Ma-ai or Distance

In any self-defense situation the distance you have and maintain between you and your adversary is important. As long as you have distance you can dial down your need for dangerous activity that can both get you hurt or killed and get you out of self-defense and into jail. 

The following quote is from the book, “In the Name of Self-Defense,” by Marc MacYoung. It is a quick way to determine and practice how to judge safe distances with an adversary. There is not hard and fast spacing, like say five feet, due to the size of an adversary. As the height changes so does that distance where an attack can occur.

“Stand if front of a friend and measure the distance from his or her eyebrows to the floor. Take that same distance and lay it down on the floor between you. that is pretty much an empty-hand person’s attack range (weapons extend that range). that’s the distance they can reach you with using an empty-hand attack without taking a step. Draw a line halfway through that distance. the half closest to you is kicking range (where they can reach you with a kick). The half closest to him or her is punching range where he or she can strike you. But to do that, one has to step closer.” page 74, chapter three of In the Name of Self Defense

Note that this is just what it is and is easily changed due to various conditions including but not limited to adrenal effects, etc. In other words your spatial acuity is changed in a violent situation thus making this a bit harder to actually determine accurately. This is why one should get the book and read the entire thing cause there are so many variables. 

I just thought this quote would be a good starting point for a newbie martial artist trying to get a handle on ma-ai concepts. One additional aspect to the concept of ma-ai is that many martial artists attribute only that type of ma-ai that involves sport competition type encounters but in INOSD it is about that range that will tell you someone is within attack range. Add to this, attack range without other variables is simply an attack range. The danger may or may not actually be there. There is more …… Think JAM and to find out about that part, guess what :-)

Bibliography:

MacYoung, Marc. "In the Name of Self-Defense: What It Costs. When It’s Worth It." Marc MacYoung. 2014.