Myself being a rather small guy and having lived in some of the toughest neighborhoods, I have been tested numerous times.... Because of my Boxing and God's Grace, I have overcome the S.O.B. in the streets over and over again! Truth = avoidance is the best self defence ... Thanks for posting .* * * * * Your Pal Paul D'Antuono

Boxing and Wrestling is also a Martial Art btw :)

I'm digging that hat. I'm from Jamaica born and raised. Respect

Hi J.T. I got into Marshal Arts accidentally and have become va black belt. Your right about the ego statement. And it is so true about the mental aspect. I don't look or act like a kickboxer yet I believe I project a confident look about me. My teacher is an ex British Middleweight Champion and well schooled in self defence, and his advice is the same as yours. He does however say if anything it's boxing footwork that will help most in self defence, master that and you've a good chance of avoiding taking hits and probably tiring the attacker out so you could maybe sweep him to the floor and make an escape.

Good advice from a real person. No BS JUST STRAIGHT TALK.

Well said! The ultimate self defense don't fight at all.

He makes a good point about victims. Human beings still have the predatory nature, and predators know what to look for in prey. Your body language is very important in every aspect of life, not just in the context of a physical confrontation. There are some good books on body language out there.

You are an inspiration, and have excellent original insight. Thank you for giving us all of this information.

The part about aggression release in training is so true. I have been doing some form of martial arts since I was twelve, and I never had the urge to punch someone on the street. You also project that calmness to people on the street so they don't target you.

Great calling out a street fight as not self defence. If you feel you NEED it, you've got bigger problems than your technique.

Great vid JT. My personal favourite when it come to self defence techniques, psychology etc. is an English guy called Geoff Thompson. He makes the most sense to me of all the experts I have come across

Hey man :) I've been boxing for a few years on and off. Being mildly disabled, it's really helped my confidence and movement. Not just for boxing, but for my emotional state. I also like the exercise and the different combinations. a very tough workout. deceptively simple, but very hard haha!

Practising combat sports or training in a martial art helps you cool down and feel when not getting into trouble is the wisest choice. For me, and I can't talk for anyone else, it took some time. When I began boxing I had this mindset of wanting to prove to anyone that I was becoming a badass, and they better not messed with me. No one single fight I got into (some of them my fault, some of them weren't), left me something besides regret. Either for doing poorly and getting myself beaten, or because even if I "won", I would still wanted to punch more, or take less shots, or even have avoided the fight altogether. All those fights did for me was fill me up with more anger and frustration. As I took my training more seriously, I realized I didn't need to prove anything to anyone, that all I need to do to be happier with myself is be sure that I'm giving all I have during my trainings, and that I'm improving myself each day. I love fighting, but now only in a ring. I love the adrenaline, the fear before a fight, and the satisfaction it leaves after a fight, even a sparring one. And it has helped me become a much more balanced person in other aspects of my life. Off course knowing how to fight, be that boxing, mma, traditional martial arts or whatever, helps you if you have to defend yourself but, as Jason puts it, the greatest help training in some of these gives you is understanding that you've got no real reason to be in that fight, most of the times at least.

WORDS OF WISDOM! Thank you for posting this :)

This video and the video before this is the best advice ive ever watched on youtube - "Beginner - How to make outstanding progress" It's so true about how work ethic is everything, I alway's talk to guys at the gym that are starting mma or boxing and they talk about going pro and all this but they never come back or come back 1 or 2 time's and stop training after a few session's because they realize sparring and training is 90% work ethic and u have to breathe and eat mma or boxing to become a champ or be a real pro that can live happily off the money from winning fight's... JT Van V is the coolest and most respectable people on youtube to watch for advice and ive bin watching for about 2 year's solid now. Keep these vid's comin pimp, I get tons of inspiration weekly from watching ur videos and then going to the gym and grinding a bit harder from that inspiration.

You gave me plenty of new insight on the concept of self defense, ego, and the maturity that combat arts and sports develop within the minds of practitioners. I really enjoyed the video and will be looking at those links you posted as well, thank you for the knowledge.

Wow. Another person speaking common sense. I know Marc, Rory, and Peyton personally, and I applaud you for referencing them. I'll be following you as well. :)

I really like your way of thinking!

Good words brother...wisdom is a very cool thing to have...glad I subbed to your channel -

Very wise observations and great recommendations. You have one of the best channels on KZfaq.

Your opinion and views herein, are, in my opinion spot on. You come across as a very nice person. If our tiny self protection club in the UK had the funds I/we would have you over here like a shot to teach us not only boxing skills but the application of boxing/mentality for the street. Awesome

Wise words!! Very impressive!!

Great stuff, thanks for the video!

You have a good channel man. Thanks.

Always enjoy your videos mate.

Man thank you, really appreciate this!

One of the best of your videos. Big fan of your channel Man!

good video and humble! redirecting to experts and resources. much appreciated.

street fight is no boxing match or cage etc i been into boxing 8 years its good to know but dont depend on it

Great advice as always Jt

Nice, good stuff, man.

