Okay, so you’re eating healthy and exercising regularly. Your body is fit, heart is healthy, and mind is happy. But is your workout regime preparing you for the real threats of violence in today’s dangerous world? Will you be able to defend yourself in an adverse situation, even a matter of life and death?
Basic training in self-defense is a must today, because no one can anticipate a surprise attack where your life – or the life of a loved one – could suddenly be on the line. After all, it makes good sense to hope for the best and prepare for the worst, doesn’t it?
Reality-based martial arts and self defense
Training in martial arts is one of the easiest, safest, and most effective ways to prepare for the worst. The trick, however, is to enroll in reality-based martial arts classes. Traditional martial arts teach you a way of life. They foster important life skills and teach many valuable lessons. The limits of their suitability for self-defense in a street fight are debatable however.
Reality-based martial arts classes educate you in the concepts, techniques, and skills needed to successfully evade and survive conflict situations, which you are most likely to come across in your environment. Bullying at school, mugging, street violence, kidnapping, malicious attack, grievous bodily harm by a spouse or another known/unknown perpetrator – danger lurks at every corner of modern life. And hoping you or a loved one are never faced with such a situation doesn’t actually reduce the chances.
The goal of reality-based martial arts is to avoid violence and escape danger using speed, swiftness, and agile body motions. But it also prepares you to prevail, should things escalate into physical violence.
A good martial arts school that provides reality-based classes will train and perfect your instincts, emergency responses, motor movements, and quick decision-making abilities in the face of real life conflicts that send your body into a confused fight-or-flight state.
What makes reality-based classes so effective
The training is typically divided into three phases, each focused on
- avoiding/escaping a dangerous situation,
- prevailing in the actual fight, and,
- behaving in a responsible manner after the conflict gets over.
Thus, compared to a fellow citizen with no training in reality-based martial arts, you will
be more adept in avoiding a dangerous situation. Reality-based classes will have trained you in heightening your awareness of surroundings, anticipating foul-play from someone by paying attention to their body language, perfecting your own demeanor, and social and verbal skills to successfully escape a life-and-death situation.
You will be more adept in keeping yourself and loved ones safe should a conflict occur. Reality- based classes will have trained you in making preemptive strikes, targeting strategic body parts of the perpetrator, using high-impact techniques, dodging and countering attacks, and the like. Further, you will also have learned how to act after the situation is done and over. Emergency first aid for yourself and others while awaiting proper authorities to arrive will help immunize or minimize any subsequent physical, psychological, and legal problems because of having acted in self-defense.