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I accidentally followed the advice of a mini-mall ninja master

August 11, 2023 By Self Defense Tutorials

I’m limping around right now because of a torn groin.  It’s not serious; it’ll heal up, but it’s my own damn fault. You see, I had just walked into the dojo when someone asked me how much distance you can cover with a jumping front kick. “Show, don’t tell,” I responded and launched myself across the room into a front kick. It was a good demo, but as soon as I landed, … [Read more...]

Kicking from the Ground – How to Do It Properly!

July 11, 2023 By Stephan Kesting

sidekick from the ground

Many self defense systems teach that if you get knocked down to the ground you should get into a defensive position on your side. From there you should then lash out at your opponent with sidekicks to keep him away. In this article and video I'll show how staying on your side when you're knocked down is mostly an outmoded technique and that there are much better options … [Read more...]

Standing Armlocks in Self Defense

July 10, 2023 By Stephan Kesting

Standing armlocks are a staple in the martial arts, including Aikido, classical ju-jujutsu, and many modern self defense systems. They're usually practised something like this: your partner comes in with a lunging punch, you block and sidestep, control the arm, step in, and then apply pressure to the arm until he taps out. Here's what some of those standing armbars from … [Read more...]

What Hulk Hogan and Nate Diaz Can Teach Us About Chokes in Real Fights

June 5, 2023 By Self Defense Tutorials

Hulk Hogan Chokes Out Richard Belzer

Chokes are more effective than just about any other fight-ending technique. in unarmed combat.  A really tough guy or someone hopped up on adrenaline can ignore painful punches and keep on fighting despite broken limbs. But if the blood stops flowing to the brain, then out go the lights. And chokes, properly applied against the sides of the neck and promptly released when … [Read more...]

The Zombie Walk Drill for Improving Your Footwork in Striking

October 9, 2022 By Self Defense Tutorials

The Zombie Walk Footwork Drill

The Zombie Walk is a great warmup drill that'll sharpen your footwork, improve your ability to get angles on your opponent, and blend movement with striking. To do this drill your partner - the feeder - holds his hands forwards to simulate a fighting position. Then he walks towards you at a slow, zombie-like pace. You also start in a fighting position but then circle out … [Read more...]

Is This Good Pain or Bad Pain?

October 5, 2022 By Self Defense Tutorials

Stephan Kesting vs Chris Leben

Pain is subjective and contextual. Awakening to chest pain in the middle of the night is terrifying — a possible sign of a heart attack. But the very same stabbing pain after a hard workout is experienced completely differently: maybe it’s your pectoral muscles shrieking from too many pushups, or your lungs burning from hard interval training. It’s the same sensation … [Read more...]

A 1 Minute Burnout Drill for Aggression, Power and Stamina

August 18, 2022 By Self Defense Tutorials

Striking Stamina and Power Drill

Here's the world's simplest conditioning drill that I want you to try... Set a timer for one minute Unload on a heavy bag with punches as hard as you can Keep it super simple: just left-right-left-right-left-right Hit as hard as you can and as fast as you can, making every single punch a knockout shot Keep breathing and don't stop In theory, you could do … [Read more...]

Too Deadly for Boxing, MMA and BJJ: Illegal but Effective Combat Sport Techniques

June 22, 2022 By Stephan Kesting

Illegal but Effective Combat Sports Techniques

Many people learn martial arts to learn how to handle themselves in a real fight. But many martial arts are sports and sports have rules while street fights don't. That means many things happen in fights that aren't allowed in certain martial arts. Although it started out as "no-holds-barred", mixed martial arts has rules today. Headbutts, groin strikes, eye pokes, biting … [Read more...]

The 4 Deceptions to Set Up Your Knockout Strike

April 18, 2022 By Self Defense Tutorials

If you want to knock people out then you've got to use deception, duplicity, and subterfuge to set those big fight-ending shots. In fact having good strategies to set up your attack can go a long way to compensate for many physical deficiencies. It's exactly what the famous world full contact Karate champion Bill 'Superfoot' Wallace used to say:  “There’s always going to … [Read more...]

It’s Just a Belt Folks….

March 30, 2022 By Self Defense Tutorials

Is the black belt sacred?

This is just your daily reminder that a black belt is a symbol of the amount of training someone has put into a martial art. But just because something is a symbol does not mean it's a sacred object. It's just a piece of cloth. Furthermore, the fact that a person has a black belt doesn't endow them with any form of moral superiority. At best a black belt only tells you … [Read more...]

