Self Defence

Self defence means different things to different people. Some people think that if they do a six week course in self defence that they can then defeat anyone and completely protect themselves. Others can train in self defence for five years and still believe that they are not ready to encounter an attack.
 

The reality of self defence classes . . .

Is that it is more a “mind set” than anything else.
The experts say that self defence is 95% about not putting yourself in a dangerous situation in the first place. This means staying safe is more about being perceptive, being aware of your surroundings and having a certain amount of common sense to make sure you don’t get into a tricky or dangerous situation. This can go a long way toward keeping you safe.
For example: Don’t go running through the park at night on your own, don’t open your front door to strangers, don’t “mouth off” to anyone (the car next to you) even if you may think you are right. Each of these situations can become high risk depending on your situation. If you can see trouble or a fight starting at a party, pub or night club move away and call the police. If you see a person or people who may look dangerous go another way or cross the road. Each of these situations are about common sense and making good choices. Often if something doesn’t feel right, or safe, it isn’t! Trust your instincts.
The other 5% of self defense may be about simply “being in the wrong place at the wrong time” and having to deal with the situation there and then. The problem is; “what will that situation be?” Will they have a gun, a knife, will it be a gang of thugs or only one person, or are they after money? Will it be a family member who hasn’t learnt self-control, or a bully at school? These are only a few situations. In fact there are thousands of dangerous scenarios you could come up against in your life.

So what do you need to do? Learn self defence in Perth

One of Funokoshi’s (known as the father of Shotokan Karate) precepts is “there is no first attack in Karate”. This means that you do not fight unless you absolutely have to – you do everything you can possibly do to “not fight”. It was once said “a true Karate master is one who can win a fight without actually fighting”, meaning that the skills of the master in communication, understanding, reading the person, listening, self-control and negotiation were so exceptional that he used them before his physical skills.
At World Shotokan Karate-Do Federation -WSKF Australia, we value these same skills in our family self defence classes. They are not just important for your self defence, but they are a vital part of many other aspects of our lives.
The police in Australia have a term for these skills in their training – it’s called “Verbal Judo” which is a very big part of police street training.
To be good at defending yourself you have to be confident. And to be confident, you need to have practised “effective self defence techniques for you” many of times. Then, just by your own experience, you know you have mastered your art. This applies to most martial arts and combat sports.
 

Why is Karate so good?

Karate has had the reputation of being a highly efficient and deadly martial art for many years because it is just that! It was first used by peasants in early Japan against war lords and over whelming odds to protect their families, their land and their villages. They had to be good as it was a case of “Kill or be killed” there were no alternatives. They had to take it very seriously because their lives depended on it.
Over the decades Karate (empty hand – fighting) has become such an efficient self defence tool that students of Karate appeared to have super human capabilities. This is because students of Karate thrived on improving themselves; to perfect every aspect of their mind and body, to be the very best that they can be, developing their abilities to their maximum, like strength, flexibility, speed, control, breathing, timing, focus and many more. To most true karate students the belief is that it is a road of many enjoyable challenges that brings great personal reward and that it will take a lifetime to get anywhere close to perfect. They believed it is the character building journey/process that matters the most.
Today the view is similar in our kids self defence classes – most dedicated karate students around the world understand that it is more about improving yourself and perfecting your own personal skills, competing against yourself and others that will make you a better person.

How do you handle that last 5%?

The benefits of learning Karate are numerous, but no one can give you a guarantee that you will be so invincible that you can beat anyone you meet in a fight or that if you are attacked you will be successful, simply because there are so many possible variations/scenarios or situations as to who, what, where and when, and by what!
If you do choose to do Karate or almost any other martial art and do it regularly it can only help to improve your chances of successful self defence with lots of training. Remember all good Karate or martial arts clubs or organisations teach you how to fight, but the best ones more importantly teach you how NOT to fight as well.
To finish, what we can tell you is that if you do not have a good set of all round skills like communication, common sense, understanding, empathy, focus, and a wide range of skills in karate or martial arts the odds of getting into trouble are much higher and the odds of getting out of trouble much, much lower.
The question is do you want the odds in your favour or your attacker’s?
 

So what options do you have to improve your self defence situation in the future?

You basically have two options:
1.  If you want the odds to be 95%  in your favour, then pick a karate or martial arts club near you and start regularly training and building your skills or
2. Do nothing and hope you never get into a dangerous situation.