Hello Everyone
Well since we are having a free self defense clinic for women(which is full) on Thursday Dec 2nd at 7pm here at Cobourg Tae Kwon Do I thought I would write a quick blog on self defense. So here it goes.
Self Defense is when you have to verbally, mentally, or physical defend yourself against an attacker or a would be attacker. That’s in general terms. Self Defense is so much more. Let me see if I can just touch on a few things and let you think about the rest. For starters everyone has the right to defend themselves if someone is physically assaulting them. No one has the right to hurt you in anyway. Physically being the one that can be proven the most though. If someone is verbally assaulting you, you can simply walk away. If that changes to physical then you will have to be physical in order to defend yourself. Let’s just look at a few examples as I am better explaining this way.
Example One: Someone is physically striking you and you cannot get away. What should you do? Well if you do not want your body, mind, or emotions to be harmed, you are gonna have to physically defend yourself with appropriate force. Meaning you cannot kill someone if they are just assaulting you versus trying to kill you. After defending yourself you need to go tell someone. Whether it is a police officer, or a school teacher, a parent, a friend, or someone that can help you. You want to make sure you are safe, that you do not get in trouble, and that the attacker won’t attack someone else.
Example Two: If someone is just verbally attacking you. You can simply choose not to put up with it. You can tell them they have no right to treat you this way. You can simply walk away and go somewhere safe. You again should tell someone in order to make sure you are safe and to make sure the other person will not do this to someone else. Remember no one has the right to harm you emotionally.
Example Three: Someone has been bad mouthing you. So what you do is throw your hands up and assume a fighting posture ready to fight. Is this self defense? No it is not. This is you telling someone you are ready to fight them and they better bring it. Fighting and self defense are two completely different things. You should try to avoid fights and avoid situations where you might have to defend yourself.
Okay here is a list of a few things you can do to be a little safer.
1- Avoid strange and dark areas you do not know.
2- If you are going to a new area that is unfamiliar to you, go with someone else.
3- Avoid going to places you know have a reputation for bad things happening there.
4- Trying resolving issues in a peaceful manner.
5- Be friendly to others.
6- Always be aware of everything in your surroundings. No one should sneak up on you.
7- Avoid carrying too many valuable items.
8- Look self aware and confident in the way you walk.
9- Take some self defense lessons or martial arts lessons like Taekwondo.
Here’s a few other tips:
1- Be emotionally and mentally strong. Know that you are a good person who deserves to be treated with respect.
2- Be physically active and strong. Predators prey on the weak.
3- Have the utmost respect for yourself and others.
4- Do not let someone else talk you down.
A few tips on Environmental Self Defense:
1- Take care of the neighbourhood you live in. Keep it clean.
2- Help keep local parks clean and trash free.
3- Volunteer at your local neighbour walk, police station, or crimestoppers. You can make a difference.
4- Keep your own property clean and well lit.
Well that was just a little bit of a taste of what self defense is. Which is this week’s and last week’s word of the week. You can google it, research it, ask a local police officer, a local martial artists, and so on. Learn more about what you can do to protect yourself, your friends, and your family. I could easily spend hours upon hours writing out blogs and papers on self defense but I know you wouldn’t read every word. I think you would benefit more from going out and doing your own research. You’ll research areas that interests you the most and you will retain it better. So get to it and I’ll catcha later. Maybe I’ll be teaching you some self defense in the near future 🙂
Master Jonathan Field