Excellent. Many thanks.

You got the gift of teaching and wisdom, very rare indeed. All your narratives Ive listened to so far are top top stuff mate...

Great video very educational

Just want to let you know , I appreciate your videos, especially this one. I been following you for about a month now, and I've been taking your training to the gym and it makes me feel more confident and knowledgeable. This video makes me feel like a talk that a coach or big brother would give. I wish I would've had some one like you to hang around with as a kid. Like you said, the crowd you hang with matters. Hopefully, I can pass this advice to my sons. Thanks again.

Wise words. Thanks.

Great Video Jason

Boxing is one of the best martial arts for self defence. At least for stand up it's very realistic. Nobody can kick in jeans so it's more realistic than muay thai in the striking department. However no martial arts can beat the thai clinch.

Words of a wise man. Respect !

11:35 -12:40 great sentiments, very true

Excellent video!

"BEAUTIFUL".... I've learned that concept long ago when I had taken KEMPO in High School...GREAT VIDEO..... Aloha;-)

Just came across this video. Brilliant observations. Love the concept of stopping a fight before it begins and using mental/emotional techniques to avoid these situations. Great references, too, with Rory Miller, Peyton Quinn and Marc Animal MacYoung. I would further suggest studying the videos, KZfaq posts and books of Kelly McCann and Lee Morrison.

very well said

Great advice, thanks for posting this, as someone who has boxed on & off it give me a calm knowing that I can take care of myself, that takes my ego out of it completely

So much wisdom. Beeing involved in Self Defense I would say whatever combat sport you practise at any level,, street fight is not a compétition of technics but killing agressivity. You cannot learn street fight anywhere else than in the street. The rest is training whatever the level of realism. Again, I fully agree on what has been stated in that video. Well said.

I love your channel! I can testify about not being in range.. I had surgery to seal around a hole in the back of one of my eyes so if I get hit in the head too hard I can go blind in one eye for life. I had a schizophrenic bi-polar 25 year old man off his meds figuratively foaming at the mouth in a rage trying to “kill” me and my friend.(He showed us a ferocious and technical display of a shadow boxing combination). Granted my friend and I were only in 5th grade we just tried to get home as fast as we could, he was screaming at us all the way to my house, he even walked to the back of my house and past my fence! My Dad was right behind the door and made him leave. So I’ve been training for the 1% of people who are capable of such violence. I was wanting to know if you can answer my question; how should I go about trying to learn how not to get hit without getting hit?? I have a personal trainer who teaches boxing but I don’t see him often. I’ve trained folk style wrestling 2 years. Gracie bjj (Witch I’m currently training in) for 1 and 1/2 years and Tae Kwon doe(hapkido) for 1 year so I’d rather slam him on the ground or submit him rather than stand and bang anyway. Although I have much love for boxing, my Dad was a professional boxer in Puerto Rico. Anyways, sorry for the long comment, I hope you get a chance to see this!!

Great advice.. I'm glad to hear someone else mention Mark Animal Mac Young's books, I have had a few of his books for over 20 years. They helped me understand a better way to deal with the violent environment I was living in.Awareness is everything and if you can see the potential for trouble developing its always best to get out of dodge, that alone kept me from being riddled with bullets many times in years past. Little things like who's the bigger bad ass mean nothing when you can possibly lose your life or be incarcerated for the rest of your life. Great video my friend..

So self defence is a social skill...everything else is a personal skill! Thanks coach..

biggest aspect of self defense is knowledge of how fights begin and why alcohol and drugs and pride all mixed or two out of three normally are a contributor to violence sometimes passion and just standing up for what you believe is right wether ethical or spiritual and not recognizing or caring about the danger aspect behind it or the consequences of your decisions my first Kung Fu teachers older brother is a retired police officer so much of this was covered in our training you get to a certain level of deadly ness you never want to fight it is the same as carrying a gun the law is different for a highly trained fighter because you can respond with deadly force

Thanks JT for the "Meditations on violence" book recommendation. Great book and a great reality check not just for martial artists but for people in general. It fits exactly what my experiences with being attacked (once outnumbered and at knife point and once at gunpoint) and the experiences of friends who used to work bouncing. Maybe the best advice by the book and by my buddies and myself is: Karate is for the dojo, boxing for the gym, and so on... for the street its whether avoiding the situation completely or acting with total and absolute viciousness. Granted, combat sports build up physical condition and confidence (I love combat sports), but not much besides that, and people don't "win" street fights or overcome assaults because of it, on the street you never now when the guy is gonna call his friends, take a gun/knife/blunt object out, etc, etc, etc.

