It’s extremely important to adopt the attitudes above before going out to apply what you learn in the field. Although the techniques described later in this guide are VERY effective for what they’re supposed to do, if you don’t have the right mindset they’ll work poorly. Many newcomers to this stuff want to learn the tricks and techniques only, and this is a bad idea. Learning only the pick-up techniques while keeping your old attitudes is like learning fancy jiu-jitsu techniques while staying seriously out of shape. You may learn a great arm-lock or strike that could end a fight in seconds, but if you don’t have the strength and conditioning to apply it, the technique itself is useless.