When in Doubt, Move

Invariably, at our women's self-defense seminars, Mr. Sam would say, "just do something!" His point was, that the act of "acting," overcomes the inertia and tendency to freeze or start thinking in a situation. This Defend University article highlights that well. One of the problems that people have when confronted by someone else, or something physical happens, is that they freeze, or start a mental conversation along the lines of, "Is this really happening to me? What should I do? I know 16 techniques. Is this serious enough that I might have to defend myself?" What Sam was telling the women was an excellent point, that by just doing something, they will overcome that tendency to question themselves. Excellent article. Read it all...

A police officer responds to a silent burglar alarm one night at a warehouse.

He is just moving from a brightly lit area into the dark recesses of the loading dock area when he is hammered by a series of blows.

The blows continued to rain down on the officer and he knew that serious injury or death was all the awaited him if he could not escape. His martial arts background is in a karate style that emphasizes circular movement and whipping techniques -- he resorts to his training and begins to whip around in a circular fashion to try and find an avenue for escape.

As he is moving, he begins to hit various bodies and, through the fog, senses that there are people around him. He draws his baton and begins to land some strikes as he whips around. One backhand baton strike fells an opponent. Another lands, and another. He regains the initiative and drives off the other attackers.

It turns out there were a total of six attackers who jumped down on the officer from the back of the flatbed they were loading with stolen goods.

However, even when faced with a situation that was (at first) completely foreign, the officer successfully solved the problem by resorting to his training and moving.

Action beats reaction – when in doubt, move.