How to choose the right self defense weapons and targets to stay safe

Knowing which weapon to use against which target is a crucial skill in a self defense conflict. When I talk about weapons I mean parts of the body such as elbows, knees, fists, fingers, etc. Knowing your weapons and targets is important because it is very easy to break bones in your hand or end up using an ineffective self-defense technique if you ignore this information.

The principle is quite simple; hit soft targets with hard weapons and hit hard targets with harder weapons.

Familiarize yourself with your weapons and self defense objectives:

Because the most effective self-defense targets on the body tend to be soft, you need to understand which hard weapons (body parts) will do the most damage. The best way to understand this is to use example targets. If you are attacked, the main soft targets to attack are the eyes, throat, muzzle, and ears. These are all very sensitive areas of the body that require small amounts of force from a hard weapon (ie elbows, knees, fingers) to cause great pain. In many cases, hitting one or two of these targets in a row will distract any attacker long enough for you to escape to safety.

Before I continue, I want to give some examples of what body parts to hit these soft targets with.

The eyes are almost always tapped in with the fingers (this is pretty straightforward). However, you may not realize that you should strike them with your fingers in a relaxed position. The last thing you want to do is fail and get your finger stuck. Keep them loose, you’re not trying to destroy the eye. You just want to distract him so you can attack again and escape.

The throat can be hit with various weapons. An obvious choice is a fist, but the forearm is an even better choice and you don’t risk injuring your hand if you miss and hit the jaw. The muzzle can be hit with virtually any weapon and be effective. Some favorites are the knife hand, the knee, the palm (which allows for a grab after the initial strike), and the foot. As you can see from these examples, if you choose the right weapons, the chances of you getting hurt while performing these attacks are very low. This is what you want.

Now for the second part of the principle: Hit hard targets with harder weapons.

If there are no exposed soft targets on your attacker, you will have to hit hard targets like the skull or the back of the neck. For these situations your options are limited.

There are three body parts that are generally considered strong enough for these goals. The first is the forearm/elbow, the second is the shin/knee, and the last is certain parts of the skull. The forearm/elbow and shin/knee are pretty easy. These body parts are tough enough to take a blow to the skull and not be damaged in the process.

Using your own head as a self defense weapon is a bit trickier. If you headbutt your attacker with the wrong part of your head, he will get hurt in the process. You should also aim at your opponent’s face, not his forehead. Hitting your forehead against his will result in a lot of pain for both of you. So for this self defense move to be effective, you need to use the right side of your head to hit the right side of yours.

The area of ​​the head to wear is the top of the forehead just before the top of the head flattens.

I hope you found this article useful. This principle should be a primary consideration in any self-defense system, and you must internalize it if you want to become proficient in any self-defense system. I find that many self defense instructors fail to explain this principle (although almost all follow it).

In my opinion, you need to understand the key principles of self defense in order to use it successfully in the real world. That’s why I created the blog at Fightfast.com/blog where you can learn some really effective self defense techniques, learn why they are effective and what situations to use them in.

Stay smart and safe,

Bob Pierce

Chief Honcho, Fightfast.com