Some college perspective...

Going to college, I have recently had the opportunity to talk to marital artists of different disciplines and different focuses. Some people at my own level, some higher, some lower. Meeting all of these people, and talking about the various arts I tried to maintain, that different is not wrong. Everyone has their own favorite techniques and everyone makes different assumptions. Both schools and people, I think.

For instance, I always assume that my attacker is going to be bigger, stronger, and faster than I am because I’m a fairly small female. (I would perhaps argue that it wouldn’t hurt for anyone to make the same assumption.) I also bear in mind what the goal of the attacker is. In my case, it’s most likely rape/abduction. But for the bigger males in class? Not so much. They’re more likely to be victim to a drunken guy with an attitude problem.

One young man I talked to, a Combat Hapkidoist, always assumed that he could kill his attacker. I was working with him, and every single time, he took them to the ground and killed them. Every time. This makes sense, in combat, you assume you can kill anyone who attacks you, it’s not wrong; it’s just a different assumption. In our style of Hapkido we don’t make this assumption. Defending yourself in some cases also means defending yourself from the law. We talk, in depth about when lethal force is actually needed and actually legal. You can’t immobilize someone, take their knife and then hold them down to slit their throat; it’s frowned upon. (I learned that on a test…sorry Trav.)

My Judo instructor (who is also a Defense Tactics instructor of some variety) observed in his line of work that fights that start nearly always end up in close grappling style fighting. Because Judo is the “art of in close fighting” as he says it is thus great for self defense. My commentary on that is that I would rather not let it get to grappling range. But it isn't wrong. I think grappling experience is really good for everyone, but especially females because it gets you used to be being smothered and keeping your composure and controlling your breathing.

Despite all of our differences, there is one thing, that I have heard every one of them say, and that I would echo whole-heartedly—--I was actually going to write an entire essay on this by itself. That saying is: awareness is the best self defense.

Awareness is without a doubt the best self-defense. After all, if you don’t get in a fight you don’t have to use your martial art or physical defensive skills (or your gun for those that carry). It isn’t an excuse not to learn to defend yourself physically, or a guarantee that you won’t get in a fight, but it is a great start. Know your surroundings and use some common sense. It’s a bad idea to walk alone in dark alley at night. Picking up hitchhikers with prison uniforms on. Leaving your drink unattended in a bar. Getting in a car with a boy you just met (ladies). Be aware if someone seems to be following you. Look around. If someone strikes you as suspicious, keep their movements in your peripheral. If you hear a gun rack, find out why (this might not be a normal sound for everyone, but it is for me). These are simplistic, but I know people who don’t even have this much sense. It’s not paranoia, it’s just smart. It’s good self defense.

It takes a lot of years and thousands or tens of thousands (in my opinion) to build good physical self-defense techniques. Yet, awareness is comparatively very easy and is the most important thing you can acquire. If you learn nothing else about self-defense ever, you should learn to be aware of yourself.