Three Tips to Ensure Your Own Personal Safety

Three Tips to Help Ensure Your Own Personal Safety

By Jake Steinmann

“Show me something!” 

That is one of the first things I hear from most people when they find out that I coach self-defense. They want to see a “cool move” or learn a trick they can use “if something happens”. Sometimes, people will ask more specific questions, like “what if the guy throws a punch at me?” or “how would I get out of a grab like this?” I understand WHY people ask me these questions, but these same questions also betray some flaws in the way many of us have been taught to think about self-defense. 

Self-Defense Is Not Just a Physical Problem.

In most people’s minds, self-defense is about learning how to manage physical violence: how to block a punch, escape a grab, or hit the bad guy in a way that knocks him out or cripples him. While understanding how to deal with a physical assault is a necessary and critical component of self-defense training, focusing solely on the physical ignores the fact that a physical assault is often preceded by other, non-physical cues.

Tony Blauer (www.tonyblauer.com), creator of the PDR/SPEAR (www.pdrteam.com) system, often uses the analogy of a chain to describe an assault and guess what? The physical assault is the last link in the chain. Many potentially violent assaults can be avoided or defused long before they ever get physical.

Tip #1: Practice Cultivating Your Intuition

In the vast majority of criminal assaults, victims often say that they “knew something was wrong”, but didn’t act on that feeling. Your intuition is a powerful guide—trust it. Next time you get a bad feeling about something, or someone, don’t ignore it. Address it. For more on this, check out this article: (http://www.tonyblauerblog.com/2013/09/29/economics-of-violence-what-would-it-cost-you-if-you-didnt-f...)

Motivation Trumps Movements

Thirty years ago, Coach Blauer wrote that “There are more people who have successfully defended themselves through sheer will and indignation with absolutely no training what-so-ever, than there are trained people who have been attacked and successfully defended themselves.” It’s not a move or a technique that makes the difference; it’s the willingness to act that turns them from victim to victor.

Tip #2: Make a Wish List

Take some time and make a list for yourself of the things that you’ll lose if you don’t defend yourself. This is a serious exercise, so give it some serious thought—make it things that are important to you. Remember, this is a list that’s supposed to empower you in a crisis: make it personal, passionate, and present.

Coach Blauer explains this idea in this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wi78rH2n2Cg

Tip #3 Invest In Yourself 

Interestingly, many of the same people who ask me for a “quick trick” at a party will balk at the idea of taking an actual self-defense class. They’ll offer a variety of reasons (excuses), from a lack of time, to a belief that they “live in a safe neighborhood”, to a desire not to fight. 

Here’s the thing: if something is important to you, you’ll make the time. The fact that you live in a safe neighborhood doesn’t mean you can’t be attacked. Learning how to protect yourself doesn’t mean you have to want to fight: it just means you’re able to.

Many people will take a CPR course, but who wants to actually have to perform CPR on someone? You probably keep a fire extinguisher in your kitchen, but that doesn’t mean you want a kitchen fire. You might keep a spare flashlight around in case the power goes out, or a blanket in your car in case you get stranded during the winter. Every day, we take precautions to protect ourselves against unexpected and unwanted emergencies. This is no different.

Self-defense isn’t about wanting violence to happen; indeed, it’s just the opposite. It’s about NOT wanting violence to happen. And just as you don’t have to be a cardiac surgeon to study CPR, you don’t need to make a lifelong study of the martial arts in order to learn to defend yourself.

Consider investing a few hours to ensure your own personal safety.  

JOIN ME FOR MY UPCOMING WORKSHOP AT SKILL OF STRENGTH!

Date & Time:
November 2, 2013  |  11:00am – 2:00pm

Location:
Skill of Strength, North Chelmsford MA

Cost:
$49 for SOS members or $69 for non-members

The workshop is 3 hours long and is open to current Skill of Strength members as well as non-members.

Learn more and register for the Introductory Self Defense Workshop taking place on Saturday, November 2 from 11:00am – 2:00pm in North Chelmsford, MA.