Evasion: Emptying the Space

Evading can be thought of as “emptying the space” between you and your opponent. It is the surest way of maintaining your safety zone and it should always be your first choice. Evading is the most natural response to an unwanted intruder. You use it all the time, even in social situations. Imagine yourself having a conversation with a business acquaintance. The acquaintance leans too close to you and you instinctively step back. Though you do not perceive a physical threat, the invasion of your personal comfort zone puts your subconscious on alert.

Your comfort zone differs from one situation to another. In your home or among friends, your comfort zone is relaxed or nonexistent. In familiar but high pressure environments like school or work, it is an active barometer of
whom to trust and how much trust to place in them. In unfamiliar or threatening surroundings, the comfort zone is buffered by a larger safety zone. Anyone crossing into your perceived safety zone is seen as a potential threat, therefore you unconsciously move to put them back outside your safety zone.

Evasion occurs every day on many levels. Evading is based on instinct and judgment. In combat, your initial reaction should be to evade the confrontation entirely. When this fails, try to evade the physical blows of the aggressor. Evasion must be total to be successful. Partial evasion will result in some damage to you and superiority for your attacker.

The Need for Realism in Self-defense Practice

There are several categories of combat among humans. Combat can be arranged such as in boxing, wrestling, or martial arts practice. It can be spontaneous, as in fighting and self-protection. The difference lies in the imposition or lack of rules and the level of conflict between the contestants.

Arranged combat is a common way of testing combat skills. It can be among friends or rivals. It can be for fun or high-stakes. It can be with strict safety rules or anything-goes type matches. Most often, however, it is contested with the safety of the contestants in mind and the outcome is secondary.

Arranged combat is a good method of practicing skills within a framework of safety rules. For optimum results, it should allow the widest range of attacks and defenses possible. If you train for the possibility of a  life-endangering encounter, you should not be limited by unnecessary rules and gear that will not exist in the anticipated attack.

For example, a woman who trains for self-protection would not gain much by putting on boxing gloves and sparring according to boxing rules. She is unlikely to face an attacker who will give her the room to punch and she is at risk of seriously damaging her hands in a barehanded attack. A more realistic approach for her would be to engage in simulation training in which she is faced with an attempted assault and practices thwarting the attacker.

Arranged combat should closely model its goals. If its goal is sport, train for sport. If its goal is self-protection, train for realism with a minimum of rules and a heavy dose of reality.