A Drill to Make Multiple Knee Strikes Powerful and Instinctive

March 10, 2022 By Self Defense Tutorials

The skip knees on wall drill

The knee strike is one of the most powerful shots you can throw. A good knee to the groin, the torso, or the head can drop any attacker. But if one knee is good then more are better! The classic Muay Thai 'skip knee' attack involves you throwing multiple knee shots in quick succession until your opponent is incapacitated. It's a VERY effective attack but developing the … [Read more...]

Five Rear Bearhug Counters

February 13, 2022 By Self Defense Tutorials

Suplex and Slam in MMA from the Rear Bearhug

If someone gets behind you and puts you in a rear bearhug then you have to take defensive action right away! That's because getting picked up and slammed on your head is one of the worst-case scenarios in a confrontation. It's one thing to get punched in the face is bad, but getting hit in the head by a pavement-covered planet is much worse. Here's a video I put out with … [Read more...]

How to Defend Yourself When You’re Being Kicked on the Ground

January 18, 2022 By Self Defense Tutorials

How to survive kicks and stomps on the ground

I've been training in the martial arts for over 40 years, but I recently got a question that I had no good answer for. Here was the question… "If I'm lying on my side on the ground and getting kicked then is it better to reach out and try to block the kicks or just cover my head with my forearms until I can put my attacker back in guard?" The thing is … [Read more...]

Pressure Testing Knife, Stick and Gun Defenses with Burton Richardson

December 16, 2021 By Self Defense Tutorials

Burton Richardson is BJJ black belt and has an incredible lineage in the Filipino Martial Arts as well, having trained with many of the top instructors in the world.  I was thrilled to have him on the podcast to talk about pressure tested self defense in the real world. If you prefer, here's our whole conversation in video format... And here's the streaming … [Read more...]

How to Defend Against Ground and Pound

November 18, 2021 By Self Defense Tutorials

Ground and Pound Defense in MMA and Self Defense

One of the central concepts of using the guard for self defense is to either keep your opponent very close or very far away. When he's very close it's hard for him to generate enough power for a knockout shot. And if he's very far away then his punches simply can't reach you. It's the middle ground that gets you killed. This is where punches reach their full KO power, … [Read more...]

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SELF DEFENSE TUTORIALS

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Recent Articles

I accidentally followed the advice of a mini-mall ninja master

I’m limping around right now because of a torn groin.  It’s not serious; it’ll heal up, but it’s my own damn fault. You see, I had just walked into the dojo when someone asked me how much distance you can cover with a jumping front kick. “Show, don’t tell,” I responded and launched myself across […]

sidekick from the ground

Kicking from the Ground – How to Do It Properly!

Many self defense systems teach that if you get knocked down to the ground you should get into a defensive position on your side. From there you should then lash out at your opponent with sidekicks to keep him away. In this article and video I’ll show how staying on your side when you’re knocked […]

Standing Armlocks in Self Defense

Standing armlocks are a staple in the martial arts, including Aikido, classical ju-jujutsu, and many modern self defense systems. They’re usually practised something like this: your partner comes in with a lunging punch, you block and sidestep, control the arm, step in, and then apply pressure to the arm until he taps out. Here’s what […]

Hulk Hogan Chokes Out Richard Belzer

What Hulk Hogan and Nate Diaz Can Teach Us About Chokes in Real Fights

Chokes are more effective than just about any other fight-ending technique. in unarmed combat.  A really tough guy or someone hopped up on adrenaline can ignore painful punches and keep on fighting despite broken limbs. But if the blood stops flowing to the brain, then out go the lights. And chokes, properly applied against the sides of […]

Recent Articles

  • I accidentally followed the advice of a mini-mall ninja master
  • Kicking from the Ground – How to Do It Properly!
  • Standing Armlocks in Self Defense
  • What Hulk Hogan and Nate Diaz Can Teach Us About Chokes in Real Fights
  • The Zombie Walk Drill for Improving Your Footwork in Striking

ARTICLE INDEX

  • Advanced Tutorials (2)
  • Conditioning (13)
  • Featured (122)
  • Firearms (3)
  • Grappling (44)
  • Lethal Force (7)
  • Martial Arts Mythbusting (8)
  • Mindset (23)
  • Product Reviews (2)
  • Self Defense Basics (93)
  • Self Defense Tutorials (7)
  • Striking (53)
  • Weapons (19)

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