Vital Areas

As a student of Taekwondo, you should know some basic anatomy. In a simple self-defense situation, you need to know areas of the body to strike to cause painful results. In a life-or-death self-defense situation, you need to know areas of the body to strike to cause lethal results. Confusing the two situations may lead to serious consequences. Using too strong an attack in a simple attack may lead to your imprisonment or a lawsuit. Using too weak an attack in a life-or-death situation may lead to your death or serious injury. In each self-defense situation, you must correctly judge the amount of force required and on what areas of the body to apply the force. When making this judgment, you must consider the affect of adrenaline, on both you and your attacker. Increased adrenaline decreases the effects of pain and gives you greater strength. Also, remember that persons under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs are less sensitive to pain. All this means that Taekwondo students should know where to strike and what the affects of a strike may be. 

Defensive techniques and targets should be chosen with great care. They should be legal and ethical and usually should tend toward caution. As you gain Taekwondo experience, you will gain knowledge of the human body, its vital areas, and their relationship to self-defense techniques.