20 Essential self-defense skills. Part 1

Essential Martial Skills:
20 skills to move you from fear to freedom


Ask any skilled martial artist and they will tell you that they have 10 to 20 skills/techniques that they can do at any time and from any position. They may know hundreds of techniques but they will have 10-20 that are their primary techniques. In this blog, I will share with you what I consider to be the common and essential skills that you should know.

Internal Skills

Distraction Strikes/Actions

I first came across the concept of a distraction technique through the teachings of Grandmaster John Pellegrini who created the system of Combat Hapkido. A distraction strike or action is something that causes the attacker to hesitate or stop their initial attack. Always use a distraction technique unless otherwise stated. This could be calling attention to the situation by yelling, dropping a wallet, or striking the attacker. The distraction may be effective enough to cause a complete resolution of the situation (for example, if you start to yell “fire” or “somebody call a doctor” and people come running, your attacker may leave, or you might strike your attacker in the knee with a kick and incapacitate him), however, a distraction is meant to aid you in your escape. If it affects your escape, wonderful. However, if it only aids in your escape, that is all it was intended to do. In every self-defense technique, unless stated otherwise employ a distraction technique.


Basic stances and movement

Boxing stance

Chun Tu Moo Sool works initially and predominately through a modified Boxing stance and movement. There are several types of boxing stances but we will cover the most basic and straightforward one. In this stance:

• Keep your hips, chest, and shoulders all squared to your attacker. This will allow you to use the maximum amount of weapons (hands and feet in various ways not to mention other weapons like knives, guns, and weapons of opportunity).

• Keep your knees and hips soft almost like you are about to sit down. This will help you stay mobile yet relaxed.

• Have your feet approximately shoulder-width apart and one foot should be about the same distance in front of the rear foot with your vertical centerline in the middle of your feet. This will help you move better and keep you balanced in all directions. If your left foot is forward, you will be in what is called the orthodox stance. If your right foot is forward, you will be in what is called the Southpaw stance. You should practice all of your movements and techniques from both sides.

• Stay on the balls of your feet. You do not have to have much room between your heels and the floor. If someone can easily slip a piece of paper between the floor and your heels, that is high enough. This will make it easier to move and keep you from getting stuck in one place.

• Keep your triceps resting on your ribcage or chest with your elbows bent so that your hands are approximately 6-8 inches in front of your face for protection. Your hand that is on the side of your lead foot should also be your front hand. This is for proper shielding which we will cover later in this chapter.

• “Crunch” slightly in your abdomen and bring your navel to your spine. This will make you a smaller target and lean you forward for better balance, movement, and longer reach.

• Tuck your chin to your chest. This will cause you to be a smaller target, keep you from being punched in the throat, and potentially prevent you from being knocked out. Practice this stance before you try moving. Feel your weight drop into your hips and knees, feel your heels come up, and create a little spring in your ankles. Practice this on both sides and get comfortable. Now onto the movement. It is important to remember: The directional foot moves first and the non-directional foot follows the same amount of inches until you are back at your normal stance! What I mean by directional foot is this, whichever way you are going, that foot needs to move first and then the other foot should move the same distance. For example, if I want to move forward, I step forward with my lead foot first and then follow with my rear foot. If I want to move back, I step backward with my rear foot first and then follow with my lead foot. If I want to go right, I step to the right with my right foot first (it doesn’t matter if it is the lead or rearfoot) and then follow with my left. If I want to go left, I step to the left with my left foot first (it doesn’t matter if it is the lead or rearfoot) and then follow with my right. This is what trips (no pun intended) most people up. They will either:


• Cross their feet just like in walking and not shuffle their feet. This type of movement will get you tripped up, off-balance, and taken down quickly.

• Not move their directional foot first. This is essentially the same as above but it is like walking in a crouched/boxing stance.

• Not move their non-directional foot enough or too much. If you don’t move your non-directional foot enough, your stance will get wider and you will lose mobility. If you move it too much your feet will be even and you will not have enough balance or you will end up crossing your feet.

It is important to have good footwork to maintain balance and to be able to move quickly. A good stance and platform to move from is your foundation of the physical techniques. It is the 2nd most important part of personal protection. If you are not balanced and stable you will soon lose the confrontation. After your stance and movement become comfortable it will feel like you are stepping and sliding, gliding, or almost bouncing. Be sure to take this process slowly so that you get it right and don’t cheat yourself.

Break-falls and Rolls


Break-falls are extremely important in that they teach you how to fall safely if you fall, are thrown, or are tripped.

Forward break fall

Begin on your knees with your back erect and your hands in front of your face much like in your shielding position. The differences are that your triceps are not on your ribcage, your triceps are perpendicular to the floor, and your elbows are bent at a 90-degree angle. When your fall forward, do not bend at the waist, just fall straight forward, turn your face to the side, breathe out and slightly tense your arms before impact. Several common mistakes that people commit are that they reach out to catch themselves, bend at the waist, dive forward, or, let their stomach hit the floor. Once you feel comfortable, perform this from a standing position and continue to avoid the common mistakes. Once you feel comfortable with this, jump up in the air, and tilt your head forward so that you land on your forearms first. Once you are comfortable with this, have a partner grab your ankles from behind and pull them back and up. Be sure to take your time on learning this and practice safely.

