General Physical Preparedness And The Martial Artist
by Black Belt Training Group
Don’t assume the person knocking on your door is the person you are waiting for. Make SURE you know who is on the other side before you open the door.
Even though most burglars and potential intruders look for unoccupied homes as their targets, you should never assume that just because you are home you will be safe from a potential break-in. Not only are your home and personal belongings at risk, but your family and loved ones as well if an intruder enters your home while you are in it. In addition to ensuring your home security system is up to par and in good working order, they are a best self-defense tactic if someone enters your home threatening harm while you are at home with your children?
When people mention the phrase self-defense it conjures up all sorts of images. For some those images will be of the Karate Kid, for others it will be visions of elderly women learning techniques in the local church hall. Then of course we have the extreme, men dressed in camouflage, rolling around in the woods and eating bugs. All these images spring to mind because there are actually courses and classes being taught that mirror your visions. Sadly, these courses and classes are not how a self-defense class should be structured and taught.
It is unfortunate that there are instructors all over the world teaching versions of self-defense that actually are far removed from the reality of violence, and what they teach is not likely to ever help you to be able to both protect yourself and reduce risk of being involved in a violent incident. This has caused people to ‘switch’ off about the need and importance of learning a quality self-defense system, in fact due to these images the term ‘self-defense’ is often deemed ‘un cool’ and almost slightly ‘cheesy’. The truth however is that it has never been more important to learn self-defense skills and when taught correctly self-defense is an interesting subject to learn regardless of your age.
Now I am not going to sit here and frighten you with stories of violence. We all know that there are dangerous people out in the world that can cause both our loved ones and ourselves harm. The chances that you will come into contact with these individuals after the age of 25 are greatly reduced due to a likely change in social habits. After all most people either settle down at this age into a relationship or career.
However self-defense is certainly not all about fighting or fancy moves. It is my belief that good self-defense and self-protection is about applying common sense crime prevention advice to your life.
If you learn something but then do nothing with the information you have received then learning it in the first place was pointless. This is exactly what self-defense is all about. It is the study of preventing harm. Not just dealing with it when it happens.
A good self-defense instructor should tell you that 90% of self-defense skills are what are known as ‘soft’ skills. They are the physical application of common sense crime prevention tips. For example, you might be walking home and have two routes to take, one is across a dark and spooky looking field and the other is actually a longer but well-lit route which takes you passed populated areas and is clearly a safer option.
Now the person who takes the safer route is actually practicing self-defense. This shift in viewpoint is essential to acquiring the belief that self-defense is not about fighting. It is about avoiding the need to fight and removing the risk from your life.
For that reason it is so important to take a good quality self defense course. Not because you want to learn to fight, but because you want to avoid the risk of being hurt. Many people believe that self defense is just about fighting down the local bar or pub. This is totally not the case.
Good self-defense is routed in taking steps to minimize the risk of harm coming to both yourself, your family and your property. These steps are usually simple ones such as taking a safe route home, to the more complex ones that involve installing burglar alarms to your homes and perhaps where appropriate using physical intervention and self-defense skills to keep safe.
It is essential that you take steps to learn these skills and pass your knowledge to your children and you friends. This is why it is never too late to start your self-defense training, because the most effective self-defense training actually involves using your mind.
So please at least look into finding a course or session near to where you live, however as I have said not all self-defense courses are the same. You need to be aware of just what a good course offers. However a good rule of thumb is a course that focuses on avoidance and awareness, rather than physical fighting skills is actually far more useful that a fighting based class.
So if you sign up for a short course or a class makes sure you ask the instructor what the course entails. Ask them if they cover things such as ‘avoidance and awareness’. If the course or class is a quality one then these skills will be a major part. As I stated it’s never to late to start training because self -defense is not about fighting. It is about using your mind to avoid danger and take steps to reduce the risk that you will ever face violence.
Real self-defense knowledge is more necessary than it has ever been. The world is a dangerous place. It does not matter where you go; you hear stories about terrible things happening to the nicest people. Sometimes it seems like dreadful threats are lurking everywhere you go – in the cities, in the towns and even in the villages.
You’re probably thinking that this is a paranoid, pessimistic attitude to take, right?
Maybe yes, maybe no, but if you are female, do you want to take the risk of becoming another awful statistic?
