The Dance of Violence

A violent encounter is like a dance. You will have one person leading the action and the other person following.

Criminals are used to being in the lead, and they depend on you to follow the dance. When they jump out of the bush and put a knife to your face, the next usual step is for you to do what they say. This dance has been scripted in their minds, and they depend on it to flow the way they have rehearsed. If you do something that interrupts this script, they have to try and create a new set of steps. 99% of the criminals on the streets of the US are not trained in how to do this quickly, and this is where your opportunity to survive and win is created.

Although many people take course labeled as “self-defense”, that label is a misnomer.  When you decide to strike, you have to go into a very offensive mode.  You have to take control of the dance.  You have to be the one in the lead, and you have to decide what dance is going to occur and when the dance ends.  When some attempts to assault you, have the mind-set they have stepped onto YOUR dance floor.  You have to be willing to meet their violence with a higher level of violence to stop the situation, and stop it quickly.

A good “defensive” course will stress how to interrupt the script of the attacker, and then to strike with speed and decisiveness with the most effective method for the situation.  A good course rarely tells you “always do this” or “never do that”.  There isn’t anything necessarily graceful or beautiful about the true dance of violence.  It isn’t like you see on Hollywood movies which are meticulously scripted and filmed over several takes.  A true fight isn’t about winning a trophy or impressing people with how amazing you look.  It is about raw, unscripted, unedited violence in both directions.  Only when you understand the dance, learn the dance, and be comfortable with the dance can you ever truly be skilled in “self-defence”.