Dan Rank

Self Defense Drills In Martial Arts Training

Most of the more serious martial arts schools and instructors have various drills wherein a student can practice his punch, grab or defense. The approach is often a ‘circle drill’ where the pretend ‘victim’ is attacked by several other students, one at a... Read >

Is a Pre Emptive Strike Your Best Defense?

Once again we look at one of the basic premises of traditional martial arts theory. Historically we are taught that martial arts is a defensive concept and that it should never be used as offensively. In an ideal world this philosophy or theory is a gre... Read >

Can Real World Self Defense be Incorporated Into Your Traditional Martial Arts Program?

In recent years there has been an ongoing argument between avid traditional martial artists and avid “reality based" street fighting defense advocates. Research has shown that a sudden “adrenalin dump" under extreme pressure will preclude the best of us ... Read >

Self Defense on the Street: Defense Against an Attack With a Weapon -- Attack the Attacker!

It is important to understand that there is a significant and critical difference between a holdup involving a weapon and an attack involving one. This outline deals with the problem of an aggressive attack by a person wielding a weapon. You are confron... Read >

Real World Self Defense vs. Martial Arts. Is There a Difference?

Can you stop a violent physical confrontation is six seconds or less? Sounds far-fetched but it can be done quite easily. (No, you don’t have to have a gun!). Far too many high ranking martial artists have found themselves in dire straits when confront... Read >

REAL WORLD STREET FIGHTING FROM A MARTIAL ARTIST’S VIEWPOINT

In trying to sort out traditional martial arts training (particularly in the U.S.) in comparison to all the developing information and dialogue on “street fighting" (by definition not a sport) and even MMA (by definition definitely a sport) one has to try... Read >

Are Martial Arts and Real World Self Defense Mutually Exclusive?

One of the big arguments these days seems to be whether or not martial arts techniques will work in a real life street confrontation. Dedicated martial artists emphatically say “yes" and those more street fighting and self defense oriented emphatically s... Read >