Stepping into the Ring: A Breakdown of Practical Self-Defence
A video titled “Her First Kickboxing Match | Complete Breakdown” by the YouTube channel Hard2Hurt, run by Icy Mike, reveals fascinating components of realistic self-defense. This piece aims to dissect the tense 14-minute video highlighting Natalia’s journey into a semi-contact kickboxing match, providing insights into the real-life outcomes of martial arts training. The video begins with Natalia expressing her nervous energy as she prepares to participate in a PKB match. PKB, a semi-contact version of kickboxing, serves as a stepping stone from sparring in the gym to full-contact fighting. It nurtures beginners into competitive situations without the risks of severe injury or blow to their blossoming confidence. Reflecting on her experience, Natalia expresses a feeling of sluggishness and heaviness in her body once she steps into the ring – not dissimilar to the sensation of “fighting in a dream”. However, Icy Mike notes that this simulation of pressure and tension without grave danger makes PKBs an excellent practice ground. As they review the fight, it’s evident how the experience of live fighting differs significantly from gym sparring. One’s body’s physical reaction to stress and fear can make everything seem slower, and opponents appear farther away. Mike correlates Natalia’s success in landing punches and kick to her continuous use of jabs, which threw her opponent off balance and controlled the pacing and flow of the bout. Surprisingly, at the end of each round, the perspective of the fight’s outcome can be surprisingly subjective. Natalia and Icy Mike felt she had lost the first round, but two out of three judges awarded it to her. This exemplified how different angles and viewpoints shape perception in martial arts matches. Throughout the fight, Natalia exhibited perseverance and bravery, facing her opponent fearlessly, maintaining composure, and landing solid, impactful strikes, characteristics instrumental in real-world self-defence. Her motivation behind participating in the PKB match was to inspire more women to recognize their inner strength, fight back, gain control and not feel helpless in combative situations. This aspiration materialized when two young girls approached her post-match, expressing their admiration. This interaction brought to life Natalia’s goal of inspiring younger generations into self-defense and martial arts, reinforcing that the effects of personal actions can extend far beyond ourselves. Natalia’s experience with PKB battles serves a broader narrative that transcends the gym walls, echoing in the realm of practical self-defence. In the course of real-life threats, being able to respond with measured confidence, as Natalia did in her match, is a demonstration of effective self-defence. Being able to manage one’s nervous energy and still perform effectively is an invaluable skill, one that martial arts training can instil. The teachings and lessons from this kickboxing match stress the importance of building resilience, understanding your body under stress, and practicing realistic self-defence methods. Traditional martial arts practice combined with a healthy dose of realism as found in PKB matches, can truly enhance self-defence capabilities. Regardless of the setting, be it in a ring or facing a real-world threat, the ability to keep calm, react appropriately and strike effectively can make a world of difference.Blablabla
Hard2Hurt is a YouTube channel run by Icy Mike, focusing on practical self-defense. As a certified self-defense instructor and UFC trainer, Icy Mike utilizes real violence scenarios to explain self-protection techniques. The channel blends humor and serious discussions and maintains a consistent routine of informative, engaging videos.
Self-Defence Block
I just love this! Natalia is awesome and already inspiring so many women like myself!!
We took a few of our newer guys to an event like this. I wish we had more in our area
Great job Natalia!! She should be proud 🙂
Really good job by Natalia. Especially in talking about dealing with the stress and pushing through.
You're definitely an inspiration.
very very good job all around. 😀
Love this!
👍
Great video. Congratulations on your win.
You go girl! Bravo! Keep after it!
Feelin the need
Love this! Great job!
I just watched the might mouse video of h2h fight, there is such a science to combat sports
She's a natural
That was AWESOME! Natalia rocked it! So excited for her!
Spiny Turtle for home defence? Imagine a shield so wide it fills a doorway that goes from your shoulder height all the way to the ground, spear resting on top. Ain't nothing other than a gun or an even longer spear
Love these coaching videos. Congrats to you two!
Very cool, congrats
I like the energy in this whole video. Mike and Sensei seth’s content (ok I watched a lot of old UFC and boxing as well), as weird as it might sound, got me to return to martial arts in my 30’s. So even though Mike can’t fight himself out of a wet paper bag made out of aikido, his students are really amazing. It really gives you a vibe that I need to go find a gym and start trauning.
Whenever I have the opportunity to coach shaking the opponents hand is a must.
never expected to cry from an icymike video but here we are :") well done Natalia
Excellent work, Natalia — that's super cool to hear about how much you've inspired those younger gals. Your opponent had skills, too — great match 👏
Awesome. Well done Natalia.
And it's great that the whole video is added after you've done the breakdown. Thanks for sharing.
More Natalia vids YES!! 👏🏻👊
I know it’s not really related maybe in the same sense but I’m a self defense sense I think it’d be cool for you to talk to Waffle House Wendy on how she defended herself in a kinda common situation at work sorry it’s not related directly to the video though I just think it might be a little change in aspect and maybe computer warriors could maybe see that you can’t always assume how it is when you are under pressure
I have competed in touraments I enjoyed it not everyone likes it.
Making a tournament related and fun for participates is good for promoting self-defence.
If you lose your fight look at the other people competing It's interesting to see the styles they're using and how they compete you can learn from this .
She is solid. Awesome for her first fight.
Huge congratulations to Natalia on winning her first fight!
It was very cool hearing about it form her perspective. I remember I would get the "upset stomach" on sparring days, so watching her fight was enlightening.
And yes have more videos with Natalia please.
3:42 "put the right behind that" and it lands clean
3:50 "jab jab" doubles up on the jab, then proceeds to follow up with the right
Not only does she have the ability to listen to her corner and implement what they are telling her to do, but she can even build the instructions off of each other in the heat of the moment. Very impressive stuff.
Nice!
Congratulations Natalia! Your first time competing in kickboxing went way better than mine. It makes me incredibly happy to see other women competing, as I don’t get a lot of competition in tournaments in my division brackets. Keep inspiring more young women, and hopefully we’ll have more women competing and pushing us to get better. Great job!
Need more women like this in the world. Gotta keep inspiring the little ones.💖 This is amazing.
I thought she was your daughter
In the UK they are often called interclub. A little different but also similar. Well done to everyone who gets up and does anything like this. The fear of fatigue is real
Good job and well done!
Great job Natalia and Hard to Hurt.
This guy is a major narcissist, attention whore, disrespectful, arrogant, abuses his students as well.
Phenomenal work girl! There will be many times where are you feedback. And there will be many times that you fail! But the only direction is forward and up!!! You just prove to yourself how capable you are! Do it again. And again! Learn, adapt! The moment we stop learning something. We become stagnant! There is no perfection. Only exceeding expectations. God bless y’all!
👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏
Awesome, congrats😁
Wow thanks for your realism and vulnerability in this video. I wish i knew about PKBs. I probably would have used them to gain confidence to compete. Great job! It takes a lot of courage to put yourself out there.
Congrats! I would've strait up cried with those little girls!