How long does it take to learn the basics of self defense?

Question

How long does it take to learn to defend yourself in the most common or probable situations or from the most common attacks?
I would like to have answers from different martial arts practitioners.

Answer 1

the out come of all you do depends on how much you put in to it.they say practice makes perfect but i say perfect practice makes perfect.tko

Answer 2

Well first of all any decent self-defense program will teach and stress awareness and avoidance. Even I opt for that and have in the past if given the choice as you can never really be sure of the outcome until its over and as you said people carry and use weapons allot. As for what to take look for a school that has a good self-defense program and an instructor with good experience. One style that comes to mind is Grave Maga but that is not readily available everywhere so you may be left with something like a self-defense program or a school heavily oriented towards that. While it is never to late to learn I can tell you that awareness and avoidance is primary and using your head in any situation rather than just relying on your shear skill and ability. An ounce of prevention is worth a gallon of cure when it comes to situations where you might become a victim and statistic of some crime that could have possibly been avoided or prevented.

Answer 3

The very basic pretense of stance, blocks, and strikes can be taught in 2 hours. A solid 4 hours class can teach defensive tactics manuevers to stop an attack and take yourself out of a dangerous situation. I'm an instructor for a Woman's Defensive Tactics class and while we can teach the basic ideals in 2 hours, our shortest class is 4 hours with full courses that run 20 hours.
However no matter how short of a time you can learn the basic instruction in, if you don't practice those techniques and make them a reaction then the teaching will prove useless in the long run.

Answer 4

hmm...tough. To know the basics of a martial arts, i'd say 3-5 years, or however long it takes to be a black belt. (different between people and style).

You'd have to practice to be any good at it and get use to having things be a reaction.

In tang soo do, you learn about 30 differnet ways to defend against a straight punch. Of that, i'd only use 3-4 ...depending on the size of the attacker, but those are the ones i feel most comfortable with. I bet you could learn those in a month or so if you widdle it down to 4 basic ones. Same thing with kicks.

YOu do learn 20 or so grabs/holds to get out of, which takes a while to get even half decent at.

I believe you don't start training in martial arts until you hit black belt belt, everything up to that is making sure you have basic skills.

But cutting it down to a few moves, a couple months of hard work.

Answer 5

What do you consider to be a common attack? I'm fortunate enough to live in a place where attacks are not all that common.

The best way to defend yourself is to not make yourself a victim. Be aware of your surroundings. When you are walking to your car, have your keys out and ready (keys can be used as a weapon). Walk upright and with confidence.

The truth is most people already know how to defend themselves. The body tends to react by flinching. Go for the groin, eyes, or nose. The martial arts can be used for self-defense, but that shouldn't be your primary reason for learning. If you live in a dangerous neighborhood, chances are that trying to defend yourself will only get you killed. Muggers and other thieves tend to prey on the easiest victims. If you don't look like an easy target, chances are they will move on to the next person.

Good luck to you.

Answer 6

To both learn and be able to utilize the most basic techniques it takes a minimum of 8 weeks assuming the person is training for a minimum of 2 hours a day every day. After 27 years as an instructor that has been what I have seen as an average minimum both in my own students (I teach the Hakuno-Kai system) and from students of other styles. This is by no means a set number and changes with the student, the amount of time they are willing to put in to thier training and, how much emphasis is put on practical application. But even with all that 8 weeks is a bare minimum.

Answer 7

It depends upon the person . People learn at different speeds . Some people pick it up faster then others . On average to truly become proficient in the defensive and responsive techniques I teach it takes most students a couple of months . This of course would mean that they are able to perform and improvise off these techniques , in real situations , not just in class .

Answer 8

It takes a pretty long time. But that's if you take under consideration that your assailent may know how to fight. If he doesn't, i agree with the instructor that in just about 8 weeks you could learn to do things to a person that they won't see coming or understand how to defend. But If, say, someone with any experience attacked you the equation would be drastically modified and defending yourself would be a much more difficult endeavor.

Answer 9

2-3 hours for basic stance & hand blocks. Triple that for defensive throws. Need some home practice till it feels right.

Answer 10

Learning it, not long. Actually being able to relax, and use the moves under pressure: A long time

Answer 11

2 hours