Do We NEED to learn to defend ourselves?

Question

I'm a pretty lanky guy.. 5'7 145 lbs or so. I mean, I work out a little, and I do alittle practicing at home. So I Do infact have muscle, and I have the mentality to fight because I have been in alot of street fights in school. But Im wondering about the 'Outside' world.. See I'm 17 now and I've always been a loner. I don't hang out with a big group, I dont go to parties, I dont smoke, dont drink. I have no problem slamming a guy to the floor and bashing his face in. But is the outside world really that scary? Would I really get involved into stuff where I really need self defence? I carry around a pocket knife, and they usually back off then but..?

Answer 1

The only things we NEED to do is eat food, drink fluids, get some sleep, die (eventually) and pay our taxes!

EDIT: In my experience, if you know how to defend yourself you will seldomly have to do so. Street predators look for easy targets. A person who knows how to defend him/herself has an air of confidence that most predators can spot a mile away!

Answer 2

Advisable but not essential!

Answer 3

i bet u live in a rich *** town. if u think slamming some1 is cool ur definitely a rich kid. go to a city like Coney Island NY. ground fighting is the worst way to fight cause its on cement and if u fought me id roll ur *** into a kimura. ground fighting is 4 ******* who r scared to slug cause they don't wanna get their face hurt. i bet u think ur guaranteed to win a fight if ur on top. BJJ (most rapidly growing martial art in the world) teaches u to f**k ppl up from ur back so id learn to fight like a man if i were u or ur gonna look like an idiot when u tackle som1 and spend 6 weeks in an arm cast. but the world IS real outside ur lil town. muggings, pickpoctets, robberies, assault, murder, rape, $hit HAPPENS!!!

Answer 4

you need to learn social communication skills, and the "outside world" is not that scary. I mean i had some problems of my own and lack of self confidence but i survived and now i love it. I think girls and women do need to know some self defense, like i do. but u are telling me that u have participated is some street fights and have no problem slamming a guy to the floor and bashing his face for i think u know enough self defense. u are only 17, u don't have to get involved in street fights, there plenty of good things a guy like u can do for example, skate boarding, snow boarding, swimming, basketball..........i can go on for ever!!!

u have good friends try keeping them, they may come in handy.

and i'm rally proud that u don't smoke and drink, keep it that way.

but don't carry a pocket knife unless the neighborhood u live in is full of people with pocket knives or even bigger knives and other stuff.

hope it helps!!

Answer 5

I don't think we need to do anything, the question is what do we want out of life. I like the feeling of knowing that with my training, if a situation arises I at least have the skills to have a chance. Undertsand that in a good school, you will gain far more then self defense. You will gain a confidence in yourself that many times will help you avoid a physical confrontation, simply because of the way you carry yourself.

there was a study done where they showed video tapes of people walking down the street to prisoners, and they were asked to pick victims. Almost without fail they all picked the same ones, many times passing over smaller females for much larger males. When asked why they said it was all in the way they carried themselves.

Another thing that the confidence(not to be confused with *********) will do for you is to hlp you be a leader rather then a follower. I have had a couple of accidents I happened on recently, where everyone has been standing around with a thumb up their butt. through my training I was able to take charge and direct things until police arrived. Before I started training I owuld have been one of the poeple looking for direction.

Hope this helps you decide, because training martial arts has many more benefits then self defense. When you get to know people in the class, you might even be les of a loner.

Answer 6

I agree with Katana. If you want to defend yourself against the scarey monsters in Gotham city, learn to assemble, clean, and load your firearm.

If you want to improve your life and better your chances of survival over time, than martial arts.

Answer 7

As long as you have street smarts, then that should be enough to get you out of most confrontations.  However, there will be situations where defending yourself is imminent.  I have been training in martial arts for a long time in hopes that i NEVER have to use it in the outside world.  But when I or my family are faced with that threat, I will be better equipped to handle the situation.

"Better to know it and not need it, than to need it and not know it"-me