For many adults, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Muay Thai Kickboxing or Western Boxing have become their hobby and in turn their "go to" for self-defense should they find themselves in a violent encounter. These systems are great and the techniques taught in each of them make up a large portion of techniques needed in a fight. The problem however, is the context in which they are generally taught. Learning individual offensive and defensive techniques is certainly an important aspect of self-defense, but it is only one part of the overall training. Once a solid foundation in striking, defending and grappling has been established it is important to put training into the proper context. Developing specific scenarios and encouraging students to utilize dialogue during training, aids in preparing them for the realities of a violent encounter. Incorporating drills that involve more than one bad guy is also another important aspect of training for real life violent encounters, as is the addition of weapons or the possibility of weapons to the scenario. Quality self-defense training should involve a discussion and a comprehensive understanding of the problem or problems that you are likely to face.
The way I see it there are two types of attacks that we are preparing for. First you have the ambush. The ambush is the attack you never saw coming, and maybe it came because you exercised poor awareness, or maybe it just wasn't your day, but it came and now your in the middle of it fighting to survive and escape. The ambush is the most difficult attack to prepare for because if we knew it was coming we simply wouldn't have been there. Solid defensive skills and the ability to switch from defense to offense quickly are most important in these types of attacks. The second type of attack is the argument or confrontation gone bad. It generally starts with some type of dialogue or a dirty look from someone that gives you some indication that you may be about to have a problem. This type of scenario is easier to deal with then the ambush because you have some time to assess the situation and make a decision as your response. Escape? Strike first? Verbally deescalate? These are just a few of your options in this type of scenario.
If your training is not addressing and discussing these issues then you are likely less prepared then you may think for a real life violent encounter. Having physical skills like punching and kicking and grappling is great and it is absolutely a large part of self-defense, but it's certainly not all you need. Seek out qualify instruction and make sure your instructor knows more than just how to throw a proper punch or how to properly apply that triangle choke. Your life may depend on it.