Philosophy of Self-defense
If, after a few weeks of training, you still can’t throw a straight punch or hold your hands correctly in a fight, that’s not a reason to look for a shortcut – it’s a signal to go back to the fundamentals.
Are "Finishing" Techniques Like Eye Strikes Worth Training Around?
Techniques like an eye strike are often taught as a fast, decisive answer to being grabbed or held down. They can work but treating them as a primary strategy is a mistake for two reasons.
First, technically: a determined opponent mid-technique completing a choke or a takedown, for example – may not disengage immediately even if struck. Momentum and intent can carry an action through pain that would normally stop it. A finishing technique that assumes an instant reaction isn’t a reliable plan.
Second, and more importantly: a technique capable of causing permanent injury carries real legal weight. Whether a specific use of force is justified depends on the actual threat you’re facing, and that judgment is made after the fact, by a court – not by you, in the moment, based on how a technique looked in training. This is exactly why proportionality is something we address directly in training, not an afterthought.
What to Focus On Instead
No one is saying a technique like this can’t work in the right circumstances. But building your training around a single high-risk finishing move, while your fundamentals a straight punch, proper hand position, basic control are still shaky, is training in the wrong order. Fundamentals are what you rely on in the first, most likely moments of a confrontation. Finishing techniques are a last resort, not a shortcut around doing the basic work.
Do you have any questions ...
Have questions about how we structure training around real priorities, not shortcuts? Get in touch – we’re glad to help.