In any scary situation, the faster you act the better. “He who hesitates is lost” so they say. So it’s a great idea to practice repeatedly to prepare ahead of time. You want to be so confident in your performance and and do repetitions so thoroughly that you don’t even need to think that you just do it.
Think about when you’re driving and a small animal or dog darts out in the road in front of you. You don’t go through the 123’s of braking
- Take foot off accelerator
- Move foot to brake pedal
- Step hard on the brakes
And you may even have to swerve if necessary. All those thoughts and actions just happen automatically because you’ve done them thousands of times. You probably won’t even remember doing it – it’s just an innate reaction at that point. It’s muscle memory.
Defending against an assailant is exactly the same. You really don’t have time to think.
- Countergrab or block
- Identify closest available weapon to the closest available target
- Apply technique to target and repeat as necessary
Remember practice makes perfect. Well a better rule if thumb is perfect practice makes perfect. So one self-defense class is great. But repeated practice under the guidance of a trained martial artist is much better.
So don’t you quit after just one self-defense class! . Take the follow ups classes. You can do them after any regularly scheduled class and there will be plenty of help available. You’ll kick the kicking shield, hit the focus mitts, and get to practice your fast, accurate response to a number of different attacks. Meanwhile, between follow-up classes, practice in the mirror or on someone ( carefully) . But do you repetitions so you get really really good and you don’t have to think – just react!