You know what to do, still, you fail to defend yourself. Why? Maybe it's because you are not quick enough. You know how to punch and practice that.
Do you think you can hit someone with a punch if you are not fast enough?
Speed matters when you make any move. When the attacker sees you are going to do something to protect yourself, he will not stand there and let you do what you want to do. You have to make your move fast for self defense.
In order to respond quickly, you have to understand the situation first. You need to know what's going on. The quicker you understand what's going on, the better. For example, you see a guy coming towards you with a stick. The way he is getting close to you and holding the sick gives a signal of how he is going to swing his stick to hit you.
You understand what is about to happen. Now you have to move fast to block his hands to defend against a stick attack. Here comes your training. You have to know how to defend yourself against a stick attack and practice that.
When you can make your move without thinking about it, that's great. Because of your training, it becomes like your second nature to make the move.
When you understand the situation, you have to decide what to do to defend yourself. If you think you can run to get out of there to protect yourself, you can run. If you see you cannot run to get out of there, you have to face it.
You need to spend time on your martial arts training to respond quickly in a situation like this. Then you can instantly make your move as you think. So practice, practice and practice.
Thank you so much for reading this post. Please feel free to share your thoughts and experience in the comment section. This post is a response to a comment - Self Defense Technique Analysis # 2. I appreciate your support and feedback.
Stay safe. Always be happy!