UFC Here's what Conor McGregor's new UFC contract is reportedly worth per fight | JOE.co.uk MMA LIFE SHOP

Why would a nice person like you and I engage in fighting? Have you ever thought about that? Have you ever been asked that question?

If you know me, you would already know - and I want to be very clear - that my approach to the subject of self-protection is not that of the thug, or tournament fighter, who's looking for a justification for engaging in physical violence and doing it in the name of "self-defense." And, I assume that, if you're still reading these lessons, then you must be in alignment with my philosophy and that you are, indeed, a "nice person."

You're not looking for fights.

You're not looking to go out and hurt people. But...

You ARE looking for the knowledge and skills necessary for preventing a socially-deficient, sub-human, assailant from hurting or killing you or someone you care about.

Fair assumption? Great! (I trust that, if I'm wrong, you won't hang on much longer because I won't change my stance!) If you're waiting for me to teach you the skills for winning that trophy or that next MMA bout, you're going to be waiting a long, long, long time.

But, no matter how serious your intention is, there's something that I really want to talk about - something I want you to think about. And that is the fact that...

You Were Programmed to Be a Victim!

That's a bold statement, I know. And it's not very politically-correct either. But...

It's true.

From the earliest age, you and I were taught to do all of those things that, believe it or not, criminal attackers, and even those who deceive, manipulate, and attack out of an inability to control their anger, look for!

That's right, the very lessons that you learned to be an upstanding, conforming, productive and positive member of the social order - a.k.a a "nice person," are the same lessons that make you appear weak and an easy target for the right attacker. In other words...

Being a nice person can be your downfall!

Don't get me wrong. Being a good person is not a bad thing. Far from it. In fact, what the world needs now is more people - masters and leaders of their own lives - who are positive, powerful, and productive members of their communities. We need more people who know how to truly act like ladies and gentlemen.

But, what I am saying is that, along with all of the good traits we've learned and developed, we also learned things that could get us killed if we ever had to face a real world, violent attacker - things like:

Nice people don't hit

It's the job of the police of the government to protect you

Fighting never solved anything

It won't happen to people like you

If you're nice and respectful, no one will want to hurt you

Etc.

Then again, if you really believed these things, you wouldn't be reading self defense articles and looking for self defense techniques... would you?

Just keep in mind as you amass your new knowledge, that there are more than a few lessons and beliefs buried there, in your subconscious mind, that may get in the way of your being able to act and do what you need to against an actual self defense attack.