We’ve all heard the term before.  Ready, willing and able can be used to describe the student eager to begin learning a new skill.  It can be used in business, in school, in life.  If you are in the mode to learn martial arts, you may say that you are ready, willing and able.  But when it comes to a real and present danger staring you in the face, are you ready willing and able to fight?

Something very interesting happens, physiologically, during a crime or attack; something that even martial arts self defense can’t train you for.  See, we can take someone who is ready, willing and able and train them with great technique. You can go far in your training of martial arts self defense with little thought to your mental attitude and focus.  You can even develop a keen sense of confidence when you learn martial arts or combat self defense.

What you may not learn in simple martial arts self defense, however, is the single thing that could mean the difference between life and death – or at least injury.  The thing that you need is to train your mind along with your body.  The reason is that the mind is instinctive.  Not long ago, man himself was the predator and the prey.   In not so distant history, man was hunted by the “food” he was hunting.  And in those times, man’s best defense was to high-tail it out of there as fast as possible.  The sharp edge of a stick was not much of a match for a roaring grizzly bear.

The point is that, in a stressful situation, you are ready to run.  In fact, your mind screams “Run! Run! Run!”  This is what we are programmed for.  So, you have taken the time to learn martial arts or combat self defense, or both.  You have learned how to maintain awareness and avoid danger.  And then you become the target.  You are Ready and you are Able..but are you going to be Willing?  Will your instincts take over or will you have also learned to fight against the instinct to freeze up and instead use your training to save your life?

Training in any type of reality based self defense is a big step in the right direction of true and lasting personal safety.   But there is more to it and you should always remember that your mental ability to resist instinctive urges must be conquered.  It is important that you train your mind along with your body on a consistent basis.

When you put some thought into truly being able to defend yourself, you may not even consider who or what you are up against.  Watching Law and Order, CSI, or the Bourne movies doesn’t really give you a clear picture of the mind of a criminal.  However, knowing your attacker is an important part of any self defense; as important (or even more so) as learning powerful and effective martial arts self defense moves.

What do I mean when I say you should know your attacker?  Certainly you don’t have time (nor the inclination) to start a conversation when staring at the barrel of a gun or the pointed end of a blade.  You don’t care about your attacker’s name, place of birth, hobbies….no, you care about getting out of there.  You don’t need to help the criminal, or cure him of his need to wreak havoc; you simply need to stop him – or her.  (Hint:  learn martial arts)

What I mean is, as you go about developing your martial arts self defense skills, or combat self defense skills – or both – spend some time thinking about crime and the people who commit them.  To do this, you need to imagine the primitive nature of crime.  Remember the whole predator/prey theory here.  A criminal is like a lion ready to charge.  You are no safer facing a criminal than you are walking through a herd of hungry lions!  You need to understand this in order to have a chance of getting away to safety.

It all boils down to one simple trait shared by all criminals; and that is selfishness.  Criminals are selfish to an extreme.  They have no regard for you or your family.  They only want what they want and will do whatever they deem necessary to get it.  After a crime has occurred, there are all sorts of theories and out and out excuses as to why a criminal behaves as they do.

But this is not what is important to you.  What is important is to avoid the crime altogether.  What is important is that you learn martial arts or some other form of self defense that will incorporate mental training.  Without mental preparedness – when you simply learn martial arts moves – you will be no match for your attacker.  Your attacker will most likely carry a weapon.  He or she will be completely focused on the end result they are after, fueled by their extreme selfishness.  You need to know this and acknowledge it as a reality.

Self defense is not all about martial arts training.  Self defense is not all about moves and techniques.  Much of your personal safety is going to come from your mindset and what you are mentally prepared for.  Know who may rob you; who may rape you; who you are up against, and you are more prepared to outwit your attacker from the get-go.