Psychology of Self-Defense

There is a fundamental paradox of self-defense instruction. If what we teach as brain and body defenses will destroy the self of the mind, we’re simply not teaching self-defense.  If what we teach isn’t simple, easy, and practical, it’s not defense. 

If martial arts are taught as details or techniques, they will be learned by the rational mind. This mind will likely be offline during an attack, making what they’ve learned ineffective. If the rational mind remains online during a self-defense situation, the defender may hesitate, or hold back their responses to the attacks, making what they’ve learned ineffective.  In self-defense, there is fundamental disconnect between the sense of “self” (your mind & who you are) and the “defense” (the actions your brain and body take to ensure your organism’s survival).

YOU Defense provides a possible answer to this paradox through the basic concepts of the Internal Family Systems Model (IFS), developed by Dr. Richard Schwartz, Ph. D. The IFS Model describes each of us as having “subpersonalities” that work together to meet the challenges and tasks of our daily lives. We are viewed as “containing an ecology of relatively discrete minds.”  The first basic assumption of the IFS Model is

“It is the nature of the mind to be subdivided into an indeterminate number of  subpersonalities or parts. Everyone has a Self, and the Self can and should lead the individual’s internal system. The non-extreme intention of each part is something positive for the individual. There are no “bad” parts…”

The YOU Defense curriculum is guided by the idea that you are in charge of your “self.”  To ensure that both how you are taught and what you learn do not harm or hinder your command of your “self,” YOU Defense takes participants through the creation of a “martial-self” or “warrior-self”  This self is the recipient of self-defense knowledge and techniques. The role of this self is to take decisive action, to unleash your defenses when called upon.  Taking the time to create this part of you ensures that you will be able to effectively learn and use self-defense without defense destroying the self!