The 3 rules of self defence

[GrahamB]

http://m.samharris.org/blog/item/the-tr ... t-violence

Sam Harris, and the truth about violence.

[hodmeist]

Interesting reading. A lot of it made sense although not complying with an intruder when they are holding a knife to your child's throat would be difficult.

[mrtoes]

Nice article. Pretty much mirrors points Rory Miller makes in "Meditations on Violence"

[GrahamB]

Interesting reading. A lot of it made sense although not complying with an intruder when they are holding a knife to your child's throat would be difficult.

I can see the logic of what he's saying, but damn, I don't think he's got kids...

[Bhassler]

I think that's one reason why professionally run scenario training can be so beneficial. A good training will really push your buttons and force you to make hard decisions real-time, and then you get to talk it over and reflect on things. If someone's got a knife to your kid's throat, maybe you comply, maybe you run, or maybe you attack with everything you have-- knowing the indicators and knowing yourself are invaluable in that type of situation. One thing I've heard many times from professionals is that there are no wrong decisions in scenario training-- it's about experiencing and learning and reflecting, not judging or evaluating (maybe different if you use force professionally).

I'd seen this article before, and I've also read most of his source material (and a lot more) as well as knowing some of the authors personally (that and $5 is worth a cup of coffee). It's a nice article and good in that it gets people thinking, but it's also good to know that it represents a couple of snowflakes at the top of a very large iceburg.

[RobP2]

I think that's one reason why professionally run scenario training can be so beneficial. A good training will really push your buttons and force you to make hard decisions real-time, and then you get to talk it over and reflect on things.

+1
Lot of self defence "experts" around these days, to be honest I find this kind of article of little value

[Bhassler]

I felt the same initially, but on second thought I think it's a great "bridge" article that introduces important concepts and is presented in a way that's relevant and accessible to a lot of people that may be turned off by the somewhat less mainstream presentation of some of the established people in the field. And he does cite his influences, rather than presenting himself as some kind of annointed-badass-one...

[mrtoes]

I think that's one reason why professionally run scenario training can be so beneficial. A good training will really push your buttons and force you to make hard decisions real-time, and then you get to talk it over and reflect on things. If someone's got a knife to your kid's throat, maybe you comply, maybe you run, or maybe you attack with everything you have-- knowing the indicators and knowing yourself are invaluable in that type of situation. One thing I've heard many times from professionals is that there are no wrong decisions in scenario training-- it's about experiencing and learning and reflecting, not judging or evaluating (maybe different if you use force professionally).

I'd seen this article before, and I've also read most of his source material (and a lot more) as well as knowing some of the authors personally (that and $5 is worth a cup of coffee). It's a nice article and good in that it gets people thinking, but it's also good to know that it represents a couple of snowflakes at the top of a very large iceburg.

Absolutely agree and well worth noting in the context of something so important - but you can copy paste that for pretty much everything else written about martial arts!

[cdobe]

Interesting reading. A lot of it made sense although not complying with an intruder when they are holding a knife to your child's throat would be difficult.

I can see the logic of what he's saying, but damn, I don't think he's got kids...

He has a daughter.