Mike Tyson is famous for saying, “Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.” Think what you want about the former heavyweight boxing champ, but there’s deep wisdom in his words.
That wisdom happens to be the reason martial arts instructors so often remind their students about the necessity of having a backup plan. The logic applies whether you’re engaging in a friendly sparring session in the dojo or fighting full contact in the ring. Or battling for your life on the street. Suffice it to say that you should strive to have a Plan B for many, if not all, of your go-to techniques. In other words, you should have a concrete idea of what you’ll do if you take your best shot and for some reason it misses the mark. Ideally, you also will have practiced doing those Plan B moves in a relevant context.