The No Brainer Self Defense Move

Fifteen years ago i had the privelge and honor to be trained by two filipino world boxing champs. Al Asuncion who won the NABF crown and The OPBF bantamweight crown in the early sixties and Morris "the beast" East WBC Welterweight champ in the early 90's.

I was not interested in being a pro boxer - just wanted to learn how to fight like one. I learned to jab double jab, hook, uppercut and the jab-staright in no time (they were really good teachers). After several months of intensive training i asked the older trainer, al what the best self defense technique ( from Boxing) he thought i could use in a fight.

The answer was quick and to the point. "tulakin mo" he said in tagalog. ( push Him ) push him?!!!...what the?!!! 38 years of fighting in the ring and all this guy can offer me is an itsy-bitsy push???
he saw my incredulous look and the expalnation came...

you might not get the first jab or punch in - if he punches you i want you to crouch low and push him to the side..his momentum will carry him over and youll get him where you want him- off balance" " then you can land a one-two."

"this works too if your fighting more than one guy at a time - dont spend too much time trying to land a combo , the other guy will get you - push the first attacker to the side , he will fall or be off-balanced ,push his shoulder- push on his waist, just push".

He expalined further that a lot of people dont realize that the "art of pushing" is so prevelant in boxing. Getting the other guy off-balance while you keep yours is a very good tactic to help you win a fight.

Morris east was not there when I asked this question and i had lost touch with both trainers as i had begun travelling.It was two years later while i was on a business trip, that i read a headline which struck a chord with me - the headline exclaimed " Former world champ beats up 14 drivers"(You Can google that headline and the story will pop up)

I marveled at the story of my trainer beating up these hapless guys, and knew that if anyone could do that , it would be morris - the writer who wrote the story asked how he could've staved off an attack by 14 men - "tinulak ko yun mga iba, at pinagsusuntok ko.." - i pushed the guys who were attacking me at the same time and when they were off-balance i nailed them.'


The Push - a no brainer self defense move.