Self defense techniques come in a staggering variety of forms. Self defense instructors teach movements designed to cripple, scare away, and incapacitate potential foes. Self defense techniques can even be learned by DVD. But the most important self defense techniques have nothing to do with sensei, military training, or pepper spray. In reality, the most important techniques are about your attitude, awareness, and mindset.

Attitude

You often hear people say that animals can 'smell fear'. Humans might not have quite that level of olfactory sense, but we have eyes that make up for it -- and 70% of our communication comes in the form of body language. That means that, whether you like it or not, someone who wants you to fear them can tell if they're succeeding. Your ability to control your fear -- at the inner level, rather than futilely trying to control your body language -- is the number one most important self defense technique you could ever learn.

That's much easier said than done, and ironically one of the best things you can do to achieve that inner control is to study traditional self defense techniques until they're second nature to you. Once your body feels like it knows what to do, your mind will be able to relax, and you won't show fear.

Awareness

Of course, not all attackers are merely out to scare you. If you know that someone out there wants to actively hurt you, fear is irrelevant. You need to be aware. Everyone knows someone who actively looks through every room, looking for exits, weapons, and places to hide -- even if it's just as a fun thought exercise. The second most important self defense technique is to adopt a similar attitude. Don't enter a public space without considering that an enemy might be waiting nearby to bring you harm. Constantly assess any unfamiliar or public environment.

If you're already under threat and you know it, this attitude is probably already developing in you. You have an opposite danger: if you over-think a place or situation, you run a real risk of suffering from "analysis paralysis". Choose a likely path of escape and a few likely improvised weapons, and stick with them.

Mindset

One of the hardest things to adapt to if you genuinely have someone after you is the knowledge that eventually, your life will get violent. Most of us have a strong impulse against violence, and that impulse can leave us frozen when the moment comes to defend ourselves. No amount of self defense techniques or training can help you if you are unable, when the time comes, to make a firm and positive decision to bring harm to another human being.

That kind of mindset only comes from two people: the ones who have dehumanized their opponents and no longer feel the slightest empathy for them -- and the ones who realize that they have been dehumanized, and they must retaliate with force to survive. It can be a shock to accept that your attacker doesn't give a crap about (or might even enjoy) what he's about to do to you, but it's a necessity if you plan to preempt him with your own self defense training.

Competence in the physical motions brings lack of fear. Competence in visualizing the physical motions brings environmental awareness. Competence in understanding the subtext behind the physical motions brings emotional commitment. These are the three self defense techniques that, together, form the groundwork of becoming a non-victim -- which is the most important thing you could ever do to defend yourself.