Personal Safety
The Self-defence Unicorn By Mark Grobbelaar
Do self-defence courses work ? Heck , strictly speaking , do they even exist ? I don ’ t think so , and I ’ m happy to explain why I feel this way .
Walk into any bookstore and go to the self-defence section and you will see book after book filled with colour photos of numerous dangerous scenarios , and how to defend yourself . For example , when they say , “ If someone grabs your right hand ,” you ’ ll be prescribed a whole bunch of complicated and often confusing moves . Meanwhile , the internet is full of promises of training you to become an “ instant ninja ,” or promising that this will be the only self-defence course you will ever need .
The problem with these internet moves and book scenarios is that they won ’ t work unless you practise them every day . Also , they have not taken into account that your attacker has not read the book or watched the clip , and therefore doesn ’ t know exactly how he is supposed to stand or move when attacking you , much less how he is meant to respond , in an expected way !
Also , defence moves need to be second nature to be effective . It has been proven that to achieve any measure of proficiency with any skill , you need to practise it correctly as many as 10,000 times . Therefore , effective defence requires thousands of well-practised moves against different targets from all sorts of positions and in a variety of scenarios . In short , you cannot learn to defend yourself with a single course or in a short space of time .
Putting in the Time
Now , there are all sorts of fighting arts out there . Some have developed over hundreds of years as part of a fighting culture or subculture , some come from the military , while others have developed as sport and entertainment . Some are really good , some are total rubbish , but almost all of them have someone teaching a “ self-defence ” course using that particular approach and philosophy . learners . I was then forwarded on to the head of extra-mural activities . Since when is a life skill this important nothing more than an extra-mural activity ?
A Different Approach
The reason people remember so little about so-called “ selfdefence courses ,” is because , in reality , they don ’ t exist . Maybe one day we will see one of those elusive , magical unicorns , but until then , self-defence courses , as we know them , remain the stuff of fairy tales . Instead , I believe the focus in personal protection should not be on fighting , it should always be about not getting hurt , and I will discuss that more in coming articles .
The thing is , having a black belt or a high grade does not qualify you to teach a self-defence course . Would you send a loved one to see a doctor who had done a quick “ doctor ’ s course ?” Of course not , which is why you shouldn ’ t go and do a short and quick self-defence course if you want to learn to defend yourself . As with the doctor , we are talking about your life . There is no room for error !
What you will need to do is find a reputable system with a qualified instructor , where you will invest about four hours a week for the rest of your life in practising techniques and strengthening your body , so that one day you might really know how to defend yourself . This is not something the average person has an appetite for .
Images : Pexels
Wading Through the Stuff
During a self-defence course , some instructors will fill the time with so much “ stuff ” to justify the price of the course , and to prove to you how good they are . Unfortunately , there are many exceptional martial artists who have really not given this self-defence course concept much thought , and appear to be just looking to make money , or worse , they really misunderstand the psychology behind the fighting art they have learnt over many years of practice .
Their skills cannot be taught in any less time than it took them to master , and all they are doing is giving people a false sense of security , making them think they can do something effective when they actually can ’ t . For example , teaching students to take guns and knives off an attacker after only a few lessons is insane . It will probably just get the student killed . There is no quick fix , no silver bullet , no short cut . There is no substitute for regular training if you want to learn to defend yourself .
Recently , I was made acutely aware of the realities of this , as we do a lot of work with schools throughout the country , often with lifechanging feedback . I sent an e-mail with references to the head of a well-known private school , requesting a meeting to present our offering . I was initially told they had a teacher on staff who had done a self-defence course , was an expert , and already did courses with the
Mark Grobbelaar is the founder of INpowered , incorporating WIP ( Woman INpowered ) and GRIP ( Guy Responsibly INpowered ), an organisation dedicated to giving people the essential tools to protect themselves . Mark holds a sixth dan in karate , and is also an avid runner and cyclist . He hosts INpowered programmes for corporates , schools and small groups . More info at www . inpowered . co . za .
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