This is where real self-defense comes into play because it is better to have practical self-defense tools that you do not use than to lack the means of defending yourself when the worst comes to the worst!
Real self-defense is a complex subject, though, and there are many powerful, practical techniques and theories that can be learned, but here are a few simple tips on how best to defend against a bigger, stronger opponent.
Maintain your distance. The best means of real self-defense is the avoidance of physical confrontation. Whatever the creep says or does, try to maintain and if possible extend the distance between the two of you. The best possible outcome is an easy escape from a dangerous situation, and being able to maintain and control distance can be the key to making this happen.
When there is no alternative to getting physical, remember that:
1) You might not be able to rely on your strength, but a palm slap can help you to escape a potentially dangerous situation. It does not require fine motor control, which is one of the first things to be inhibited in a tense situation, so it is easy to perform. It may not be a strong attack, but a well-timed slap might stun your attacker long enough for you to make a quick escape. You can extend this line of thought to many other forms of attack too; stick with strikes that do not require too much accuracy or complicated movements to be performed effectively. Gouges, rakes, slaps, bites: these are not fancy to look at, but they can be effective means of real self defense for people who lack quality training in more sophisticated methods.
2) A swift kick or knee to the groin of a male opponent, if landed correctly, is guaranteed to weaken even the strongest punk. Real self-defense techniques might not be flashy but they work!
Follow these few tips and you will have an advantage over many people who know nothing about real self-defense applications, but there is so much more to know. Finding yourself out of your depth in a dangerous situation is not the time nor place to realize how much you do not know, so you owe it to yourself to get informed!
Effective self-defense requires more than just a few “karate moves.” It involves the ability to think strategically, and understand how to defend yourself with as little wear-and-tear on you as possible. Especially if you are a woman dealing with a larger, stronger, male assailant.
Many sensible aspects of self defense involve avoiding those situations where you may be at risk and also ensuring your personal environment is secure, i.e. correct locks, movement activated lights, alarm systems etc.
The question which arises is, do you or do you not defend yourself? The reality is that you won’t have much time to ponder this question, and even a moment’s hesitation may see you overpowered.
You need to make up your mind and have a plan in advance. Different circumstances will call for a different response. e.g. someone enters your home threatening harm while you are at home with your children?
That example is clear-cut, don’t be hero, even if you are taking self-defense classes! Just cut your losses. So here you have a clear policy.
But what if you encounter someone in your home or a pleasant date turns nasty? Here you have to make another decision, do I fight or give in to them and hope they don’t hurt me too badly. The problem is you don’t know what their intentions are.
What you do know is that a decent normal human being wouldn’t be doing what they are doing. If you are going to fight then you must fight with all your heart, all your resources and all your brains.
Note I didn’t say with all your strength. This is because it is highly likely that your attacker will be stronger than you, if you try to match strength then you will tire faster than them.
The main thing is the intensity of your defense, which must instantly become an attack. Make a lot of noise, scream and yell. Don’t just flail your arms widely in circular motions, use straight-line thrusts to the eyes, throat and face.
If your arms are being held stomp with your feet and thrust forward with your knees, jab with your elbows and bite!
Whenever I discuss some of these aspects of defense some people cringe and think it’s just too much. But imagine yourself being knocked to the ground, kicked punched, raped. Your attacker isn’t going to be gentle, why should you!
Fight and fight until you are exhausted and then keep fighting. So what if you are tired, so what if you can hardly breathe, never give up! Your adrenalin will mostly mask your injuries.
This will certainly gross you out, but if you thrash and fight for your life and you reach a point of utter exhaustion then you may well vomit from the shear effort. If so don’t turn from your attacker but vomit on them. Yuk I hear you say! Survive I say!
The harsh reality is that you may do all you can and are still badly injured, raped or both, but you will know in your heart you did all you could do and this knowledge is sure to speed your physical and emotional recovery.
If you have already been the victim of a violent assault and you didn’t fight back. Don’t blame yourself, don’t look back in regret, you’re not weak; you just didn’t have a plan, you weren’t prepared.
In our world we shouldn’t have to think about such things, people should treat each other with respect, but sometimes life isn’t fair! Take action attend a quality defense class and decide to fight if heaven forbid the situation should arise again.
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