Evolutionary Self-Protection

Consterdine, Peter and Thompson, Geoff. The Pavement Arena Part One: ‘Ultimate Self Defence’. Legend Video Productions. 1993.

Review: The Pavement Arena Part 1: ‘Ultimate Self Defence’:
by Josh Nixon, ESP

This review is part of a series. This is part one, part two can be found here, part three can be found here, part four can be found here and part five (sort of – it follows on from part four but isn’t part of the Pavement Arena series) can be found here.

This video begins by making a very important point; that martial arts, self-defence and self-protection are not synonymous. Self-defence being reactive in nature and self-protection being instead proactive, this distinction is highly important to make clear and this video begins by doing so which immediately sets the tone of a well-thought-out methodology.

For many, this video and the resultant series was their first introduction to the difference between traditional martial arts training and efficient self-protection training for modern violence. This video includes sections on:

• Distance Control
• Mental Disarmament
• Lineups
• The Knockout
• Pre-emptive Strikes
• Power Kicking
• Close Impact Targeting
• Fear Control
• Threat Awareness
• Aggression & Response

(Information from http://www.peterconsterdine.com/store.htm, 30.12.2012)

Don’t be put off by the fact that they’re wearing Karate clothing in some of this. It’s not a traditional martial arts video. Some martial arts concepts are mentioned, such as Zanshin, but they are applicable to the subject matter of the video and the series on the whole. The importance of an understanding of relaxation and biomechanics in striking to generate effective power is emphasised throughout, and Peter Consterdine’s concept of the ‘double hip’ striking method is introduced.

What stands out is that it’s not one of those videos where the masters tell you how to do things and you see others doing it, or a voiceover with footage of training, but they talk you through it in a natural and easily followed manner while they show you themselves. Everything is explained thoroughly and logically, again in a well-thought-out way, and the language used is very accessible for anyone to understand.

Nearer the end, the three-part understanding of threat awareness, threat evaluation and threat avoidance is introduced, which touches on the personal security aspect of self-protection which is expanded on in the next video; The Pavement Arena Part 2: The Protection Pyramid.

This video is available on DVD or for digital download (much cheaper, understandably) from http://www.peterconsterdine.com/store.htm. Further information and a download link can also be found at http://www.peterconsterdine.com/arena1.htm.