for you to do TODAY is to learn to face your fears and get uncomfortable because you know you have a tendency to shut down under pressure?
Is it possible that your ability to draw shoot on target from 30’ away in less than 2 seconds actually doesn’t mean anything for protecting yourself?
I don’t know what you need. Hell, you might not even know what you need. But every time you walk in to train anything, then you need to make sure that whatever time you are spending will make you significantly safer TODAY. If that is your goal.
If your goal is to be an olympian, then every session you do should move you significantly towards that goal. If you want to compete in BJJ, then every session you do should move you toward that goal. But those goals have a date. They have a strategy and a timeline. Self defense doesn’t. You could wake up tonight with a knife to your throat. Are you willing to take the chance that you won’t get attacked for five years until you’re a black belt?
I’m not.
We truly believe in what we teach. We teach every class with this concept in mind. Does that mean we are “the best” system? Not necessarily, but we know for a fact that our goal is to make people safer today, not in six month, or five years.
Evaluate what you do. Day in and day out.
Be honest. Be ruthless. Ask yourself, will this make me safer today? If not, then ask yourself, what is the one thing I need to be safer today.
Train hard, stay safe, one love
-aaron
Aaron Jannetti 