Hoshinsul - Practical TKD
호신술 - 실전 태권도

Hoshinsul 호신술 (“hoh-sheen-sool”) is the Korean word for self-defense. Demonstrative choreography is not self-defense.

Effective self-defense techniques are simple, realistic and effective. Situational awareness, avoidance and de-escalation are more important than any kick or punch you can learn.

The Martial Map
by Iain Abernethy

Many schools across many martial arts styles (Kukkiwon taekwondo, taekwon-do, different forms of karate, tangsoodo, different forms of gong fu, hapkido, aikido, bujinkan, jujutsu, Brazilian jiujitsu, krav maga, etc) disingenuously refer to their martial arts demonstration choreography as self-defense or practice techniques which are overly elaborate and do not work against an aggressive, non-compliant attacker. It is important to make a distinction between demonstrative choreography and self-defense.

Consensual vs Non-Consensual Violence
Consensual violence is better known as dueling or sparring. It is not the same thing as an non-consensual violence aka assault. The techniques and reactions will have some overlap between the two scenarios but it is not a 1:1 relationship.

1 Step Sparring, 2 Step Sparring, 3 Step Sparring, etc.
When one person steps in to do a prearranged attack then stands there and waits compliantly for their partner to execute a counter attack. This is not self-defense and is not useful beyond the “fun factor” (which is a legit reason for practice as long as it’s understood to have zero applicable value in an actual fight) as far as practice goes.

Justification:
”But this teaches timing and distancing!”
Rebuttal:
It teaches the wrong timing and unrealistic distancing against an actual non-compliant attack.

Justification:
“But it’s good for beginners!”
Rebuttal:
There are plenty of simple and effective things that beginners can train which don’t impart bad habits or false, ineffective ideas of defense.

Justification:
“But I used it/someone I know used it and it worked!”
Rebuttal:
Anecdotal evidence is not evidence, and while there are definitely cases out there where someone’s 1/2/3 step training was effective you will more often than not never hear about the cases where it wasn’t.

Any given technique or concept in the scope of self-defense can be classified as high percentage or low percentage in its effectiveness. If it usually doesn’t work in a pressure testing situation we can conclude that it will be low percentage in an actual scenario involving fear and adrenaline.

If you are not pressure testing your abilities you are not realistically preparing any high percentage skills.

Justification For NOT Pressure Testing:
“But my techniques are too deadly to practice on a non-compliant training partner!”
Rebuttal:
There is literally an entire sport which competes using techniques which can kill, maim, and cripple — submission grappling. Know what rarely happens in training and competition in BJJ/submission grappling? Killing, maiming, and crippling. You live in a fantasy world if you think you are practicing an unarmed technique more lethal than a rear naked choke.

Anything you can’t use against a resisting opponent isn’t worth your time, outside of the “fun factor” mentioned above.

Justification For NOT Pressure Testing:
“I would just eye gouge/groin kick/bite/use my keys/etc. and I can’t practice that.”
Rebuttal:
Reality Check Self Defence
Hard 2 Hurt
Martial Arts Journey
Practical Bunkai
Ramsay Dewey
Armchair Violence

Here are some people who have pressure tested most of these claims more than you or I ever have, and their conclusions are uniform.

If you find yourself in a situation where these types of techniques are available to you it is more than likely that you will only escalate the level of violence.

Will these types of things work sometimes? Perhaps. Are they a silver bullet for your safety? Never. There is no mystery in how to deal with a fast and aggressive overhand punch, the solutions aren’t fancy and they don’t work 100% of the time. That doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t practice anything and that all techniques are fruitless, it means that you should practice realistically to give yourself the best chance of having a high percentage response.