Quantcast
WOD Talk Magazine
WOD Talk Magazine
Home   >   Self Defense   >   Tools & Tactics   >   Entries – Closing the Distance In Self Defense

Entries – Closing the Distance In Self Defense

By on October 11, 2011
JeetKuneDo

Some people spend hundred of hours practicing closing the distance techniques in their self defense / martial art training. It doesn’t mater if it is Karate, Tae Kwon Do, Mixed Martial Arts, Kung Fu, or whatever.

 

Entries in the real world are not like they are in a one on one sparring match.

 

They are VERY Different!

 

In the real world, you are not going to have your attacker standing 2, 3 or even 4 steps away from you for you to execute your entry techniques. He will be up in your face. And fast!

 

Most crimes will happen at “point blank” range. If a mugger is going to mug you, is he going to be 5 feet away from you asking you give him your wallet / purse?

 

Or is he going to be 2 inches from your face demanding it? I think more along the lines of the second one. Don’t you?

 

So my question is, why practice all of these entries over and over?

 

I think (IMHO) the main reason we practice closing the distance in martial arts / self defense is due to the idea of dueling. We get so used to the idea that someone is going to “spar” with us that we focus on training for that.

 

Never realizing that this will almost certainly never happen in the streets.

 

If you want to train for realism, for real violence, you need to understand how crimes really happen. Someone “sparing” with you, someone knife dueling with you, someone pausing after you block their attack and then wait for you to hit them back, just doesn’t happen.

 

If the criminal is going to close that distance with you before you are even aware of what is happening, why train to close the distance? I personally only train to close the distance once in a great, great while. And under certain circumstances. But I do not spend countless hours repeating a outside, inside, split or reverse split entries.

 

What do you think? Do you spend a lot of time practicing closing the distance? Do you think it is a valid area of training? Leave a comment below to let everyone know your thoughts.

PS: Don't forget to sign up for our EXCLUSIVE content and updates on the "Subscribe to the Blog" area below. Or at the top of the sidebar -->

And please: Share this post, link to it, tell anyone who’s thinking about learning self defense, survival, prepping or homesteading – help me to spread the word.

STAY PRIMAL, my friends

Karma Senge signature

"Subscribe to the Blog"
Receive an update straight to your inbox every time we publish a new article. Plus receive EXCLUSIVE content.

About Coach Karma

Coach Karma L Senge has been in Personal Protection / Self Defense as well as the Fitness & Nutrition world for over 31 years now and continually teaches around the world. He has held seminars for many government agencies around the world as well as seminars for civilians. He currently teaches seminars in the United States, Europe, India, and throughout Central America. As well has oversees many training groups around the world.
1 comments
  Livefyre
Sort: Newest | Oldest
mark
mark

practicing closing the distance teaches spatial awareness. even if you'd never use the skill to close the distance yourself, it teaches the mind to become more aware of another person's intention and movement when they are seeking to close the distance. it becomes something you don't have to actively "turn on" to use and can engage itself when another body is behaving in a manner similar to one which you've practiced against.

Get EXCLUSIVE, Insider-Only content with awesome tips & advice, subscribe to my free newsletter. read more
Real Time Analytics