While many martial artists find Youtube personality and self-defense guru Dale Brown an amusing figure, former UFC heavyweight champion Bas Rutten isn't one of them. When asked about Brown on the MMA Hour podcast recently, Rutten said, "Guys like that get people killed."

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Long the butt of jokes, a quick review of some of Brown's videos reveal a mixed bag. Some of what he demonstrates are legitimate self defense moves practiced by martial artists for years while others are, at best, questionable. The main problem with most such pop self defense advice is it typically emphasizes techniques over strategies for avoiding danger while providing the false impression that executing such techniques in a life and death struggle is easy.

Brown's Instagram post on how Chris Rock should have handled Will Smith's Oscars slap is a case in point. Recommending you exit stage left when someone tries to slap you is smart. But advising you to duck under the strike like a boxer ignores the years of practice that maneuver takes. As Rutten pointed out, if you really want to learn self defense, you need to find a qualified instructor then train frequently while under pressure until the moves become ingrained.