The Best Self Defense System, 3

By now I hope you're eagerly awaiting (or at least mildly interested in) the answer to the question, "How close has he come to discovering or synthesizing 'The Best Defense System'?" The answer is that I think I'm a lot closer now than I was a year ago, and I was a lot closer a year ago than I was nine years ago. That, of course does not give you the explicit answer that you were expecting, so let's move on the specifics.

Biblical Philosophy and Worldview as applied to self defense:

Biblical philosophy and worldview topics have been my life's study. I have even written a book (still a work in progress, although published) that articulates a Methodology based on the Reformed presuppositional epistemology as enunciated by Cornelius Van Til . . . and made comprehensible to those who think in English by Greg Bahnsen.

It has been a delight to combine my calling as a sheepdog with my calling as a theologue. (It would feel it presumptuous to call myself a theologian.) I have tried to analyze the root issues of self defense from a Biblically theological perspective, and I think have been sufficiently successful to say that I can teach self defense issues within the context of a truly Christian worldview.

Mindset and Psychology:

I have made a study of the psychology of violent people and the psychology of victims of violence. This is an unsettling and depressing area of study, but some Christian has to do it, Bible in hand, so that we can know what to expect from an assailant as well as from ourselves. A thorough understanding the anatomy of violence can help you avoid 95% of potentially violent situations and better equip you to deal with the other 5%.

For example, there are certain "pre-incident indicators of violence" that Gavin DeBecker lists in The Gift of Fear. A student of self defense needs to know these, because forewarned is fore-armed. In addition, when confronted by imminent violence, many people try to find refuge in denial. There are practical training measures that can help to erase this self-destructive mechanism. I believe that I have a grasp of this and other issues that will elevate my approach to self-defense way above the average.

Adrenaline Stress Conditioning:

To protect yourself adequately, you must make your adrenaline surge serve you rather than master you. I am aware of the breath-control technique as taught in Col. Dave Grossman's On Combat: The Psychology and Physiology of Deadly Conflict in War and in Peace and by many martial artists. There are other training factors covered in On Combat and in books like Real Fighting by Peyton Quinn, a pioneer in the field of adrenaline stress conditioning.

Utilization of the Startle Reflex:

Most martial arts still teach as though the Startle Response either does not exist or can be extinguished with sufficient practice. Even if it were possible, it would not be wise. You can check my posts on this topic to judge whether my views on this reflex have viable self defense applications.

Use of Methods that are Simple, Effective and Based on Gross Motor Skills:

Under stress, the first thing that goes is fine control of the muscles. A burst of adrenaline trades off complex motor skills in favor of speed and strength. For that reason, the core of The Best Self Defense system should consist of methods based on gross motor skills. Those are the skills incorporated into the WWII systems of Fairbairn, Applegate, Nelson, Perrigard, Underwood and others. Those are the skills I have isolated and included in my book, 12 US Military Combat Techniques That Could Save Your Life. They are simple, direct, relatively easy to learn and brutally effective. Nothing fancy, just the efficient, biomechanical application of force.

There are more criteria to consider in my quest for The Best Self Defense System, but I've rambled on enough for today. I will have to continue this topic in another post. Suffice it to say that I have not succeeded in finding and/or incorporating into my own personal self defense system every factor necessary to meet my criteria -- not yet, anyway. Maybe next time we'll talk about what's lacking & how close I am to attaining my goals.

Continued in "The Best Self Defense System, 4".