Afternoon!

Hello Guys,

I'm completely new to the site as of about 10 minutes ago, found my way here after finding the Bob Spour trailers on YouTube ;-) Thought I would take a few moments to introduce myself and ask a couple of starter questions.

My name is Heston, I'm 24 and from West Sussex. I've no real previous experience of marshal arts other than being a bit of an m.a. movie fanboy.

I'm really after self-defence advice, I'm only a small/average sized bloke, about 5' 9" and weighing about 10.5 stone, I'm quite a slight build and certainly not what you would call 'robust'. So, I figure that if I were to end up in a bit of a 'situation' where I'll have to defend myself of indeed someone I'm with, likelihood is that the attacker is going to be bigger than I.

How does the size situation shape up for you guys? does it really present an issue? or do the benefits of being slight and fast balance out with the strength of someone bigger to give me a bit more of an even chance in a fight?

I'm really keen to get your opinions on this, I'd also be interested to know what sort of training I should be looking at, are there any particular areas of training which suite someone in my position over others?

Cheers all, look forward to getting to know you.

Heston

Hi Heston,
Interesting name, never heard it before

I love martial arts movies myself, last one I watched was "Confessions of a pit fighter" quite good, and more realistic which I prefer.

The problem with movies is that things are always so good and go so smooth and may give you false representations of real fighting, it is alot different let me tell you.

I just used a converter to convert stone to kg as I had no idea, its about 66kg/145lbs. You are quite small and i'd be irresponsible if I said "size doesn't matter". It has been said, but I believe that size and strength does matter.. like if you have 2 equally skilled people the bigger and stronger one will win.

BUT there is things you can do things to compensate. Good training physical and your mindset and psychology. If you have some good training then you will be able to handle it.

I don't really have the same problem with size as I am about 105kg/232lbs. But because of my training I have been able to take out people bigger than me, even back when I was about 10kg lighter. If I didn't have my training, I would have got smashed a long time ago, but I have managed to keep myself safe in a risky environment. (Working in a bar).

Also the most important thing that comes first is awareness/observation/avoidance.. if you know something is coming and can avoid or have pre-warning, it helps.

And the other big thing is just learning to handle the fear and stay more calm in threatening situations. Because if you can't handle the inherent fear, you can't act effectively.

As for training, look at Richies main site, www.streetfightsecrets.com

I recommend the cd's "Psychology of violence" highly for your mindset and dealing with fear.

And also look for the link "Beta-8 dvds" and purchase the pack of 3 dvd's. That will give you a very good base, because you have no experience, that is the best way for you to go.

-Ben

Morning Ben,

Thanks for the thorough reply mate, I really appreciate that. Never heard the name Heston before? Check out the Chef Heston Blumenthal, the man is a bloody genius in the kitchen, you'll enjoy it I'm sure :-)

You're right, I am a very slight build, and to be honest I'm at my lightest right now, work stresses and the rest of it have taken their toll this year, I do plan on putting on a bit of weight over xmas though that'll help no end I'm sure, along with a bit of training I'll gain it, I actually find it quite natural to build muscle, whenever I gain mass its never fatty, even when I don't train and just eat.

Like you say, from looking around a large amount of this stuff seems to be based on phycology as much as anything else and I think I'm just really looking to equip myself with the basics, just so I'm not thrown completely in the deep end when it comes to being in a sticky situation, not that I plan on getting myself into any in the first place ;-) I can run like Sebastian Co so as long as a I hit the guy in the nose and hot foot it I'll be aright;-)

I'm not seen the pitfighter movie, sounds interesting, I'm been watching Tony Ja a great deal lately, something about that guy is a great deal of fun, although its not very 'real world' it is entertaining to watch.

I'll have a look through the site at the DVD's you've recommended, there seems to be a great deal of stuff on the site all appearing to be excellent quality.

Cheers my man,

Heston