One of the most critical aspects of effective self defense is maintaining balance.
This is essential for everything from being able to generate force to staying on your feet so you can control distance or get away if you have to.
It's important to train with this in mind. You should never sacrifice your balance for technique. because of the chaotic nature of violence, you might be put in a situation where you'll need to get away as fast as possible and placing a more important role on technique than balance can unneccessarily place you in danger of being taken down or taken off balance where your power or ability to run might be sacrificed.
Practicing maintaining balance in a hostile setting be it through Judo training or just trying to stay on your feet while a group tries to throw you down are both very useful training methods that will take you a long way.
Remember, you should never sacrifice your balance for technique. Balance should always come first.
