How can I learn to physically defend myself? [x-post r/AskMen]

You want to be a hero? Go get a concealed carry permit and a good lawyer. You want to defend yourself?

I would say pick up Muay thai. You can differentiate a good gym from a bad one because good gyms smell of sweat and hard work. They usually have no pretensions and while the trainers are treated with respect, they are not elevated to godlike status. This is probably the biggest tell for a bbelt factory. Make sure the trainers also look physically fit, they may be wiry types and not necessarily fitness models or body builders. Also look for people who are competing on the fight circuit, if you like what you see (better be lot's of wins) then go for it. Usually it takes between 3-6 months of training (depending on how often you go) before you are able to not die and have a ~40% chance of running away from an altercation. After that, it takes years before you will ever have close to a 90% possibility of not death and serious injury. This is why no street fight is a good street fight, unless you have your boys with you, you know your enemy, you know what they are carrying and you know where you will be fighting (this will never happen so don't fucking get into barfights fuckwit.) I say this because all it takes is 1 guy that you don't see (which is highly probable given you're going to be amped up on adrenalin and cortisol) to come around and clock you from behind. I assume you're about 180 cms, and if you're head hits the concrete from that height, death is definitely a possibility. Not worth it for 10 minutes of validation from strangers.

Getting back to Muay Thai talk, make sure you try and spar full contact as much as possible. Make sure that you're not fighting with the intention to hurt, especially with muay thai as if you go too hard in sparring with someone else you'll get fucked up by an angry killing machine. Sparring is ideally where you test out fight strategies and master the art of being detached from the fear and pain. The thinking fighter is able to look around, analyse his opponents movements and develop an effective counter strategy. This is what sparring is for so make sure you always analyse what you did right and what you did wrong after a sparring session, you'll grow a lot faster as a fighter.

I fucking love when people get into martial arts because it forces you to put aside your ego and doubt and insecurities. You're confronted by your own inadequacy. But if you're strong mentally and patient enough you will grow as a fighter and gain an almost unshakeable self confidence. There's nothing like walking into a room and knowing you could turn everyone there into jelly with your shins and elbows. Even the 90+ kgs body builder types.

tldr: go for it dude, but don't prick it up because you want to be a hero, pick it up because you want to be able to defend yourself.

/r/TheRedPill Thread