When you can't fight back

At TDA Training, we often focus on things like mob attacks (or defending Multiple Attackers), defending against weapons (Knife defense and/or Gun defense). Additionally, many of us see martial arts training as an equalizer.

I've always looked at martial arts, in general, as an equalizer, much like the Colt .45 in the old west. I believe that you can improve your chances of survival in all self-defense situations if you have some training. – from How to Make Your Training More Practical for Self-Defense post

However, I have to make an admission to you that I was speechless when I was asked, at a family gathering, the following question: “You have a lot of training and experience as a martial arts instructor. What could someone like me do to protect himself?” I probably looked (and sounded) like an idiot of the first order as I paused, stammered, and then backtracked in my multiple responses. I think it was evident to my friend that I didn’t believe that there was.

What can you and I do to train someone who has a physical disability such that he or she can’t fight back? You see, my friend had a condition which affected his ability to stand, to say nothing of walking or running. It makes his ability to transfer power a near impossibility.

Nearly all of my life I’ve been either bigger, stronger, or faster than the next guy (or at least I believed I was). When I became skilled in martial arts, it only made the differences starker. In my thousands of rounds sparring against hundreds of opponents, and in all of my years of teaching and training, I’ve only felt out of my depth a few times; like I would definitely lose if it were “for real.” What would it be like to feel that way all of the time? How about to have something happen to you that made you feel that way, and that you could never prevail over someone else?

For me, that would be a nightmare scenario, and yet, for all of us, it’s inevitable? Age, injury, or infirmity will catch up to all of us. Old age is, past a certain point, as inevitable as the Earth turning or the sun rising, and yet most of us go through life training and teaching without that in mind? Why?

This is a serious question for all of you instructors, students, fighters and fans out there. How would you approach teaching someone who realistically couldn’t fight back? Or what would you do if you couldn’t (see how I slipped back into the trap)?

I’d like your feedback on this in the comments. Look for a post to answer shortly.

Thanks.

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