How long does it really take to learn how to defend yourself?
If you walk into any traditional martial arts school as a beginner and ask the instructor, “I want to learn how to protect myself. How long will it take to learn?”
The typical answer will be, “Three to five years” depending on the system and how many days a week you can devote to it.
On the other hand, if you join the United States Army, the Israeli Army, the French Army, or the Russian Army how long will it take for them to teach you how to defend yourself? These organizations will not only teach you about self-preservation but how inflict injury on the enemy in only five to six weeks by attending a Basic Combat Training course. This short time not only includes hand-to-hand combat and learning various weapon systems, but other soldiering skills are in the mix including marching, hygiene, military customs, and a lot of other things.
A SWAT officer goes to learn the highest levels of police tactics in a matter of only two weeks to four weeks.
Most counterterrorist courses for special operations personnel are under eight weeks.
Most top bodyguard schools in the world are six months long, and only a few days are devoted to the defensive tactics one needs to know.
If you were to boil down the advanced Israeli military hand-to-hand combat program into an around-the-clock course it would amount to a full week of intense training, and slightly longer for the U.S. Army Combatives program and the U.S. Marine MCMAP system.
So, why is it when you go to a traditional-based civilian martial arts instructor they say it takes years to learn self defense, and when you go to the professionals who do the conflict for real they tell you it will take only days? Who’s right, the civilians or the professionals?
The truth is that learning real self-defense only takes days. If you can’t master any self-defense move in five minutes then it is either too complicated or too impractical.
The Jim Wagner Reality-Based Personal Protection system is based upon the same teaching philosophy and training methods as the world’s top police and military units. Of course, this makes sense since Jim Wagner’s background includes not only the traditional martial arts and sport-based martial arts, but he has severed in military, police, corrections, bodyguard, and special operations capacities.
When you join a traditional martial arts system it will indeed take you years to learn it. This is because you are going to have to learn an entire subculture. In most traditional martial arts schools you will learn commands and techniques in the native language of that art, and that takes time. You will have various rituals and traditions to follow, such as salutations before training, meditation sessions in some cases, and proper respect when entering or exiting the training area. You will be required to perform many repetitious patterns either against the air, a striking device, or against a partner. There are an infinite amount of patters an instructor can pass down or create and all of this takes time. If you are entering the martial arts to learn a subculture then that is wonderful. Likewise, if you desire to compete in the ring and sign-up with a sport-based instructor then that is admirable. There is absolutely nothing wrong with this, and this is where these systems shine. However, if you are looking to get into the martial arts for self-defense then you wand a reality-based system.
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