Don't Fall Victim to This Critical Mistake in Your Martial Arts and Self-Defense Training

By Jeffrey Miller

For most students studying martial arts and self defense training, there is a critical, life-threatening mistake that they're making. This mistake is so important that, if not corrected, you could find yourself worse off in a self-defense situation than someone who never studied martial arts and self-defense at all.
This critical mistake is part of what I call, the Karate-Myth. It, along with a host of other ""false-beliefs"" can not only render all of your hard work, study, and martial arts and self-defense training completely useless...
...It can get you broken, maimed, or killed in a real-world attack from a criminal attacker who isn't going soft and slow like your training partners in your martial arts or self-defense class!
And you know what?
Its not just a mistake that students are making. This mistake is being made AND passed-on by so-called self-defense experts and martial arts black belts too!
Let's get something very clear before I let you in on my little secret. And that something is this...
...It doesn't matter_ * how well you think you know a martial arts technique, or...
* how good you are at doing that self-defense move in class.
All that will matter when the rubber-meets-the-road and you're face-to-face (or worse) with a brutal attacker who wants you dead is...
...CAN YOU DO IT THEN?!
You must realize something right now, and make no mistake about it. You must understand that, unlike most people in your life - unlike your mom, significant other, or fellow martial arts or self-defense students...
A real attacker:
* doesn't care what color your belt is
* doesn't care how many techniques you know
* isn't impressed with the names of the people you've studied under
* isn't going to help you do your technique correctly like your friend in class does - and a ton of other things you might use to impress others with your skill and "knowledge."
He only cares about one thing and one thing only. And that one thing is crushing or beating you down and getting what he wants from you.
That ""thing"" could be to:
* win the argument you were having
* get your money
* get what you were protecting
* make a point or statement (as in the case of terrorism or workplace violence)
* make you suffer, or...
* take your life!
So what is this grand mistake? I think you have a pretty good idea by now, don't you?
The mistake I'm talking about is wrongly believing that training in either the martial arts or a self-defense class without the knowledge, understanding, and experience of what a real self-defense situation is like...
...will allow you to effectively defend yourself against a street punk with real knife, or a 280 pound drunk dock worker who has you in a bone-crushing bear-hug and squeezing the very life out of your lungs!
Don't get me wrong. I'm not suggesting that you go get into a bunch of fights, or walk through the worst parts of town looking to get mugged so you can get real-life self-defense experience.
But, you can at least make sure that the person you're training with - that you're learning self-defense from - HAS the experience and knowledge you need.
You must find a teacher, mentor, or master with real-world experience or your training will end up being like the "blind-leading-the-blind!" If you don't know what you need, you have to find someone who does. And, if you don't have the experience, you MUST find a teacher who does.
A street-fighting self-defense situation is not the time to find out that what you've been spending your hard-earned time, money, and effort on...
Doesn't work!
In a future article I'll be discussing how you can know whether the program you're in is worth anything or not - even if you don't have any real-world fight or self-defense experience. But, for now, you can do some basic homework by checking out some news stories and finding out what some of the common attacks are that you may have to defend yourself against.

About The Author
Jeffrey Miller is the founder of Warrior Concepts Int'l. An ex-federal police officer, undercover investigator, and bodyguard, he specializes in teaching effective self-defense to his students and corporate clients. Learn more about real self-defense training, by going to: http://www.warrior-concepts-online.com