"Will this work so that I can use it instinctively in vital combat against an opponent who is determined to prevent me from doing so, and who is striving to eliminate me by fair means or foul". ~ Rex Applegate

It really does NOT matter one iota what style, system, method, or technique you MAY wish to apply to your personal survival training.

What DOES matter is, if "whatever" it is that you choose passes the above TEST.

This requires HONEST self-appraisal first and foremost. Forget how you would LIKE the world to be; see the world as it really is.

And look at yourself in the same light.

I've "learned" thousands of techniques over the years. I practice about a dozen (striking and grappling) on a daily basis.

I have been ruthless in rejecting ANY technique or method that DOES NOT pass Applegate's "test".

We can take a page from "combat" sports here:

Boxers, wrestlers, and Judokas ALL have that one "Sunday punch". One technique that they have drilled and practiced and drilled and practiced. And generally these "techniques" as applied to each specific sport are repeated over and over.

Why? Because these few methods have the BEST overall track record of success.

Even the NHB and UFC type matches reflect this pattern. Watch hundreds of these bouts and you will see a definitive pattern of decisive winning techniques. And they are very few in number.

So it is with boxing, wrestling, Judo AND street-fighting.

Georges Carpentier was a champion Savateur and boxer. He was KNOWN for his right hand KO power and technique. He called this punch his "whip punch"; his bread and butter, his Sunday "best". He said that it took him TEN years of hard work before he felt he really "mastered" this ONE technique.

There is a vital fundamental lesson there.

So the next time you "learn" some technique, run it thru the mill of the "test". And be honest about it.

Copyright 2003 www.thetruthaboutselfdefense.com