For the martial artists who studies his or her discipline for self-defense the capability part is easy to explain, i.e., it is the physical stuff of training, practice and application. You are knowledgable in application of things that can hurt, maim and kill another human being. This is one of your capabilities as a martial artist. This is the actual hands on application of hands, fingers, elbows, feet and so on toward damaging an adversary to “end it now in self-defense.”
Rory Miller, in Facing Violence, explains it so well but in a nutshell it is about the ability to harm another human being. It is that ability to apply force at levels appropriate to the situation that may even rise to the level of deadly force - killing a human being in self-defense. This is our capacity.
Capacity to do harm does not come naturally to humans except in rare cases of folks who are true predators, i.e., socio-paths/psychopaths, etc. Not everyone has that capacity to inflict bodily harm. Even in the military it sometimes becomes necessary for the most capable person to apply some influences to the troops to shoot at the enemy and kill (read the books “On Killing” and “On Combat” by Colonel Dave Grossman).
A huge obstacle to capacity for many self-defense courses is that many will never encounter a situation where they will need to apply their deadly combat killing skills. It is also a cause of the “freeze.”
Take a look at Mr. Miller’s book, “Meditations on Violence,” for his six phases of self-defense training. Any one or set of phases missing from the SD training will result in possible failure (note: success or failure can be accidental at times but to have a consistent success in SD requires all six phases in SD training).
We all can achieve a capability that will seem awesome and fearless and capable of getting-r-done BUT if the training and practice cannot account for the capacity necessary to do harm in a situation then the whole of self-defense martial arts will fail.
A key issue made by Rory Miller in his book is this, “I don’t (Rory Miller speaking) know where your capacity lies. In all likelihood, neither do you.” It can be about giving yourself permission to do what is necessary against violence but you have to find out if that is true through reality based no-bull training and practice. You have to make sure your training and practice incorporate all six phases of self-defense.
Bibliography for this Post:
Miller, Rory Sgt. "Facing Violence: Preparing for the Unexpected." YMAA Publishing. 2011.
Primary Bibliography of Self-Defense:
MacYoung, Marc. "In the Name of Self-Defense: What It Costs. When It’s Worth It." Marc MacYoung. 2014.
Miller, Rory Sgt. "Meditations of Violence: A Comparison of Martial Arts Training & Real World Violence" YMAA Publishing. 2008.
Secondary Bibliography of Self-Defense:
Ayoob, Massad. “Deadly Force: Understanding Your Right to Self-Defense”Gun Digest Books. Krouse Publications. Wisconsin. 2014.
Goleman, Daniel. "Emotional Intelligence: 10th Anniversary Edition [Kindle Edition]." Bantam. January 11, 2012.
Miller, Rory. "ConCom: Conflict Communications A New Paradigm in Conscious Communication." Amazon Digital Services, Inc. 2014.
Miller, Rory and Kane, Lawrence A. "Scaling Force: Dynamic Decision-making under Threat of Violence." YMAA Publisher. New Hampshire. 2012
Miller, Rory. "Force Decisions: A Citizen's Guide." YMAA Publications. NH. 2012.
Miller, Rory Sgt. "Facing Violence: Preparing for the Unexpected." YMAA Publishing. 2011.
Elgin, Suzette Haden, Ph.D. "More on the Gentle Art of Verbal Self-Defense." Prentice Hall. New Jersey. 1983.
Elgin, Suzette. "The Last Word on the Gentle Art of Verbal Self-Defense" Barnes & Noble. 1995
Morris, Desmond. “Manwatching: A Field Guide to Human Behavior.” Harry N. Abrams. April 1979.
Elgin, Suzette. "The Gentle Art of Verbal Self-Defense" Barnes & Noble. 1993.
Elgin, Suzette. "The Gentle Art of Written Self-Defense" MJF Books. 1997.
Maffetone, Philip Dr. “The Maffetone Method: The Holistic, Low-stress, No-Pain Way to Exceptional Fitness.” McGraw Hill, New York. 2000
Strong, Sanford. “Strong on Defense_ Survival Rules to Protect you and your Family from Crime.” Pocket Books. New York. 1996.
and more … see blog bibliography.
My Blog Bibliography
Cornered Cat (Scratching Post): http://www.corneredcat.com/scratching-post/
Kodokan Boston: http://kodokanboston.org
Mario McKenna (Kowakan): http://www.kowakan.com
Mokuren Dojo: http://www.mokurendojo.com
McYoung’s Musings: http://macyoungsmusings.blogspot.com
Martial Views: http://www.martialviews.com
Shinseidokan Dojo: http://shinseidokandojo.blogspot.com
The Classi Budoka: https://classicbudoka.wordpress.com
Wim Demeere’s Blog: http://www.wimsblog.com
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