Search
Recommended Products
Related Links


 

 

Informative Articles

Golf and Zen -- Chapter Three
Golfing Zen -- Chapter Three About Golfing Zen: This is the third in a continuing series of short essays dealing with the application of Eastern spiritual philosophy to your golf game. The surface intent is that, as you apply the ideas,...

How to find the right paintball gun for you
Sports and hobbies have a special place in our lives. They are not just responsible for our physical and psychological development but also act as our best pals especially in times of aloofness. Since Homo sapiens are different by birth, they have...

International Spring Training
Baseball Team Detroit Tigers and The Italian National Baseball Team will play an exhibition game at Lakeland, Florida on March 4th. The Italians are preparing for the World Baseball Classic, for this reason, they will train in the Tigers' spring...

Make A Slam Dunk With Great Sports Gift Ideas
Do you have a sports fanatic in your family? Perhaps you’re just looking for a great gift idea for an acquaintance who happens to live life for sports. Whether you have a big budget or a small one, there are plenty of great sport ideas to choose...

Teaching Your Boy the Game of Baseball!
Teaching Your Boy the Game For those who “coach your son” (or those players who are coached by Dear Old Dad), lend me your ears. Here are some quick and easy thoughts to answer the common problems that surround coaching your own kid. 1st &...

 
The Martial Arts and Self-Defense - Emotional Response and Reaction

The media has fuelled the perception that ordinary people on the street are in constant danger from violent attack, and self-defense classes promise to counter this fear.

To attract students, most martial arts schools in the U.S. teach self-defense methods. They make many claims about the usefulness of martial arts techniques in defending oneself against attack. Such situations of attack are rare, however, and can be avoided by not putting oneself in danger (for example, not walking around bad neighborhoods after dark, not buying or selling illegal drugs, not hanging around bars, not getting involved with gangs, and so on). Being alert and aware of one's surroundings and recognizing the types of events that are likely to occur in certain locations are the individual's first line of self-defense.

The media has fuelled the perception that ordinary people on the street are in constant danger from violent attack, and self-defense classes promise to counter this fear. In truth, this perception is largely false, as more people are injured in incidents of domestic violence than on the street by strangers. To be effective, self-defense classes only need to reduce the feeling of fear.

When a person is actually attacked on the street by a stranger, the main problem in self-defense is generally not a lack of physical ability to counter the attack, but an emotional reaction, such as panic or anger, that can turn a bad situation worse. Panic can


be paralyzing and invite attack, while anger can provoke harm as well by frightening or angering an attacker to further violence.

Serious training in the martial arts takes the emotional reaction out of violent confrontations. After many hours of practice, a punch or a kick becomes merely a physical force, a fist or a foot is easily handled, and an encounter is not even experienced as a personal attack. Students learn good coordination and self-confidence, characteristics which can discourage potential aggressors from becoming aggressive in the first place. In the martial arts, the simple act itself of practicing over a long period of time may be the most important element in effective self-defense than any specific technique learned.

Focusing on self-defense in today's world has changed the techniques being taught in the martial arts. In the modern world, no one is likely to be attacked by a sword-wielding samurai. Instead, an attacker may be unarmed or have a baseball bat, knife, or gun. Battlefield combat techniques would not be very useful in these situations. The emphasis on such techniques has declined in most martial arts styles and has been replaced with techniques that are relevant to our times.

About the author:



Steven Gregoire has been training in the martial arts since 1986. Currently he operates Tigerstrike.com A martial art equipment and supply store.