CLOSE COMBAT TRAINING
Your safety is Your Responsibility
Table of Contents
Why Choose Martial Arts…………………………………………..…1 Your safety Is Your Responsibility…………...………………..…2 Turn Into a Stronger, More Confident You……………………6 Luck Comes to the Prepared…………….…………………………10 Self Defense May be Different than What You Think….14
Why Choose Martial Arts
The popularity of martial arts is constantly growing; what with the state of the world as it is, and more and more individuals looking for ways to stay healthy and fit. There are many martial arts styles in existence today, originating thousands of years ago from all parts of the world. Here we will take a look at some of the most commonly taught martial arts styles and some of the martial arts moves that are effective in self defense. 1
Your safety Is Your Responsibility
The title of this chapter may sound very blunt; but the fact of the matter is that millions of people still have not reached the point in their awareness that leads them to self defense training. The fact of the matter is that violent crimes are occurring with increased frequency; bank robberies are on the rise at this very point in time. Any yet, most people are still under the assumption that crime is “out there” – out there being somewhere far away from them. All it takes is a 2
Your safety Is Your Responsibility
few minutes of headline searching to see just what goes on in your town. It’s not enough to look it up though. It’s not enough to be scared. You should never be scared. You have the right to live out your life in a safe environment. However, bad guys don’t have the manners to let you do this and so your safety becomes your own responsibility. Sure, there are police in every town. But we are living in a time when most cities are experiencing budget cuts. Through those cuts there may be a shortage of police which results in longer response times. When you take responsibility for your own safety and learn effective self defense techniques like combat self defense, you eliminate the need to wait for help to arrive because you are your own best defense. Some people believe that any martial arts training is effective self defense. Be wary of this trap. While martial arts are an awesome sport and give you a way to get in shape and focus your energy; many styles of martial arts are set up for 3
Your safety Is Your Responsibility
sport. To defend yourself adequately, you must learn to fight. Martial arts fighting is not like street fighting. Some styles have techniques that are intricate enough to escape you in the event of an attack. For self defense to be effective, it must be easy. This is because your brain does funky things when under stress; and an attack is extremely stressful. In order to remember what to do and do it quickly enough to put a bad guy down and run to safety; the moves need to be sharp and simple yet effective. Yelling isn’t enough; one kick may not be enough. The point is you never really know how a fight will go. Because of that fact, the best way to adequately protect yourself could be to get yourself a good self defense DVD. This DVD should include information about how to avoid violence in the first place. It should include moves that are made using large muscle groups because these moves are remembered more readily should you need to use them.
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Your safety Is Your Responsibility
Most of all, you safety comes down to you. If you get serious about self defense, you will learn and you will practice. It’s not a one time deal. Your safety is your right; your responsibility. With just a few minutes a day, you can claim your right and be your best defense.
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Turn Into a Stronger, More Confident You
Life goes by fast, and if you don’t pay attention to the way it shapes you, you may wake up one day feeling like a human pincushion. This is equally true for both men and women; that life experiences can have a negative affect on the self esteem. This is not how it should be. In order to live a life that you enjoy to the fullest, you want to learn ways to increase your strength and confidence through every experience you have. The way to begin making changes in 6
Turn Into a Stronger, More Confident You
your life is to first realize they are necessary. Reaching for a more confident you doesn’t make you selfish, and won’t turn you into a braggart who is arrogant and no fun to be around. The beauty of life is that you get to create the story and the characteristics you will possess as the hero or heroin of that story. While there are little ways you can improve your confidence and gain strength; there is one that beats out just about everything; and that is to learn self defense. Not only do you gain great knowledge by engaging in self defense training but you also gain such personal power that you will never be the same person again. How you learn self defense tactics is up to you. You could enroll in an ongoing class that consists of martial arts training; or you can even learn moves from a self defense video. The goal is to put yourself in the position of learning something new. This alone will increase your self esteem. But, while you could do this by taking cooking lessons or 7
Turn Into a Stronger, More Confident You
something mundane like that; self defense is unique in that it reaches inside of you and pulls out all that is tough – all that says “you can’t hurt me”. There is no faster way to gain confidence and become stronger than to face something that may be scary. Violence is scary, folks. While you do not face real danger in a class of other students learning self defense, you become aware of the fact that violence exists. To employ the moves that increase your personal safety takes effort and in this way you also add physical strength to your personal toolbox. You learn many things at once in one simple training program of self defense. You learn to protect yourself. You gain personal insight into the strong person you really are. You gain an awareness of yourself and your surroundings. You learn necessary tools for safety. And most of all you make a statement by learning self defense that says “I will not be a victim”. Although initially that statement refers to crime; it 8
Turn Into a Stronger, More Confident You
has a way of bleeding into other areas of your life. Self defense teaches you that you are not to be a victim; and when you learn that, you will not be a victim of any sort of injustice. With a stronger, more confident self image, you have the power to take your life down a completely different path.
