{"id":1175,"date":"2010-08-12T05:21:08","date_gmt":"2010-08-12T09:21:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/karatetraining.org\/weblog\/?p=1175"},"modified":"2023-04-11T15:17:09","modified_gmt":"2023-04-11T19:17:09","slug":"a-time-for-self-defense","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/karatetraining.org\/weblog\/a-time-for-self-defense\/","title":{"rendered":"A Time for Self-Defense"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>In good times people don\u2019t think about bad things but as times become more uncertain people think about planning for the possibility that things will get worse.\u00a0 With apparent turmoil in almost every aspect of our lives, people have begun to think about and even prepare for the worst.<\/p>\n

With a worsening economy, perceived threats to our freedom, rising religious extremism, a perceived demoralization of our populous, many are led to conclude that a more dangerous future might await us.\u00a0 Right or wrong we as a society seem more aware of the dangerous world we live in and our need to prepare for the worst so as to avoid it.\u00a0 An ounce of prevention type of reaction\u2026\u00a0 As a result self-defense sales of goods and services have soared in recent years.\u00a0 This increase supports the reality that people feel they may need to defend themselves due to ever increasing dangers.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>While self-defense activists applaud this trend, there is a significant responsibility for the average student that I don\u2019t feel is being properly communicated.\u00a0 Too many students come in for a short self-defense class and leave pumped and feeling invincible. Or students that purchase a self-defense tool like mace, pepper-spray, a gun or other self-defense tool with little or no training.\u00a0 Notice I called these items \u201ctools\u201d and not weapons, because while we classify them as weapons that classification leads to the students misconception and thereby increases their danger.\u00a0 Most people think of a weapon as something to be afraid of, which it is.\u00a0 But how frightening is a pair of nunchakus in the hands of an amateur?\u00a0 Honestly they are more of a danger to the amateur then they are an aid!\u00a0 Honest, \"\"<\/a>law-abiding people assume that everyone shares their fear of the weapon they wield; whether that is their self-defense skills or karate skills or their self-defense tool makes no matter.\u00a0 How many movies have we seen where the good guy warns the bad guys that he\/she know karate?\u00a0 How often are the bad guys even fazed by this fact?\u00a0 The reason, they have accepted that their chosen profession, being a bad guy, comes with the risk of injury.\u00a0 I have seen it with inexperienced police officers, who assuming because they wear a badge that people will respect it and thereby do as told.\u00a0 When they face someone who isn\u2019t impressed with that little shield they carry, their perception of power can and does quickly evaporate.\u00a0 Unfortunately many officers, like the honest, law-abiding citizen, learn the harsh reality of self-defense: vigilance and control.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>It is a good thing t\"\"<\/a>hat people are taking a more proactive approach to self-defense but the instructors must help the students understand that self-defense is a skill that requires practice and a state of mind.\u00a0 Self-defense is not something you learn about and then put on the shelf until you need it.\u00a0 If that is your approach then you have a false confidence.\u00a0 Even the most seasoned and skilled fighter who is out of practice is rusty and thus vulnerable.\u00a0 In the Rocky movies, Rocky doesn\u2019t simply get back in the ring, he trains and prepares himself.\u00a0 The difference is that Rocky knew when he was going to face danger.\u00a0 For the honest, law-abiding citizen that eventuality is very abstract.\u00a0 When I was growing up it was very unusual to meet someone who had *never* been in a fight.\u00a0 Today it is unusual for me to meet a student who has ever been in a fight.\u00a0 While some may feel that is a testament to our advanced civilization, (I have another article coming up about that topic), it leaves most ill prepared to ever face a conflict.\u00a0 Anyone that has been in a fight and been hit, remembers that first hit they took, you really do see stars!!<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

How do we learn to defend ourselves?\u00a0 Must a student enroll for life to stay sharp?\u00a0 Unfortunately, No.\u00a0 Must a student attain his\/her Black Belt to have adequate skills?\u00a0 Unfortunately, No again.\u00a0 The student must understand that taking responsibility for their self-defense carries significant responsibilities as well.\u00a0 The responsible self-defense student will train regularly to become familiar and comfortable with their chosen techniques, style or tool.\u00a0 For most this is the fun part of \u2018practicing\u2019 self-defense.<\/p>\n

Students can practice their skills all the time, staying aware and looking for the pitfalls that potentially await them.\u00a0 In doing so this heightens their awareness and keeps them ready.\u00a0 But doing this without practice of the physical skills is almost pointless as you will be aware of your dangers but unable to deal with them.\u00a0 That is like owning a gun but keeping it in a locked safe in the basement, not much good if you are in your room upstairs when you need it.\u00a0 Without practice you will find yourself in an \u2018if only\u2019 moment of dread.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

This begs the question of adequate practice, what is it and how can it help you prepare?\u00a0 That is a hard question and can vary from person to person.\u00a0 My simplest answer is, you want to practice in an environment that is constantly challenging you to do better, that means it shouldn\u2019t feel comfortably safe, but it should be comfortably safe\u2026\u00a0 I hold to the precept that students should take at least one refresher course once a year as long as they are practicing with a friend or loved-one throughout the year.<\/p>\n

Without practice you will be ill prepared despite the most elaborate preparations.\u00a0 Remember that physical practice is only about half of the battle, you have to be mentally prepared to defend yourself.\u00a0 Practicing coupled with vigilance in your awareness of your surroundings will help to calm your mind in the event of a real need to defend yourself.\u00a0 Vigilance and control are the keys to self-defense, vigilance in your practice and awareness, control of your body and mind.\u00a0 Self-defense is something everyone should be involved in, young and old alike, it leads to respectful confidence (as opposed to false confidence) and a peace of mind that you no matter the outcome you have done your best.\u00a0 No man is truly old until he knows regret, don\u2019t regret your lack of preparation, learn to defend yourself today!<\/p>\n

After all you don’t want this to be you when your loved one’s are depending on you…do you?<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In good times people don\u2019t think about bad things but as times become more uncertain people think about planning for the possibility that things will get worse.\u00a0 With apparent turmoil in almost every aspect of our lives, people have begun to think about and even prepare for the worst. With a worsening economy, perceived threats Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":123458,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2,9],"tags":[169,170,14,34],"class_list":["post-1175","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articles","category-self-defense","tag-awareness","tag-self-defense","tag-training","tag-weapons-2"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/karatetraining.org\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1175","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/karatetraining.org\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/karatetraining.org\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/karatetraining.org\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/123458"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/karatetraining.org\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1175"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/karatetraining.org\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1175\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4811,"href":"https:\/\/karatetraining.org\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1175\/revisions\/4811"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/karatetraining.org\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1175"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/karatetraining.org\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1175"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/karatetraining.org\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1175"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}