The Importance of a Force Continuum

An Essential Component of Self-Defense

Storytime

When I was in high school, I helped out with the theatre department. (No, I was not an actor. I was in Lights and Sound.) This frequently involved being at school late. During one of these late nights, my friend and I were packing up our stuff to head home, and out of nowhere another student jumped from behind me and put me in a headlock. This forced me onto my knees. Having trained Krav Maga, I knew how to defend against this. Get behind the opponent’s leg, hit the crotch, and gouge the eyes as you stand up. However, having a lick of common sense, I decided that gouging the student’s eyes, even though they had me in a headlock, would probably get me expelled. Luckily, my friend stepped in and kneed the student in the head, which made him let go of the headlock. It left the student with a bloody nose and an even more wounded ego. As such, he threatened that he would kill us if we ever told anyone that he lost a fight to nerds like us. Given that I am many years removed from school, I think he likely will not follow through on that threat.

Why I Failed?

I froze in this situation, not because I had not pressure-tested the defense countless times, but because Krav Maga has a very narrow force continuum. It ranges from extreme violence to slightly less extreme violence. Many of the defensive techniques I was taught only worked in practice if one was willing to participate in extreme violence. For example, we practiced defending against headlocks utilizing the nose instead of the eyes. However, without utilizing groin strikes, it is very hard to get in the requisite position to utilize the nose effectively as it requires a superior structure to the eye gouge version.

Given this, it became important for me to cross-train and try other martial arts that had alternative approaches. Brazillian Jiujisu offered an alternative to the headlock defense that required less violence. It involved getting into the same position Krav Maga preferred, but instead of trying to remain standing, one could drop to the ground bringing their opponent with them. Then, one could frame on their opponent’s jaw to escape after attaining a superior position.

The Force Continuum

There exists a force continuum that is applicable for self-defense. It ranges from least violent techniques to most violent techniques. On the least violent end, one has techniques that allow one to control their opponent and maintain their safety without needing to do any significant physical damage to them. On the most violent end, one has techniques that can maim or kill the opponent. Krav Maga worked well on the most violent end of the spectrum, but it failed in most other areas. As such, it is important to have a variety of techniques across the whole spectrum, such that one can adapt their level of violence to the situation.

A bouncer would likely not want to gouge or even strike an assailant. Instead, they would likely prefer to control them and remove them from the area. By contrast, someone defending their home from an intruder when their significant other and kids are present is likely to be far more willing to employ extreme levels of violence to keep their family safe. Hence, it is important to have a variety of techniques with differing levels of violence, such that one can adapt their force level to the situation.

A rough outline of what this force continuum of techniques might look like can be seen below:

Least Violent (Control and Defense): These would include restraining and control techniques utilizing joint locks and takedowns and defenses that focus on redirection and protection without engaging in mutual violence.

Sports-Level Violence: These would include the level of violence one would expect from combat sports, such as throws, kicks, punches, clinching, elbows, and knees.

Most Violent (Maiming or Killing): These would include techniques that are designed to end a fight quickly by doing serious damage that is often irreparable to the opponent, such as eye gouging.

Any martial art trained for self-defense should possess all of these levels of violence.

Being Realistic

When training for self-defense, few martial arts participate in all these levels of violence. Many martial arts will participate in two of the levels, but rarely all three. As such, one must be pragmatic with their approach to martial arts. One option is to cross-train with other martial arts over time, gaining exposure to different approaches to the same problem. Another option is to train one martial art that meets two of the criteria and practice the third one on your own time with a partner. (Obviously, do not practice maiming or killing your partner, but there are ways to simulate the technique, such that one can perform it under stress.). A third option is to be lucky and find a martial arts school that trains throughout the spectrum of violence. Whichever path one chooses, the key takeaway is that for self-defense one must have a force continuum that encompasses all levels of violence.

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