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Frequently Asked Questions
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- Do I have to learn martial arts to be safe?
No. Martial arts and martial sports have different focusses; emphasising aesthetic qualities, sporting prowess, health benefits, cultural disciplines incorporating self-discipline and mental harmony, fun and fitness. To be safe one needs to understand what constitutes the threat to you, and then take rational steps to minimise the risk. Learning, and being willing to apply, physical techniques can be beneficial - however the techniques must be based on the kinds of attacks you will face. Also, avoidance is better than engaging, especially if it's a dangerous, experienced and potentially armed criminal.
- Do I have to be fit and conditioned?
If you look carefully at your memories, do you recall how many street thugs were at that gym that was going to make you fit and tough? Yes, I can't recall any either. - What exactly is crime avoidance?
Avoiding crime and violence is often a matter of basic people skills. It is knowing how people think and act and how your actions will be received. There are many reasons why violence might enter your life. Usually, they involve you engaging in some kind of "at risk" behaviour. Knowing crime avoidance might acquaint you with some of your unwitting "at risk" behaviour.
- I'm a woman, what are some of the pitfalls of Women's Self-defence courses?
Often martial arts schools put on self-defence courses. These classes are structured around the school's primary focus and curriculum rather than the realities of violence against women. The incontrovertible issue that must be addressed during women's self-defence class is that you will be fighting superior male upper-body strength (The average man is two to three times stronger than the average woman). If this, working real-life scenarios as opposed to techniques, the psychological issues about using violence and awareness and avoidance of violence are not emphasised, keep looking.
- Why is a criminal assault or self-defence scenario always perceived as a fight?
"To live through an impossible situation,
you don't need the reflexes of a Grand Prix driver,
the muscles of a Hercules, the mind of an Einstein.
You simply need to know what to do." Anthony
Greenbank - The book of Survival
What kind of conditioning is really shown to be effective against street assaults?
A street assault is really about
sudden violence, and tend to be over in a matter of
4 seconds. While brawls do happen, as with any
violent physical conflict, the risk of getting hurt
(worse) increases as the length of the altercation
increases. Habitual users of violence know this,
and aim to prevent harm to themselves. Their focus
is on ending the situation immediately, as should
be your focus - end it now. The conditioning
best suited for this scenario is adrenal stress
conditioning and emotional acclimatisation to the
psychological and physiological stress of combat or
the threat of violence. This is learned through
being stressed by simulating the kinds of scenarios
you will face - which may include shouting,
swearing, blind side attacks which induce
confusion, hesitation, doubt, redirection of
attention and panic.
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