Avoidance, De-Escalation and Attacking: An Expert Coach Consensus in Self-Defense Practice

Background: The overarching objective of self-defense training is to equip trainees with a set of skills that can be effectively deployed across a range of conflict scenarios. Self-defense training is a regular part of both police and military training; however, globally there appears little consensus or empirically informed practical guidance about the content of such training programs (Cushion, 2018; Jensen, 2014).

Aim: Expert self-defense coaches to reach consensus on i) the characteristics of expert performance; ii) the potential scenarios and situational parameters trainees should be prepared for; and iii) the important elements of self-defense training.

Methods: Expert coaches in the domain of self-defense (N = 45) volunteered to participate in a Delphi Poll, which focused on the three objectives of the study. Criteria for the selection as an expert coach were applied as recommended by Nash and colleagues (2012). Sixteen coaches finished a total of three rounds of the poll.

Results: The members of the expert panel agreed: i) expert performance in self-defense heavily relies on avoidance and de-escalatory behavior, ii) at the point of confrontation, perceptual-cognitive skills play a defining role, iii) training to defend punches, kicks and knife attacks from varying starting positions is crucial, independent of self-defense domain or gender, and iv) situational awareness, communication/de-escalation, decision-making and attack techniques are the most important elements of self-defense training.

Discussion and Conclusion: The study is a first important step towards helping self-defense and personal protection coaches identify expert performance in self-defense and to understand the broad range of skills needed to avoid, manage and resolute potential physical encounters. This will help in the development of an evidence-based view on curriculum development. The current study adds from the perspective of self-defense expert coaches, that (a) the variability is the norm rather than the exception in conflict settings and (b) that learning to defend oneself encompasses a broad variety of skills (i.e. communication, de-escalation, situational awareness, aggression, etc.) that are seemingly more important than specific techniques against specific attacks.

References

Cushion, C. J. (2018). Exploring the Delivery of Officer Safety Training: A Case Study. Policing,5(4), 1. http://doi.org/10.1093/police/pax095

Jensen, P. R. (2014). Hand-to-Hand Combat and the Use of Combatives Skills: An Analysis of United States Army Post-Combat Surveys from 2004 – 2008.West Point, NY: United States Military Academy.

Nash, C. S., Martindale, R., Collins, D. J., & Martindale, A. (2012). Parameterising expertise in coaching: Past, present and future. Journal of Sports Sciences, 30(10), 985–994.