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Luck Comes to the Prepared
Remember the old Clint Eastwood movie, with the infamous line “Do ya feel lucky, punk? Well…do ya?” Ah, how great would it be to utter those words for yourself! Our world is a violent place. This is not doom and gloom; it is just a fact. However, most people tend to live in a bubble of perceived safety as they travel throughout their days in the same way. Day in and day out, we drive the same 10
Luck Comes to the Prepared
streets, walk down the same hallways, and shop at the same stores. With all of this familiarity, how could danger possibly touch our lives? But the fact remains that crimes do occur; we just ignore their proximity to us and our family. If what you want is to become a target (1 in 4 women will be a victim of violent crime); then just keep doing what you’re doing now. If you want to keep yourself and your family safe, then read on and find out how self defence training can make an enormous impact on your personal safety. There are plenty of martial arts styles that are taught throughout every town in just about every country.However, they are not all equal. The idea that any form of martial arts can effectively be used as self defense techniques is misguided. Most forms of martial arts taught today are actually for sport. They do not address the severity or brutality of violence. It might sound a little scary; but real self defense must address these issues. 11
Luck Comes to the Prepared
One type of self defense training that is highly recommended is that of military self defense. This type of training has gone on for years within the ranks of Special Forces units throughout the world. The Israeli army trains in Krav Maga, as do some U.S. forces. The main point behind military self defense training is hand to hand combat. There are times when the armed forces aren’t armed with weapons and they must rely on what they can do with their hands to fight the enemy. When an attacker goes after a victim; that attacker is the enemy. Chances are you are not armed with a weapon and you will have to rely on what you can do with your hands. Were you to come face to face with an attacker today, what could you do? Learning what to do in the event of an attack is, luckily, not very difficult. What is necessary is your commitment and some time. You can learn effective self defense moves right at home with a quality self defense DVD. Just remember 12
Luck Comes to the Prepared
that martial arts does not always equal self defense. If you plan to learn through a DVD, do two things: First, find a program that focuses on actual reality based self defense; not forms and sport martial arts. Second, commit to your program. Learning at home is a challenge because there are many distractions. You must be committed in order to learn effectively. Avoiding the instance of an attack is not just luck. There is more to it than that. When you are prepared for violence; it has a way of bypassing you. However, should it show up, self defense will help you put your attacker in his place – flat on the ground.
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Self Defense May be Different than What You Think
When you think of self defense, what comes to your mind? Is it Bruce Lee spinning kicks that land perfectly every time? Does your image of self defense consist of martial arts moves or weapons like a gun or pepper spray? Do you even think of self defense at all? The sad fact is that, for many, the issue of personal safety comes to mind rarely, if ever. With statistics showing that 1 14
Self Defense May be Different than What You Think
in 4 women will become a victim of a violent crime, it seems time for personal safety to become a high priority. Personal safety is a big ball of wax that includes more than just self defense tactics like strikes and kicks. While these are the meat and potatoes of self defense training (sometimes misspelled self defence training), there is much more that you need to know to adequately protect yourself in the event of a fight or an attack. First things first; it is not just women or children who should learn self defense. Having the ability to protect yourself and your family is for men too. It doesn’t matter how big you are or how strong you are if you are caught unaware by a violent attack. The worst thing that could happen is for your family to come into a dangerous situation and you not have the ability to protect them. So men, women and children are all good candidates to learn self defense tactics. Self defense is not all about the actual fighting. This is where a lot of misconception comes in. 15
Self Defense May be Different than What You Think
Because the emphasis in self defense is learning how to thwart an attacker, this is what people think of when they ponder the whole thing. However, self defense begins with awareness. This awareness needs to be on at all times. That means when you are at home, you are aware of the fact that some bad guys might want to come in. It is not unheard of for a bad guy to come knocking on the door. Because it has happened, it is something you should be aware of and take measures against. This means that you keep doors and windows locked, even when you are at home. It means that you place lighting outside of the home to give a bad guy less places to hide. Self defense goes with you as you leave your home in the awareness that you possess. As you drive out of the driveway even, you should look around to see what’s going on outside of your house. When you pull into your parking spot at work or at the store, you must learn to look around and see all that is happening around you. Is there someone in 16
Self Defense May be Different than What You Think
the car next to you as you park? Are there people hanging around the lot? Is there adequate lighting? The way you pay attention when out in public is a major part of self defense that many people don’t adhere to – or never learn. However, this is the part of self defense that prevents you from becoming a target in the first place. To stay safe, watch a self defense video and open your eyes to this aspect of self defense and never forget to utilize it at all times
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