Backward break fall

Begin by sitting on the ground with your chin tucked to your chest and your hands crossed in front of your chest. Rock backward onto your back with your back curved. At the moment that your lower back/belt touches the ground, slap the ground with both arms at a 45-degree angle from your body. Several common mistakes that people commit are that they reach out to catch themselves, don’t tuck their chin, slap the floor with the back of their hand, or have their arms from their body. Once you feel comfortable, perform this from a squatting position, sit down, roll, slap, and continue to avoid the common mistakes. Once you feel comfortable with this, from a squatting position, jump up in the air, and tilt your upper back backward so that you land your upper back first missing your lower back altogether. Also, be sure to slap before you land on your upper back and keep your chin tucked. Once you are comfortable with this, have a partner grab your ankles from the front and pull them forward and up. Be sure to lean back and slap before you land on your upper back with your chin tucked. Be sure to take your time on learning this and practice safely.

Side break fall

Begin laying on your side with the arm closest to the floor raised up, slightly bent at the elbow, palm towards the floor, and at a 45 degree from your body. Raise the arm up off the floor and bend at the elbow as if touching your face with the back of your hand and then slap the floor with the entire arm. Practice this so many times so that you become comfortable with this. Once you are comfortable, kick your feet over your head until you are on your shoulders and neck, cross your other arm over your chest as you did on the ground, and turn to the side so that your body and legs fall to the floor. Slap the ground as before as your body is falling to the ground. Then kick your feet back up to the air and repeat on the other side.

Once you feel comfortable with this, from a squatting position; kick one foot to the opposite side of your body while crossing your arm over your body and fall to that side. Be sure to slap the ground with your arm at a 45-degree angle from your body as you roll onto your hips and side much like the back break fall. Once you are comfortable with this, perform this from a standing position. Once you are comfortable with this, you can have someone throw you onto a crash pad. Be sure to take your time on learning this and practice safely. Common mistakes that people make are that they will land on their back and not their side or they will land on their elbow or catch themselves with their hand instead of slapping.

Forward roll

To perform the forward roll, begin with one foot forward and your hands in front of your face. Bend forward at the waist and touch the floor to your hands. Tuck your chin, and roll forward at an angle from the lead shoulder to the rear hip. Common mistakes that people make include hitting their head on the ground, rolling forward along their spine, turning sideways, and rolling across the ribs. For illustrative purposes refer to the picture. Your back should travel across the angle from shoulder to hip. Once you are comfortable with this, add a side break fall at the end.

Backward roll

To perform the backward roll, begin with both feet even and one arm pointed out to the side. Lean your head in the opposite direction. Squat down, sit down, and roll back over the shoulder of the arm that is pointed out to the side. Common mistakes that people make rolling over their head or leaning their head to the side of the pointed arm.

Tactical Standup.

I do not recommend grappling/ground fighting in real life. You never know when your attacker will have a partner. When you are on the ground it is twice as hard to fight multiple people as when standing, you cannot easily run away, and if you are on the bottom, it’s even worse. Even if you do everything correct, in a high-stress situation, you may fall, slip, or get pushed/knocked down. When getting up from the ground, you want to use a move that I call tactical standup.

To do this, lay on one side like you are watching T.V. The elbow or hand that is on the side that is on the floor should be under you to prop your body up. The other side foot should be flat on the ground behind your bottom knee or thigh. If your attacker is close enough, you can use your bottom foot to kick his knee. Once there is enough space, elevate your hips off the ground by extending your arm under your body and pushing down with your foot that is on the ground. Then swing your bottom leg back behind you like a pendulum and then stand up and come to your boxing stance. I typically fight from a left leg forward stance (orthodox); therefore, I do this standing up from my right hip on the ground. I do this so that I am immediately in my preferred fighting stance. I do practice and believe that you should also practice from the opposite stance (Southpaw).

Protection skills

Basic Blocking shell

Basic Blocking shell (Hands defend the face and neck, Forearms defend the face, neck, and body, Elbows defend the body and lower Abdomen, Knees defend the legs.) Shielding is simply keeping your arms and legs in the optimal position to take the force of the strike on your extremities instead of your vital areas. I recommend your hands be in front of your face, forearms running vertically down your body, and elbows around your lower ribs. You will probably need to move your arms slightly from time to time but keep the arms close. Be sure to relax. Remember how I instructed you to have your arms earlier: Keep your triceps resting on your ribcage or chest with your elbows bent so that your hands are approximately 6-8 inches in front of your face for protection. Your hand that is on the side of your lead foot should also be your front hand.

When you do this you are creating a shield with your arms. I want you to think of a traditional shield used in combat for a moment. The warrior would not move the shield around unless he knew that was the only direction that an attack was coming from, the deadliest attack was coming from that direction, or he was striking with his shield. When he did move his shield he would only move it enough to provide adequate coverage. Your arms are your shields; keep them in front of your vitals.

There may be times when you need to move your shields slightly such as Someone is punching your body and you drop your elbows. (Keep your hands up!) Someone is throwing a big nasty hook at you. Turn your body to intercept. Someone is throwing a tight hook at your head and you don’t have time to evade it. As a side note, we recommend that before the actual moment of conflict such as the verbal de-escalation phase, you keep your arms and hands in the same position with your palms out so that you imply that you do not want to fight to assist in de-escalating the situation. If you choose to use palm strikes instead of punches, this will be your actual fighting stance. However, if someone is threatening you with a knife and you can’t run or pull a weapon of your own and you choose to try to verbally de-escalate the situation, turn your palms in to protect your arteries in the forearm.

Answer the phone.

This is another type of shielding. This technique is designed to shield against a hook, ridge hand, knife hand, or elbow to the head when you cannot avoid it. Bring the hand up to the head, grab the base of your skull, and the law your forearm on the side of your face. Pro tip: You can also use this shield to put your elbow in front of your nose when your opponent throws a straight punch to your face. If done correctly, they may hit the point of your elbow.

Be Blessed,

Chance