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Perth Martial Arts News

COVID-19 has seen the world change many aspects of life that were considered basics, given or even a god-given right.

It has also resulted in an increase in aggression and violence. Self defence training feels more important than ever.

Unfortunately, quarantine, isolation and contact restrictions have also limited and changed how we can train for self defence.

So how can you train for self defence in the COVID era?

Wednesday, 18 December 2019 16:02

The Missing Ingredient in Self Defence

What do you think is the most important element of self-defence classes?

Giving the student real self defence skills, in all their facets, is the obvious answer, but is it the first one and the only one?
Usually the argument will then go to discussion about technique, or scenarios, or the level of contact or how long it takes to get a black belt. These are all valid discussions, but often miss one important point.
Read more to find out what that point is!

Adrenaline is one of the realities of self-defence. If you have never experienced violence, you are 100% guaranteed to be adrenalized if something happens. And even if you are very experienced in dealing with violence you are likely to experience adrenal dump – you are just likely to manage it much better.
There are a couple of factors that are not discussed as often when talking about adrenaline:

1. The level of adrenaline you are experiencing
2. The effects of adrenaline on other people (attackers, people you are protecting, bystanders, first responders)
3. The root cause behind the adrenaline

These are crucial pieces to understanding what kind of situation you are dealing with, whether it can be avoided or de-escalated and how far things might go if it deteriorates into a physical confrontation.

Read on to find out why!

About 5 years ago I wrote this piece on how we perceive violence happens.


In the 5 years that have passed, many things changed, but what was discussed in that article still holds true.


Today I’m going to revisit that idea, and discuss how the language we use impacts our perception, and vice versa, and how that impacts our understanding of, and response to, violence and self-defence.


Below are some of common phrases that are often used interchangeably in self-defence classes. But are they really interchangeable?


Read on to find out!

I remember describing to some family members, in excited fascination, some new insight I got into self defence and violence prevention. To my amazement, they were horrified by what I was describing. The general consensus was that ‘it’s all so violent’. The discussion went on to the moral opposition of violence, and eventually the following sentence came up:

‘I hate violence’.

Well, I’m here to tell you something. If you say that you hate violence, you are either naive or silly. 

 

Don’t believe me? Well, read on and I’m sure I can change your mind!

A fight is about to start. You know it. You tried to avoid and you tried to de-escalate with no success. The person is pointing at you, shouting that he is going to punch your teeth down your throat. He is closing the distance quickly and starting to angle his body, so you know a right haymaker is coming next.


You are not worried. You’ve practiced your moves in the dojo thousands of times and you know what to do.


As he closes the distance, you shift your weight and for a front kick to push him back, like you’ve done a million times in training…
… but you lose your balance and fall on your butt. He is right on top of you, and about to try and curb stomp you into oblivion.


Where did you go wrong? Read more to find out.

Let’s start with something you (hopefully) already know. Combat sports and self-defence are not the same thing.

If you think they are, then I recommend you read this. If you still don’t believe me, then you should probably stop reading here.

At the same time, there is so much that self-defence practitioners can learn from combat sports! You can read more about this here. Again, if you still don’t believe me then you should probably stop reading here.

So, if you are still reading then hopefully, we are on the same page.  So, let’s talk about some of the training methods that are useful for both, how they cross over, and at a great structure and toolkit for your training.

Ready? Read on!

Knowing when to train and not to train can be a tricky minefield to navigate.


Every martial artist has experienced this. Whether it’s soreness, injury, family or work commitments, car trouble, bad weather or just not feeling like it, we can always find excuses not to go to training.
Where this gets difficult is knowing the difference between ‘excuse’ and ‘reason’.


Knowing the difference can help you in so many important ways: preventing injury, maximising your performance, and improving relationships with your training partners and teachers, and also with your relationships outside of the dojo.

So how can you tell the difference? Read on!

So good to be writing again! It's been 3 long months. 

What does ‘self defence’ mean to you?

To most people it means being able to defend themselves or their loves ones in the event of a violent attack.

And yes, that’s a pretty good reason to learn self defence.

But there’s another part to the equation, that’s just as important. Want to know what it is? Read on!

$hit Happens. All the time. To everyone.

We watch the news and see a story about someone getting mugged, assaulted, sucker punched, raped, murdered.

But that stuff happens to other people. I lock my doors at night, and I have insurance. Besides, I don’t live in that part of town and I don’t associate with those sorts of people.

And then what do you say?

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