Self-defense: evaluate the opponent’s preparation [MINI-GUIDE]

Is it possible to instantly assess the dangerousness of an adversary?

In a self-defense scenario, is it possible to recognize the preparation level of a potential aggressor only looking at him / her (his / her stance, way of moving, etc.)? No. We cannot be sure. We can try to read some of the most common signals but we cannot (and we must not) be sure.

Note – This article has been asked by one of our Core Course practitioners on Patreon (see how to attend our home study classes here Learn Kung Fu online: a beginner-to-expert course).

Before continuing it is important to stress that the difficulty to carry out a reliable analysis comes from various reasons:

  • An intelligent opponent hides / lower his real skills until they are completely necessary (in a true self-defense scenario we will rarely see, for example, a boxer assuming his guard position until it is strictly necessary); if we face (eg. during a quarrel) a person assuming immediately a declared guard stance without a real need, probably he simply has fear and he is not an expert, but this does not mean that he is not dangerous at all
  • A good fighter can be so sure of himself (a wrong attitude) to have the arrogance of exposing himself not showing immediately his combat settings (eg. provoking us without a guard, etc.); this does not mean at all that will be easy to defeat him (this could also be a trap)
  • The fact that we recognize for example a Judo stance, does not mean at all that the opponent knows only that martial art (with its approach, techniques, limits, strong points, etc.), it only means that it is possible that he knows something about it, nothing more
  • In addition to all of this, in such a moment of stress, it is not always easy to assess and cross logically so small details (it is a matter of mental training)

A note by Master Kongling – Let’s always accept the odds and reject certainties. In general, however, it is always better to assume that our adversary is much stronger than us.

Self-defense: the starting point

How to evaluate the combat skills of an opponent

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Author: Master Kongling

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