There are three levels of Self Defense minimum. Usually different martial arts schools teach several levels from 3 to 8 levels. The bare minimum will always be 3.
In my personal experience 5 levels are the most effective. But that doesn’t undermine the three levels which are equally more or less as effective especially for beginners. Since the more levels may complicate things.
So let’s start of with the three levels.
1. Awareness and Evasion.
The most important thing is to be aware of your surroundings and what you are up against. By determining your current situation, you’ll get a much clearer idea of what you must do. Either retaliate, defend or escape.
First be aware of where you are.
Are you alone?
Is this a dangerous shady area?
Can you call for help? A
re there any escape routes?
These are only a few things you need to be aware of. Then you need to know your enemy. Are there one or multiple? Does he have a weapon and can you defend against it.
After this, you need to determine the evasion process. If it’s a weapon, what can you use to defend yourself. A wooden plank. A garbage can. Whatever you can use. Or if it’s a firearm, maybe you should just comply with your attacker.
2. Defend and retaliation.
Defend yourself at all cost. If you are being attacked and there’s no way out of it. Defend.
Use what ever means you have to make sure you don’t get physically injured. Use what ever weapons that you can find. A bottle. A stick. A rock. Anything you can find.
Retaliation or counterattack comes after. You can either block the attack and hit your attacker with a swift strike to stun him.
3. Stun and incapacitate
Stunning your attacker could buy you some time and give you an opportunity to escape. The best way to stun your attacker is by hitting vulnerable parts such as the groin, eyes, head and throat areas.
Once stunned you can either decide to escape or incapacitate your attacker. Meaning putting him out of the fight by a powerful blow. Usage of weapons is most effective here. Either with hard blow on the head or the groin to take your attacker out of the fight and give you time to escape and call for help.
These are the 3 levels of self defense. Usually other martial arts schools teach different forms of levels. But it’s usually a combination of the above. Some schools teach 5 or more levels of self defense.
Final Words.
By being aware and not putting yourself in dangerous situations in the first place can prevent you from needing to self defend yourself. By aware of where you are, where you are going and who you are with. If you are in a group, you most likely will decrease the likelihood of being attacked by 99%. Never walk alone in the middle of the night.