When people join Israeli Krav International (IKI) they often ask what "techniques" they need to know for each belt rank. It is difficult to explain that it is not really about techniques but about concepts. It is the type of situation where once you understand why I cannot define what techniques you need, you no longer need to ask the question.
Do we have techniques? Of course we do but the techniques are less important than the concepts behind them. We follow concepts, not rules.
For example you can have a certain situation, say a gun to the torso. There are a few different options. How do we determine what to do? by reading the person and the situation. We read the environment, we read the attacker's body language, we read our own state of mind. Are we feeling tired, fatigued, or strong and alert? All this is a factor in how we respond.
We are not slaves to a certain technique. There is no technique that we must do, but there are concepts, principles, that we must adhere to. This idea can only truly be understood and appreciated after some time of actual training.
There are many, countless, points on the body. We do not have that many techniques but we do have the concepts. Once you understand the concept you can apply it, no matter where the attack it.
The greatness of this approach is that if you forget a technique, or you encounter a new situation, you can easily "create" a technique based on the simple concepts that are already implanted in your brain.
Once you get the concepts they will not fail you.
I have countless pages of notes. These notes cover thousands of techniques from many martial arts. Honestly, I cannot possibly remember them all. However the concepts distilled from them; that I can remember, and that I can apply, even in the most stressful situations.
This is a new concept in martial arts. Thankfully I am not the only one advocating this; there are other reality styles that share this approach. I believe it will be the way of the future for those who truly want to defend themselves.
There will always be a place for the arts, for the classical movements, for those whose goal is artistic expression, culture and history. But for the practical minded individual whose goal is simply to survive an encounter; the concept over rules approach is the way to go.