Four Layers of Self-Defense

Self-defense. What is it? Most people immediately think of physical skills such as punching and kicking when you say self-defense. In a flier I saw recently for a woman’s self-defense class, it said participants must bring their own boxing gloves. I’m not sure just what this class taught by some MMA competitors will contain, but teaching women punching skills in a short class on self-defense isn’t the most practical skill. (I write and talk about this in other places.)

When I talk about self-defense, I’m talking about keeping yourself and your loved ones safe from harm, and there is much more to it than learning how to strike or kick. The best personal protection plans consist of different layers, and the first layers aren’t physical. These are the most important layers. Let me repeat that. The layers before you get physical are the most important!

Teaching a small 120 pound female how to physically defeat a 250 lb football player is extremely difficult. Size and strength matter! But if you keep yourself safe without going physical, its a win without getting hurt. I’m not saying a person shouldn’t learn physical skills to defend themselves. I believe everyone should. That’s one of the reasons I teach those too. But if you don’t learn these first layers, you are missing out on some of the most important personal safety principles you can learn and practice. Everyone, regardless of size or strength can increase their personal safety by learning and practicing these first layers. These layers include:

Awareness

Avoidance

De-escalation

Boundary Setting

If your personal protection and self-defense training doesn’t include these, add them. The are extremely important. I include them in the workshops and classes I give to various groups when teaching personal safety and self-defense, and there will be much more coming on the Survive and Defense website on these topics. (As well as a lot on physical defensive skills and attacking back – they are all important.)

Many others also teach these skills, so just be sure you are learning and practicing these “softer” skills of self-defense along with your strikes, kicks, throws and physical techniques. These will help you fight without fighting, and that’s the best way to keep yourself and loved ones safe from harm.

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