Driven by Design: the how and why of effective technique: A guide to designing new OR improving existing self-defense technique

by Travis D. Brown

This is a retitled version of my previous work OUT LIKE A LIGHT!: old world bare knuckle boxing for self-defense. Constructive criticism led me to retitle the work as it was thought (rightfully so I must concede) that it might be misleading to those looking for a historical work on bare knuckle boxing. That being said this work is designed with the hope that it will help those who are training solo, revisiting arts they have not practiced in a long time or those who have plenty of technique but may have doubts as to its function in real self-defense. The reality is that most technique taught in modern schools is overly complicated mechanically while being under developed tactically. This is a recipe for disaster in self-defense. The good news is In most cases its not the art you study that needs changing. Technique cannot be overly complicated and it cannot merely be memorized. You need to understand how it works both mechanically and within the context of self-defense. At every step a technique must have a goal of subduing the foe quickly and in a way that places you at as little risk as possible while doing so. Unfortunately this isn't what most of us are taught. Modern schools tend to be developed around an economic model rather than a true self-defense model. This means the curriculum isn't there to make you an efficient fighter, instead it is designed with keeping you busy and engaged for a longer period of time. This equates to curriculum filled with half learned techniques and meaningless drills meant to make 3 months to take a year and 3 years to take 10 years. This work, I hope, helps to fill in the gap by providing a guide with which a student can evaluate their own techniques, ,regardless of their source, and then dismiss or refine them as needed. To this end, this work contains samples, rules, principles and templates for evaluating what makes a functional technique. It also contains some samples of techniques that can serve as a starting point for those of you who may be training on your own. No matter your art, these "rules" apply. Knowing them will go along way towards making your martial art better and a better art will serve you better when it really counts!

169 pages, Paperback

Published March 9, 2018