Calling It Self-Defense Doesn’t Make It True: Most Dojos Teach Fighting.

 

Posted by ADAM CARTER on JUN 25, 2025

Calling It Self-Defense Doesn’t Make It True: Most Dojos Teach Fighting.

(Approx 2 minute 5 second read)

I once taught at a dojo where, for the most part, they were good people, strong spirit – but their idea of self-defense was almost entirely built around fighting and fitness.

That mindset wasn’t unique to them either. I’ve seen it many times.

In the same dojo, a student – seriously overweight – told me that if he was about to be attacked, he’d just use his weight to crush them. The instructor, also quite overweight, didn’t correct him. Again, the same theme: fight first, no strategy, no awareness of context. Just the belief that sheer weight will solve everything.

And all of this was being taught under the banner of “self-defense”.

Let’s be clear, which many people really need to understand: fighting and self-defense are not the same thing.

Fighting is consensual – you both know what’s about to happen. You both expect it. It takes place in a space where rules or control usually exist.

Self-defense is about chaos, panic, and real consequences. It’s often sudden, messy, possibly more than one attacker, maybe weapons – and it has nothing to do with proving your ability to trade blows.

This is a really important point – it is not a street-fight – which again, is both of you agreeing to fight with whatever rules you both decide upon.

When people are told they’re learning self-defense but are only being taught how to fight, it’s not just misleading – it’s dangerous. They walk out with confidence but no context. No understanding of escape, de-escalation, or legality. No grasp of what it means to not get drawn into violence in the first place.

Self-defense is about awareness. It’s about prevention. It’s about survival. We should be helping people stay out of fights, not teaching them to stand toe-to-toe and hope their weight will save them.

It’s time we stop dressing up sparring or competitive fighting as self-defense and start being honest about the differences.

I don’t care what your reason is for practicing the martial arts – whatever it is, that’s fine by me. I personally enjoy many parts of it, not just self-protection, but that is my priority.

It just seems that every dojo advertises that they teach self-defense. And I will bet you, they don’t. What they teach is fighting.

I know I come back to this subject a lot. But that’s because I’ve seen the consequences of getting it wrong. And if speaking up helps even one person ask better questions, it’s worth repeating.

And I get it – dojos need to keep the lights on. But if you’re taking people’s money under the promise of self-defense and only teaching them fighting, you’re not just misrepresenting what you teach – you’re giving them a false sense of security.

You can teach fighting. You can teach self-defense. But if you don’t know the difference, or worse, you do and choose not to care – then you’re not just lying to your students. You’re lying to yourself.

Written by Adam Carter – Shuri Dojo