self protection, selection of self defence maneuvers PT2

Now that the brain is covered lets get down to the moves. All too often people ask me "what do you do if someone does 'this" referring to a punch, kick, or knife attack etc... Same thing happens in dojos, they teach a different technique for a punch, than a knife attack. Now, in the split second (at best) of an attack, you need to notice whether someone has anything in their hand or not. It is a waste of information. "A small handful of well represented techniques is more use full than a large tangled mess of data," Bruce Lee. We should not limit ourselves to one system, but we also should not limit ourselves to getting stabbed because at last second we saw a knife and changed what we where going to do.

You should chose techniques based of the angle of the attack. Many techniques for a punch, can be used for a knife, baton, or in some cases, a gun. Yes you should learn disarms individually, but you should also practise you other maneuvers as if there is a weapon in the opponents hand. I call these, adaptable techniques.

When you pick these out, you should also think of whether you can do them in a less desirable place than a mat or field of grass. Can you do this in a bathroom stall, buss isle, elevator, alley way. Dopes it require you to hit the ground? then maybe you won't want to do this in the street or where there is broken glass that can harm you more than the attacker (if it involves the bad guy hitting the ground that is OK) I can't tell you how many people get surprised to find out hitting pavement with that Jujitsu move they learned hurts them more than the other guy.

There are a number of attacks that do require a non-adaptable technique. This like firearms, submission, choke holds, and many people forget to practise what to do if you are already knocked down or injured.

From here I will refer to a few arts and what they may have to offer.

Aikido: I love this art. everything and anything in it can be adapted for almost any attack. It is difficult to learn however, but most of the wrist locks can be useful even if they aren't performed properly.

Tea Kwon Do: I am not as much of a fan because most of the moves require plenty of distance therefore making most the techniques unsuitable for enclosed spaces, but it does have plenty to offer and is very easy to pickup and keep the reflexes.

Kung Fu (Shaolin specifically): There may be better schools for this but they are few and far between, the only national source for this arts I would trust is United Studios Of Self Defence. I had a blast and learned many great things there, the arts ranges from close quarters, to distance, and ground combat. Very Very good one to learn from and if you like the Dojo environment this is the place.

Karate: A little stiff and structured for me, but it worked against the samurai.

Mui Tai: Simple, powerful, free form but requires some amount of physical conditioning and doesn't really allow for use of weapons "try blocking a knife with your shin."

The most important thing about practising defencive maneuvers, is to train the mind not to go into "panic" mode, and go into "defend, or fight" mode. It takes practise, and creating realistic scenarios without compromising safety. You should always try to find ways to safely bridge the gap between the safety of the Dojo and the danger of the real world.

self protection, selection of self defence maneuvers PT1

Now that I have covered leaving your home, driving, and the initial approach of a possible bad guy, I can bring up the more entertaining and physical parts of self protection, actually defending yourself. Now, you must select a number of defencive maneuvers. Diligent practice in the will give you the skills needed to protect yourself in the event that someone infiltrates your situational awareness, which there is no shame in having happen cause it happens to the best.

First I must give you basic idea of what the brain goes through to process a thought or movement. Believe it or not this will help in the selection of combative movements you should practice.

When the brain needs to make a thought, it creates a "thought trail." Between one braincell and another there is a "wire" extended. These "wires" start out thin when it is the first time that movement, thought, or memory is accessed. In order to make a movement, a very complex trail of the cells is formed through the brain cells. The more you make that movement, the thicker the "wires" get, thus making them pass a signal much faster, think of it as upgrading from dial up to broadband, etc...

Studies have found, that forming new thought trails on a regular basis can help prevent conditions such as dementia, or Alzheimer's. Therefore I support the exploration of any science or art to create these new trails. But every time you learn something new the brain rewires itself. Though one could take a Tea Kwon Do class and learn the movements effectively for sport or art's sake they may be somewhat erasing or weakening those thought trails when they go to work the next day if none of their movements throughout the day use some of the thought trails associated with Tea Kwon Do movements. I am not saying anything bad about that art I am just using it as an example.

In order to ensure that you have the movements down well enough to use them under pressure, you should practice defensive arts or parts of them that are similar to your day job. For example, I am  trash man, and I am a dad and husband, I don't always have time to practice my beloved arts of Kung Fu, Ninjutsu, TKD etc... But I need to make sure I can defend my family if need be. The movements I use on the trash truck use many of the same thought trails as boxing punches, so therefore I have adopted those as my primary punching method, and I find myself easily able to retain smooth, fats, powerful punches with only a couple hours a week practise on them. I use many of Kung Fu's basic kicks as they are fast, efficient, powerful, and the footwork needed is compatible with the way I run around the truck.

It is still necessary for you to use good form, not just mimic what you do all day for the sake of the thought trails. Again this is not to dissuade anyone from practicing a classical art, if you want to study the art go for it, but when you may need top save your life with it make sure it is something you can easily get to muscle memory and maintain your reflexes under pressure.

self protection pt 5 driving.

Some people have an inherit lack of skill when it comes to driving, maybe you are one of them, or maybe not. But protecting ones self does include safe driving and awareness behind the wheel. There was a time when I was experimenting with "situational awareness" while I was driving. This is dangerous therefore I have come to the conclusion not to worry about it to much, as you could end up distracting yourself from the road and therefore getting in an accident.

Best bet is to follow the basic rules explained in your basic driving instruction, keep your eyes on the road, check your mirrors, and keep attention several if not even more car lengths ahead of you.Do keep any eye open but don't try to get the make and model of every car around you, you will miss the big picture, driving.

Keep an eye out for different things, swayed driving cause then someone could be impaired or having a conflict in the vehicle, driving too far under the speed limit is a good sign of impaired driving as well. If you see such things and anything else that stands out, then you should get the plate #, make and model, color, and location. Remember to always know where you are and where you are headed. If you call the police at anytime, they won't be able to help without that information being accurate.

Don't get me wrong, you should have situational awareness behind the wheel, but don't try to hard or you may over look potential dangers, look for the "right" things, worn tires, loose wheels, sparks under cars, loos loads of cargo etc... all of these things can be dangerous to you and everyone else on the road and should be addressed to prevent injury or death.