Balance Your Attributes vs. Skills Training

If you've found that training to develop or retain proficiency in the art and science of personal protection covers a vast amount of real estate, take heart, you're not alone.

Almost everyone I know in this business complains about not being able to spend time on all of the areas necessary.  Even professionals such as cops, executive protection specialists and military personnel spend a huge amount of time actually doing their "job" as well as the associated administrative duties which leaves very little time for training or practicing.

Notice I said training or practicing.  While we often use the two terms interchangeably, it might  be useful to think of them as relating to two separate areas.  Training is used to develop or maintain your attributes.  Practice is used to develop or maintain your skills.

What's the difference?

Attributes are the qualities you have such as quickness, balance, endurance, strength, discipline, dedication, and determination.

Skills are the abilities you have such as selection of strategies and tactics, application of techniques, manipulation of weapons and target accuracy.

One area that bridges both of these is coordination.  Is it an attribute or a skill?  Probably both.  If you are naturally coordinated, then your techniques will be smooth and efficient.  If you practice the action enough times, your movements become more coordinated, therefore more smooth and efficient.

Okay, you say, so what?

The problem is that I often encounter individuals in DT classes who spend an unbalanced amount of time in either the "attributes" camp or the "skills" camp.

A sign of the attributes devotee is the athlete who spends most of his time pushing iron.  Bigger, stronger and more powerful are their watchwords.  They expect to crush their opponents with shear overwhelming physical power.  "Practice?  Why practice when I can just flatten the guy".

A sign of the skills devotee is the person who feels his superior technique or weapon manipulation will carry the day.  These people expect to drop people with their head kick or by shooting him.  "Lift weights?  No way, it will hinder my speed".  "Why workout, no one ever raped a .38!"

You can guess where I'm going with this -- both types are in serious trouble when their plan doesn't go according to the script and their particular advantages are negated by the opponent or the circumstances.

Remember, Murphy's Law?  Any thing that can go wrong, will.  And at the worst possible time.

The 300-pound power lifter grabs his opponent looking to squeeze the life out of the guy only to react helplessly as the little guy pulls out a hidden knife and stabs him viciously multiple times.

The karate black belt round kicks his opponent in the head, only to have the guy shake it off and bum rush the martial artist, taking him to the ground and pounding him into the parking lot.

The practical shooting champion is circled by a pack of juveniles outside of the restaurant.  His trusted firearm is safely locked in his car's glove box because in his state it's illegal to carry a firearm in an establishment that serves alcohol.

You get the point. 

I've seen skills people who will argue endlessly about proper stance or bone alignment.  Yet, they could not physically run 200 meters to save their souls.   

I've seen guys with the body of Adonis who cannot perform a relatively simple weapons disarm without virtually tripping over themselves.

I know we are all pressed for time.  But I implore you to take a look at the areas in which you spend most of your time.  Unfortunately, you will probably fall into one camp or the other.  You might spend the vast majority of your time running, biking or lifting.  Or you spend the vast majority of your time dry firing or shooting targets.  Or maybe you work your weapon of choice.

Split up your workouts to try and more evenly cover attributes training and skill training.  If you are lucky, your instructor, dojo or defensive tactics program has a comprehensive approach.  Your program combines fitness training with repetition of techniques and role-playing or realistic scenario training.  If not, you should develop your own program to cover all these areas.

Sorry, no one promised that your path to becoming proficient in personal protection was going to be easy.  You just have to be smarter, faster, stronger and more skillful than anyone else that you are likely to encounter.  Like Geoff Thompson says, the ugly truth about violence is that it can only be stopped by greater violence.