One of my son’s was getting hassled walking to 7/11 when he was about 7 years old. It was a group of kids that warned him to stay away from their neighborhood. I got wind of this and decided it was time to teach him some practical self-defense moves. I had already taught him a karate counter-punch so I decided to teach him about fighting distance.
Critical distance is the safe distance between you and your attacker… the distance just outside of a kick or punch. In simplest terms, you only have to step back or to the side (better) to avoid getting hit. The advantage of moving out of the way is your counter-attack. This is normally the best time to counter - when the opponent is over-committed (leaning over to hit you)! You only have a couple of good choices - stick or move. You can hit the person attacking while they are coming in or you can step out of the way. After you step out of the way, you are in a good position to counter attack because the opponent has missed and is probably off balance!
It is best to side-step so if the opponent keeps coming and throws multiple punches - you can miss them all and counter-attack. If you just step back, you should counter-attack rapidly as you will only have a small window of opportunity before the attacker realizes he is exposed. It is also good if you can move around comfortably without tripping (like boxers can do) so you can figure out when to side-step and counter-punch easily.
In my son’s case - he walked down the block and was attacked by a kid that charged him. My son waited until the kid was on him and moved back - allowing the kid to overextend his attack. My son then hit him with his counter-punch to the stomach and dropped him. That was the fight… the rest of the kids kind of backed off and did not bother my son again.
Many self-defense situations can be just as easily solved if you can keep your wits about you and don’t give away you hand before you are ready to strike. I’ll talk about possible striking methods and ways to prepare in future posts but keep in mind - if you are not in striking distance - you cannot be hit until that gap (critical distance) is bridged.
I really like the information on critical distance.
The story of your boy and the bully is a sad and typical story that also has a good ending. I’m glad he learned to fight back and used the critical distance properly.
What is Critical Distance? The distance between you and an attacker. If the attacker has no weapon, then the “critical distance” would be if the attacker got within arms length of you. If they have a knife, bat, etc, then your critical distance is extended. Critical distance is the “safe zone” perimeter beteween you and a possible attack. If that critical distance is compromised, and you have no other means of escape, you must defend yourself. You dont wait to be bumped in the chest, you dont wait to try and talk your way out of it (that process should have already happened) and you dont wait for them to throw the first punch. Once your critical distance has been breached, you are under attack! You do not have time to try and evaluate the situation on whether or not this person is going to inflict bodily harm. You must respond quickly by becoming the attacker yourself. Leave nothing to chance when it comes to your safety. Unfortunatley, I learned this the hard way. Even though the first words my instructor said, at my first lesson, was “critical distance” I let my guard down one evening. The condensed version is I allowed this person to enter my critical distance. I didnt move away and I didnt respond the way I was trained. I was hit hard in the head. The blow to my head spun me around with my backside now facing my attacker. I reacted with a text-book rear kick. The kick knocked the attacker on his back and gasping for air. Two transit cops had witnessed the whole attack. They arrested the guy for assault. I had successfully defended myself, but I broke the number one rule. I allowed this guy to enter my critical distance and did nothing about it. Critical distance is the most important factor when it comes to hand-to-hand combat, no matter what discipline you train under. Mr. Zimmer is a very wise and experienced martial artist, and oh yea, he wasnt very pleased to find out one of his students got hit in the head because the rule of critical distance was disregaurded. It will NEVER happen again!!
Great post and very detailed Kim. Thanks for pointing out the obivous (I wish)! If people would just realize that the time for talking ends when an aggressor steps into your critical distance - bullys would not get the drop on anyone! To use boxing lingo.. you can stick or move… meaning you can attack or get out of the way if someone steps close enough to hit you.
Thanks for the contribution Kim!
John W. Zimmer