This week, The Truth About the Martial Arts Business explores a deadly serious topic that every martial arts school instructor needs to understand and teach.

As a martial artist, you train in self-defense to protect yourself and your loved ones, but what really happens in the court system when a martial artist defends him or herself?

This episode of The Truth About the Martial Arts Business will help you to understand and prepare for the legal battle that happens after an attack. The first fight is for your life – the second for your liberty. 

Attorney Andrew F. Branca, a renowned expert in self-defense law and author of The Law of Self-Defense,  teaches you how to make quick, effective, legally appropriate decisions in life-and-death situations. 

The 5 Elements of Self Defense

2:50 Do I have to wait for the bad guy to hit me first?

3:40 Can I use a weapon in my defense?

4:00 What it cost to defend a self-defense case

4:00 Deadly force and the martial arts

4:25 How is "Deadly Force" defined by law?

4:40 Does the court look at a trained martial artist differently than an untrained defender?

5:30 Prosecutors love to talk about martial arts expertise

5:55 What influences juries in regards to martial arts for self-defense?

6:05 Will your defense attorney use your martial arts training as a defense or suppress it from the jury?

6:15 How can martial arts help your defense?

6:40 The Three Fights

9:00 What we can learn from Tom Hanks

9:30 Use of a force expert

10:15 Can the prosecution include the defender's instructor?

11:00 Can an instructor face criminal charges for the actions of his or her student?

13:00 Applying the five elements of self-defense to a martial artist defending himself.

13:05 Element 1: Innocence

14:27 How a victim loses their claim of innocence

14:45 Element 2: Imminence 

15:20 Element 3: Proportionality

15:45 What if you have a gun and he attacks you with his fists?

16:20 The common mistake concealed weapons holders make

16:46  Element 4: Avoidance

17:00 Is Stand Your Ground just in Florida?

18:07 Element 5: Reasonableness 

18:33 Is there such a thing as Jury Selection?

19:30 The danger of CCW

20:00 The Law of Self-Defense Workshop info with Andrew Branca

21:00 Why students get so stressed at Andrew's seminars, that they can't remember what they just did.

Map of State Self-Defense Laws

The Law of Self-Defense on Amazon

Deadly Force - Understanding Your Right To Self Defense

The Psychology of Self-Defense