All Padded Assailant Courses Are NOT Alike

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery (Colton), but imitating the padded assailant concept misses a significant portion of the context behind the Five Principles of Self Defense © and the training potential of reality based self-defense. Padded assailant courses are known as scenario based training (SBT), reality based self-defense (RBSD), or reality based martial arts (RBMA).

Reality Based Self-Defense Training Equipment

Self-defense instructors have good intentions when deciding to provide training in personal protection and understand the benefit of offering reality based self-defense training to their students. However, when someone purchases a suit of protective body armor, it does not mean they are qualified to train in it as a padded assailant or safely conduct reality based training. Not only will equipment vary with imitation suits, but also the capabilities of the activities that can be practiced, and, subsequently, the realism varies.

Most protective suits will not protect the instructor in the first fight of a Model Mugging course. Consequently, the equipment compromises realism and limits the self-defense techniques that students can practice. Therefore diluting the reality basis of self-defense training.

Since the late 1980s, numerous padded assailant programs began popping up around the world. They sought to replicate the Model Mugging concepts, which gained popularity following publicity starting in 1978 with an article published in Human Behavior Magazine.

Model Mugging Self-Defense has also been featured in numerous popular magazines, as well as in articles, books, news segments, and television talk shows, including The Oprah Winfrey Show.

More to Reality Based Self Defense Training than a Protective Suit

Unlike most courses that have adopted the use of protective equipment in self-defense training, Model Mugging evolved from research into crime and the application of scientific teaching methodologies. From the applied research, the evolution of the Model Mugging program occurred, which then emerged as a derivative of practical training utilizing the padded assailant.

There are many facets needed that make up a good mock attacker or “model mugger“. Being an excellent martial artist does not necessarily translate into a good teacher or portraying a good padded assailant. The best self-defense instructors understand the dynamics of crime, criminal typologies, and many elements involved in adrenaline stress training. The more realistic the training instructors can make the scenarios, the better prepared their students will be when confronted with violent crime. However, instructors must also ensure everyone’s safety.

Padded assailant training should be used in coordination with trained co-instructors who can coach students through various training hurdles to prepare them for adrenalized scenarios. Not only is there a martial science behind teaching reality based self-defense, but it is also an art of wearing the equipment safely and realistically. Much has been learned over the decades about adrenaline stress training. Instructors should be properly trained to wear the protective suit, both for their own protection and especially for the safety of each student. The dynamics required for teaching women are different than applying the padded assailant concept with martial artists training for mixed martial arts competitions.

Teaching without a trained co-instructor who is familiar with the equipment can be emotionally and physically dangerous to students, as well as physically hazardous to the instructor wearing the suit. Trained instructors should be able to wear protective armor and simultaneously teach students while being hit and kicked. Too often, students are “mauled”, resulting in reduced self-efficacy,

Teaching with Protective Body Armor is an Art with Scientific Foundation

Martial arts training alone does not provide the needed skills to be an effective model mugger or mock assailant. Even being taught how to wear the armor does not carry over to teaching specialized groups, especially women. Being a “model mugger” is both a science and an art. Understanding teaching methodology and criminal behavior provides a more realistic background that develops into a more realistic learning environment for students. When performed correctly and in a supportive environment, instructors can empower their students to achieve more than they thought possible.

Instructors should learn how to imitate different types of criminals and rapists so that they can realistically train women how to negotiate better and then how to verbally de-escalate a confrontation or fight off a real criminal. Instructors must be able to combine the ugliness of crime with developing each student’s personal growth and increasing their self-confidence.

Additionally, to create realistic scenarios, good instructors should have a thorough understanding of the required martial skills, gender strategies, physiology, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, and a criminal’s perspective on crime. Instructors should understand advanced training methodologies, know how to apply progressive stress as students’ abilities improve and be able to assist each student based on their unique capabilities.

A good padded assailant instructor “dances” with his students. He transposes the “dance of violence” into the “dance of empowerment.”

 

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