Defending yourself

Are you just looking for basic self defense techniques, or do you want to train?

You can take a women's self defense class (usually they offer one day classes).

I've done Tae Kwon Do. I liked it a lot. I once punched a guy in the neck in self defense. It was mostly instinct, but I think the training helped.

Hi ashers!

I think fitnesspirateninja suggestion is good - a women's self defence class is probably your best bet. The reason being is that everything is geared from a women's point of view and strength (as you can imagine). It's also the techniques that the police use.

The other alternative is take up something like kickboxing - it will give you strength and also give you a work out. The other option if you want something more technical is something like Jiu-jitsu - very much about hand to hand techniques.

I'm a black tag in Tae-kwon-do, while it has self-defence moves I probably wouldn't use it in a real life situation but that's probably due to me having large hands and quite a lot of strength. I think if you use it technically it could be quite lethal.

Knowing the basics is always good...i got them down I wanna actually get into doing classes...

I just purchased a Century Wavemaster XXL training bag last night to start kickboxing at home, workout and defense purposes! I am very excited to get started!!

I've been in martial arts since 1974. Several disciplines. Taught for many years.

Thhere is no one art better than the others. The advice I have is find a good teacher. Your teacher will make all the difference.

I love all that is mentioned above but you might want to look into Krav Maga as well. It's a great MA as is used by military and police around the world. It was originally used by the Israeli Police (along with Mossad and Shin Bet).

Yep, I second the Krav Maga suggestion. It's serious bad-*kitten* stuff.

I have a black belt in Taekwondo, and miss it soooo much. Not sure how great it'd be for defense purposes.

I've been in martial arts since 1974. Several disciplines. Taught for many years.

Thhere is no one art better than the others. The advice I have is find a good teacher. Your teacher will make all the difference.

+1

There is no one better, there are only better applications given the situation. Myself, I've trained in numerous traditional styles from judo to hapkido and instructed Taekwondo for many years.

If I had to suggest a martial art to someone who was interest in day to day self defence I would suggest something like judo or Brazilian jujitsu. Both of which are which are going to teach you how to mitigate threat and in this day and age that's what you want to do. Arts like krav maga are extremely effective at dealing with threat but lack utility in the civilian world for a few reasons. One being, they teach you severely injure or even kill an attacker and you have to ready to provide evidence for mortal danger. Krav maga is not how you want to deal with the annoying drunk at the bar.

In any case, any martial art is a benefit to the mind body and soul.

Would martial arts help a 10 year old with self control and respecting others? My son is having a few issues at school. He makes straight A's and is in the gifted program, but he can't seem to control anger or keep his opinions to himself. He plays basketball and football, but I think he needs something less focused on winning (not helping the self esteem or discipline).

Would martial arts help a 10 year old with self control and respecting others? My son is having a few issues at school. He makes straight A's and is in the gifted program, but he can't seem to control anger or keep his opinions to himself. He plays basketball and football, but I think he needs something less focused on winning (not helping the self esteem or discipline).

Absolutely On Billy's Favorite Moves DVD Billly Blanks talks about how it taught him discipline and set him straight- Martial Arts that is- not Taebo it was created by him later in life and is based on martial arts but I would recommend giving martial arts a try as a great anger outlet and way to learn focus and discipline. Good Luck!

Would martial arts help a 10 year old with self control and respecting others? My son is having a few issues at school. He makes straight A's and is in the gifted program, but he can't seem to control anger or keep his opinions to himself. He plays basketball and football, but I think he needs something less focused on winning (not helping the self esteem or discipline).

Absolutely, get him into a traditional style martial art, taekwondo, karate, judo, kung fu of any flavor, etc. Observe the school and make sure that protocol is respected, that is people bow, say sir, ma'am, horseplay is not commonplace. What I'm getting at here it that martial arts are called martial arts because they encourage a lifestyle which include discipline and respect among other things. Learning to fight is a skill, martial arts are a lifestyle.

As a general rule I've heard that styles that end in an O are more sport oriented. Takewando (sp), Hapkido, Judo, Kenpo, are mainly sports. They will teach you how to defend yourself, but they aren't specifically for defense.

If you're looking for something that is geared toward surviving an encounter with someone intent on doing you harm, I'd go with the Krav Maga. There's locks, holds, throws, pressure points, nerve points, and a slew of other things for dealing with the drunk in the bar that are less than lethal or even permanently damaging.

And yes, it should help your son with self control and aggression issues. I mean, come on, if the movies have taught us anything it's that. :laugh:

The most important thing is situational awareness. Knowing what to look for and how to keep yourself out of at risk situations.

Make sure this is adressed.

MA is really becoming a main stream sport and most places are gearing up to teach for competitions. Self defense and MMA are diffferent beasts with a lot of overlap.

I live in a small town but we have some excellent instructors. Our judo instructor competes at the Olympic level and our Karate instructor is in the US Hall of Fame.

I took Kung Fu, but stopped after about a year. I couldn't afford it, and worse, I had a mental block against actually hitting/kicking a person, which made sparring very uncomfortable for me. I would always hold back because I was worried I would hurt someone (not very warrior-like, I know). I wish I would have stuck with it, because I could beat the crap out of the dummies. The best actual defense training I ever had was from my husband. My husband taught me that if someone is actually trying to hurt me, that it's okay to play dirty and aim for eyes, collar bones, groin, nose, and neck, to kick, poke, bite- whatever it takes to do damage and get away. Since you have an immediate concern, a quick series of self-defense classes is probably best, martial arts usually take longer because you are learning the history, and philosophy of the art, alongside technique and practical usage.

Do you have a dog? When I got my dog I learned more about being aware of my surroundings and trusting my instincts. Also, a dog will help watch over you when you are vulnerable (sleeping, or in the shower). I have a super-sweet Doberman, but I know that just the sight of her intimidates most people we come across. And while she is typically really gentle and playful, I know she would help me defend myself if someone tried to hurt me. (She almost attacked my husband when we first got her because he was sneaking up a dark staircase to surprise me. Luckily, she realized who it was before any bites occurred).

Thanks for the advice guys... unfortunately I wasn't interested in dealing with a drunk at the bar. I am being harrased by someone and have had to contact the police about it. I am just worried about being followed and attacked.

Being followed and watched isn't much fun!

Oh crap! Be carefull...

Verbal defense; be really really loud."Oh my god! He's got a gun!" Or as my training dictates "Drop the weapon!" Then run like a mofo. Knock shelves over, kick stuff, yell and scream yell and scream.

A note on yelling gun vrs help; there will be a much larger reaction.