Understanding and Applying Self-Defense Strategies
Understanding and Applying Self-Defense Strategies
Seasons
March 6, 2025
Now that you've reached the end of the course, you are your own bodyguard, armed with a toolkit of ways to de-escalate conflicts and defend yourself if a physical threat presents itself. Watch a few final demonstrations to help you put together everything you've learned in different environments, and then consider the arsenal you have developed and what you can continue to learn.
Watch Understanding and Applying Self-Defense Strategies Season 1 Episode 24 Now
March 6, 2025
Avoiding a conflict can be as simple as running away, but this becomes challenging if you have a partner or children with you. As someone who has studied self-defense, you become the person capable of taking and maintaining control of the situation.
Watch Understanding and Applying Self-Defense Strategies Season 1 Episode 23 Now
March 6, 2025
Guns and knives are obvious weapons for defense, but they are bound by laws of Every Day Carry (EDC). When it comes to defense, improvised weapons such as pens, keychains, and coin purses can be just as helpful.
Watch Understanding and Applying Self-Defense Strategies Season 1 Episode 22 Now
March 6, 2025
Continue your study of defense from the ground. Success on the ground means surviving to your feet, so follow the process of defense from start to finish.
Watch Understanding and Applying Self-Defense Strategies Season 1 Episode 21 Now
March 6, 2025
The game of defense is different if you are on the ground. You have less time, and will more quickly run out of energy, strength, and opportunity.
Watch Understanding and Applying Self-Defense Strategies Season 1 Episode 20 Now
March 6, 2025
Joint locks are an unconventional but potentially effective way to fight. Apply what you know about the body's physical structure to practice locks on hinging joints (elbows and knees), ball and socket joints (shoulders and hips), and gliding joints (wrists and ankles).
Watch Understanding and Applying Self-Defense Strategies Season 1 Episode 19 Now
March 6, 2025
The rules of fair play are ingrained in all of us from an early age, but self-defense is about getting home safely by any means necessary. You don't have to (and likely shouldn't) fight fair to get away from a violent attack.
Watch Understanding and Applying Self-Defense Strategies Season 1 Episode 18 Now
March 6, 2025
What are the legal and ethical implications of self-defense? This course is not about the legal term "self-defense," but rather is about understanding how to make decisions to keep yourself safe.
Watch Understanding and Applying Self-Defense Strategies Season 1 Episode 17 Now
March 6, 2025
If verbal boundary setting doesn't work, physical boundary setting may help you defend yourself without coming to blows. Find out how to get "tactical ready" - a guard-up fighting stance that shows you know what you're doing, without escalating the conflict.
Watch Understanding and Applying Self-Defense Strategies Season 1 Episode 16 Now
March 6, 2025
Physical training is about winning in a conflict, but the real win is to avoid the conflict altogether. "Boundary setting" is a strategy for bridging the gap, helping you ward off threats before they turn into violence.
Watch Understanding and Applying Self-Defense Strategies Season 1 Episode 15 Now
March 6, 2025
In the moments before an attack, you won't have much time to reflect on the threat. In this lesson, examine ways to read nonverbal communication and practice what law enforcement professionals call "intelligence gathering.
Watch Understanding and Applying Self-Defense Strategies Season 1 Episode 14 Now
March 6, 2025
One way of thinking about humans is that we have a lizard brain (focused on survival), a monkey brain (focused on emotion and tribal behavior), and a rational brain. The "monkey brain" is an evolutionary survival mechanism that can get us into trouble by escalating conflicts.
Watch Understanding and Applying Self-Defense Strategies Season 1 Episode 13 Now
March 6, 2025
Why do conflicts escalate to violence? From a psychological standpoint, we all have a hierarchy of needs, with survival and security at the base of the pyramid, and belonging and esteem toward the top.
Watch Understanding and Applying Self-Defense Strategies Season 1 Episode 12 Now
March 6, 2025
Because getting home safely is the primary goal of self-defense, escape and evasion are critical tools for personal safety. The four elements of a violent encounter are the target (i.
Watch Understanding and Applying Self-Defense Strategies Season 1 Episode 11 Now
March 6, 2025
The "asocial violence" of the previous lesson occurred wherever the predator is hunting. In this lesson, Dr.
Watch Understanding and Applying Self-Defense Strategies Season 1 Episode 10 Now
March 6, 2025
Continue your examination of predator motivations. Some predators, like muggers or carjackers, want resources, whereas others may simply enjoy violence.
Watch Understanding and Applying Self-Defense Strategies Season 1 Episode 9 Now
March 6, 2025
Here, shift your attention from your own body's physical reaction and reflect on the nature of violence. Although the experience of violence can be chaotic, the process of violence is somewhat logical.
Watch Understanding and Applying Self-Defense Strategies Season 1 Episode 8 Now
March 6, 2025
Round out your study of the body's survival stress response and the OODA decision cycle. The term "reactionary gap" refers to the distance between the awareness that something is happening and the moment we take action; training and repetition are ways to close this gap.
Watch Understanding and Applying Self-Defense Strategies Season 1 Episode 7 Now
March 6, 2025
In a self-defense encounter, you enter a decision cycle called the "OODA loop" - observe, orient, decide, act. Because every second counts, the quicker you can move from observe and orient to decisions and action, the better off you will be.
Watch Understanding and Applying Self-Defense Strategies Season 1 Episode 6 Now
March 6, 2025
One important aspect of self-defense is understanding how your body will behave in an attack. Your "survival stress response," or SSR, is the body's natural alarm system - a flood of hormones that will change the way you think and act.
Watch Understanding and Applying Self-Defense Strategies Season 1 Episode 5 Now
March 6, 2025
Lunges, strikes, punches, kicks: Your body has numerous weapons at its disposal. Here, you will practice a number of drills to build the movements and ingrain patterns - a.
Watch Understanding and Applying Self-Defense Strategies Season 1 Episode 4 Now
March 6, 2025
Continue your study of the meat puzzle by reflecting on targets. Consider how bones line up to create strength, how to spot weak structures in opponents, and ways to maintain balance in yourself.
Watch Understanding and Applying Self-Defense Strategies Season 1 Episode 3 Now
March 6, 2025
Self-defense requires an understanding of our physical selves. Our bodies are essentially "meat puzzles" - blood, flesh, and bone assembled for optimal living, but with a variety of weaknesses.
Watch Understanding and Applying Self-Defense Strategies Season 1 Episode 2 Now
March 6, 2025
At its core, self-defense means learning to understand violence and carry out decisions necessary to keep yourself and your loved ones safe. The great news is that you already have the ability to do this.
Watch Understanding and Applying Self-Defense Strategies Season 1 Episode 1 Now
Understanding and Applying Self-Defense Strategies is a series categorized as a new series. Spanning 1 seasons with a total of 24 episodes, the show debuted on 2025. The series has earned no reviews from both critics and viewers.
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How can I watch Understanding and Applying Self-Defense Strategies online? Understanding and Applying Self-Defense Strategies is available on The Great Courses with seasons and full episodes. You can also watch Understanding and Applying Self-Defense Strategies on demand at Prime, Prime Video online.
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