Here, in a nutshell, is why I'm so suspicious of self defense instructors, especially ones who come from a martial arts background.

Most of them have very little experience in actual self defense situations. Take me, for example (although I would never claim to be a self defense instructor to begin with). I haven't been in a real fight since grade school. I've never even been close to a real fight. Most martial arts teachers I know have either never or very rarely been in a real fight. What makes you think the tae kwon do instructor down the street has ever actually been in a real fight against a real thug who was really trying to hurt him?

Does that mean I know nothing about defending myself? Well, I can't know for sure, now can I? How would I find out? I'd have to put myself into situations where I was likely to get into serious fights on several different occasions and see how badly I get hurt. Guess what? I'm not going to do that. No chance.

What about bouncers? Well, as some bouncers will admit, most of a bouncer's job is dealing with drunk people who aren't too interested in fighting the bouncer to begin with. Do bouncers get into real fights? I'm sure some do, but again, I'm not sure how applicable their experiences are to more common self defense situations.

Cops? Well, I'm somewhat suspicious about generalizing a cop's fighting experience to a non-officer. What I mean is, I think that the situations most cops get into have very different dynamics than what a non-police officer is likely to encounter. That uniform seems to add a dimension to fights that isn't the same as the fights I'd get into. Police are usually armed, for one thing (I'm not, and you're probably not). I'd still take a cop's word for the reality of violent encounters over, say, my own, because I'm sure most police have a lot more real experience with real violence than I ever will.

One group that I would think does deal with a lot of violence is prison guards. Think about it - a bunch of violent people locked up all the time. The guards are in uniform, yes, but the prisoners see them every day, so they might not have the same reaction that, say, I would have if a police officer pulled me over (familiarity breeds contempt and all that). These are guys (and gals) who have to put their hands on crazy and violent people with some regularity.

Check out Chiron's blog. I got into it via Steve Perry's website (the author, not the singer. Great books, by the way). It's about violence, guns, self defense, martial arts, and a whole lot of other stuff, written by a prison guard. Good writer, lots of interesting points, and an experience I trust a lot more than that of most of the other guys out there who claim to know self defense.