The true face of violence is not part of a pretty story where the good always triumphs in the end. Real violence can start with a simple verbal altercation, a hostile glance, or a physical confrontation. But it’s not a ritualized combat exchange in a ring or a gym with gloves and a referee.
It’s one human seeking to physically harm another human, in a brutal and primitive manner.
Real violence can affect everyone.
Violence has likely always been part of the human experience. Its impact is evident in various forms worldwide. Each year, over a million people lose their lives and many others suffer non-fatal injuries due to interpersonal or collective violence. Overall, violence is one of the leading causes of death globally among individuals aged 15-44. Though precise estimates are challenging, the cost of violence to societies worldwide translates into billions of dollars in annual healthcare expenses and additional billions for national economies. Not to mention the millions of shattered lives.
Real violence always seems excessive
A demographic and health survey report in nine developing countries – Cambodia, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Egypt, Haiti, India, Nicaragua, Peru, and Zambia – illustrates that domestic violence is a global intergenerational issue. These surveys collected comprehensive demographic and health data from women aged 15-49, focusing on empowerment indicators like education, employment, and household decision-making. (1)
Therefore, regardless of socio-cultural origins, violence is the same for everyone. Most people who watch videos of real violence look away and wish it would stop. Survival in truly violent situations usually ends with the first decisive injury, much like predatory ambushes in nature. When there’s no quick decisive injury or reduction in threat, violence escalates.
Violent behaviors do not resemble and will never truly resemble self-defense training practiced in gym settings. For the simple and obvious reason that there would be a high risk of injuries.
What kind of people produce real violence?
- Sociopaths or psychopaths who have no social constraints and lack empathy for others. Methodical knife attackers are a visual demonstration of this type of real violence.
- Individuals who have lived within and through environments where real violence is common, such as prisons or wartime combat.
- People who have been trained from a young age in “street fights,” meaning practical experience.
- Individuals encouraged by the use of drugs or alcohol.
- Etc…
Because a truly violent person possesses a mindset that differs from 99% of the people we regularly encounter. This person is not interested in fighting only to cause harm or to escape before the first witness arrives. The reality of the vice and cruelty of their violence exceeds all proportions that anyone can imagine, until confronted with it.
Real techniques of violence and self-defense
Too often, self-defense techniques and training become rituals completely separate from the situations where these skills would be required. A good training should combat this ritualisation by offering as much real-life scenario training as possible, to generalize its skills as much as possible.
(1) Sunita Kishor and Kiersten Johnson, Profiling Domestic Violence: A Multi-Country Study (Columbia, MD: ORC Macro, 2004). Karen Scott Collins et al., Health Concerns Across a Woman’s Lifespan: The Commonwealth Fund 1998 Survey of Women’s Health, accessed at www.cmwf.org/usr_doc/Healthconcerns_surveyreport.pdf, on Sept. 14, 2004.