John Wayne Parr a champion Muay Thai fighter said once that when he was 19 and just won his first championship he was at a bar and someone wanted trouble and he acting like a hot head and went to throw a kick but the floor was wet do he slipped fell and cut open his head... he said from the day on he never fights on the street. He now just fights for pay and for fame.... that's a great fighter philosophy... I'm no pro but I've trained in martial arts since I was 12 for self defense and had 2 kickboxing fights. But I've never had been in a street fight and have refused to engage in bar fights that were happening. It's not worth my safety. We got to ask ourselves what are we doing if we find ourselves in situations where fighting is a threat.

Bravo

Thanks for posting. This is so important to remember. Most of the time people invest too much time majoring in minors. Very good advice

Great video JT! I think if you walk down the street with good posture being aware of your surroundings, you probably won't be the victim of a bully. There have been a few times where I had to use boxing as self defence, and it worked well for me. I never looked for trouble though. Cheers, Rob

I like what queensgambit said, but if you can't get away, then I'm going with Nikolai Salikov's advice!

Have you read Eckhart Tolle's work? He does a very good job at explaining/diminishing the ego and bringing awareness into the present moment.

nice video and avoiding the question.

yeap once you reach the level of competence you no longer feel the need to prove you can do damage. That same confidence is what will put people off from trying to fight you. Its all mental. Got into a lot of fights until I dropped my ego

even if you box or martial arts you can still get hurt if you can walk away

Good video (long time fan of the authors you recommend) but it would have been interesting if you would have touched a bit upon the technical aspects on applying boxing in a self defence situation. What applies and what has to be modified, etc. There are many different opinions on punching without gloves for instance. Would have been interesting to hear your perspective!

So on Jan. 30th i have my amateur debut for mixed martial arts, but just to tell you a bit of what i do, i'm mainly a grappler, iv done both bjj and wrestling my whole life and this year i picked up boxing/kickboxing, but i haven't done to many rounds in sparring to get used to the anxiety and comfortability in taking shots. My movement is okay but i tend to not let my hands go enough cause i always think too much of what i'm going to run into. Now of course me and my camp are working on setups for the takedown and clinch but i wanna ask you. What would be some beginner combinations that i could add explosiveness to that would work on a more seasoned striker to get in the inside? Since i don't plan to actually out strike my opponent.

Nick Drossos also has a very usefull youtube channel about practical self defence

Jason, what you said is great! I remember reading about one master saying that the best self defense is kindness. May I ask Im an older beginning student and worry about brain trauma from repetitive blows to the head when boxing, is there a way to minimise any brain injury? I was thinking that a person that focuses on evasion techniques becomes very difficult to knockout, a bit like sugar ray leonard, what do you think about this?

Great video as always jt! If you'd like you should check out attackproof.com and the Guided Chaos Combatives system.

Hey JT, one of my nephews is having trouble at High School. He is very much an easy target based on his actions that you speak of, I have started training him in boxing with my son to hopefully increase his confidence which is at all time low. He has had an altercation recently with another kid at school, and has told me in that situation he has frozen up. I have seen your vid on the fear of being hit, but I think this may be different psychologically. What are your thoughts on this?

I love this! I wished I'd heard this advice years ago when I was chasing THE answer to my fears about defending myself.

I don't want my son (8 years old) to go through the fear I had growing up - fear of having to fight and often backing down. I finally got over it but not until late in high school - it was probably my biggest problem as a young kid (I actually still think about it). There are some boxing gyms in town that I'm thinking about trying to get him interested in. One is all Hispanic and the other all black - my son is white. Anybody have experience with kind of thing? I went to school and was a minority so I know how it is but maybe boxing gyms instill some honor and my son won't be a target.

Are there any reflex exercises for boxing ?

who you got for the Canello v Cotto fight J?

what about shane from fight tips. he always shows boxing moves for street fights

i remeber you said you fought at 165 how tall are you because i about to have my first fight i 5'10 and wieght 164 my brother fight at 152 so i don't what to fight at his wieght class i been boxing on off for 3 year i spare lot of professional boxer and 2 of the biggest name my friend i grew up the chalos brothers i don't know if no them jermall is ibf champ

yo jt. i luckly never had a fight outside of the ring. even though im a train fighter with wins and losses under my belt. i still fear fightning a street fight. of course i will not show it if it comes down to it. but is this normal.

You should offer counseling and boxing services to Ronda.

if someone smacked your head..are you going to beat him up?

I suggest looking up Krav Maga, the Israeli self defence system. It is not a martial art but an approach to fighting: avoid fighting but if it is inevitable, strike very hard and then get away fast. Fighting and boxing have little in common as a punch could be a knife blow and you could be being attacked by more than one person. Here are some useful videos from a Ricky Manetti in the UK . kzfaq.info?search_query=ricky+manetta

no no no no. no need for going all political or philosophical here. Self defense that people are asking you is about defending their selves when they are physically attacked. They are definitely not asking about what you call 'ultimate self defense'.

boxing doesn't help in street fight... its one thing to fight with pillows on your hand and other hand to fight bare fisted .... how punches land is different, how you must block is different.. almost everything is different