SHIELD: Survive the Fight

In the world of self-defense we learn to SHIELD, block, or protect in some manner as potentially harmful blows rein down on us. A scenario of an attacker in full mount position, legs straddling a defender is a dangerous and deadly scenario if the defender does not know how to SHIELD.

In self-defense this is usually done with the hands and arms connected to the head SHIELDING powerful blows as the attacker, with extreme leverage strikes over and over again. To the lay-person watching this may seem brutal and scary. When in fact, there is much, much more at play here…

Let’s take a short trip back in time to 1974, Mohammed Ali, and his famous “rope-a-dope,” technique that regained his title as heavyweight champion of the word! So famous is this technique or strategy that I found it in the dictionary:

“Noun: A method of tiring out a boxing opponent by pretending to be trapped on the ropes while the opponent expends energy on punches that are blocked.”

Ali made this SHIELDING technique famous in the “Rumble in the Jungle” heavyweight championship in 1974 coming in as the former heavyweight champion and beating George Forman in the eighth round by knock out. Touted as perhaps one of the greatest athletic events of all time Ali showed the power of SHIELDING.

Even the aging, former heavyweight champion of the world knew that to survive the 25 year old Forman in this fight, the 32 year old Ali would have to survive long enough against his arguably stronger, younger opponent.

In Life Defense we can see this as attacks come from stronger, younger and more technically enabled opponents every day. I am not necessarily speaking of the greying 50 something year old manager, and the 25 year old graduate entering the professional world of increasingly powerful IT. I am also referring to the 25 year old watching their younger brother or sister skillfully adapt as “native” abilities of technology become part of who they are.

As our world changes and evolves more rapidly this quote seems apt:

A hero is no braver than an ordinary man, but he is brave five minute longer.

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

SHIELD!

Allen Hughes Life Defense

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https://anchor.fm/allen-hughes/episodes/SHIELD-Surviving-the-Fight-epnvqn