When you make your move to strike if your opponent easily defends that, you cannot hit your opponent. When you make your move and it's unpredictable, it is difficult to defend.
Did you notice something when you do sparring with your training partner?
If you make some new moves to strike your partner, most of the time, you are able to penetrate his defense and hit him. Then again if you try the same thing, your training partner blocks that or does something to defend that. As a result, you cannot easily hit him like you did you before.
So what just happened?
When you strike for the first time, your partner is not sure what's going on and finds it difficult to defend. Once he sees your move, next time when you do that, you predict that and that's why he finds it easy to defend your strike.
In a fight for self defense, the same thing will happen. To penetrate the attacker's defense, you can make your move unpredictable. Surprise attack works well. You can add element of surprise on your move.
You can go for high and low. That means you can strike to the opponent's lower parts of the body and suddenly strike higher parts of the body.
When your opponent gets hit on the lower parts of the body, he will concentrate more on the lower parts of the body and you can suddenly strike high.
You can train with your training partner like that and see what happens. When you spend time on your training and explore more, you can figure out more ways to make your moves unpredictable.
In a fight, you will also be attacked suddenly. So be prepare for that. Always keep eye contact with your opponent and make your move fast. You will see difference in your fight next time.
Thank you so much for reading this post. Please feel free to share your thoughts in the comment section.
Stay safe. Always be happy!