Personal Safety
The most vital component in self-protection is ‘distance’. Generally speaking, the further you are from a potential threat then the less risk you’ll be subjected to. Self-protection is not combat. It is not about fighting and it is not about winning trophies or loosing face. It is about survival and even in its broadest terms, can possess many differing strategies and tactics than is covered in the majority of martial art classes today.
If taught correctly and in line with its original perceived intent, traditional karate can be extremely effective for self-protection purposes. It aims first and foremost to promote and then maintain a safe distance quickly and by any means possible. In addition to using ballistic striking as a primary tactic, karate also covers all other conceivable pragmatic ranges to provide a generalised secondary support system for back up should it ever be required.
However, as effective as traditional karate can be, it is often limited by the excessive focus placed on the physical aspects and in some cases a complete disregard for the ‘softer skills’, which if applied well can in the majority of cases significantly reduce the need of ever having to cope with violence. In martial arts practice, it can be far to easy to become swamped by combat, where in actual fact, a general study of such elements as awareness skills, hazard perception, assertive posturing and defence in depth would help significantly reduce the chances of a many situations becoming physical.
Personal safety is all about becoming aware of your place in a society full of potential threats. It is about accepting and then eradicating inherent weaknesses, enforcing and developing current strengths and successfully employing what are very often common sense principles that we’ve disregarded due to what can only be described as ‘modern day cultural conditioning’. Personal safety is less about the extremes of being oblivious or over-paranoid and more about making sensible steps to maximising the luxury of ‘distance’ so that for as long as possible, the ball can be kept in your court.
Of course, nothing is ever 100% assured, thus any good self-protection system should always include effective physical strategies. However, this is the component that while making up only a small part of the overall process, is the one that carries with it more hazards. Therefore, if a physical response is all you are trained to address then doesn’t the fact that you are limited in this way pose a much greater threat to your survival?
If taught correctly and in line with its original perceived intent, traditional karate can be extremely effective for self-protection purposes. It aims first and foremost to promote and then maintain a safe distance quickly and by any means possible. In addition to using ballistic striking as a primary tactic, karate also covers all other conceivable pragmatic ranges to provide a generalised secondary support system for back up should it ever be required.
However, as effective as traditional karate can be, it is often limited by the excessive focus placed on the physical aspects and in some cases a complete disregard for the ‘softer skills’, which if applied well can in the majority of cases significantly reduce the need of ever having to cope with violence. In martial arts practice, it can be far to easy to become swamped by combat, where in actual fact, a general study of such elements as awareness skills, hazard perception, assertive posturing and defence in depth would help significantly reduce the chances of a many situations becoming physical.
Personal safety is all about becoming aware of your place in a society full of potential threats. It is about accepting and then eradicating inherent weaknesses, enforcing and developing current strengths and successfully employing what are very often common sense principles that we’ve disregarded due to what can only be described as ‘modern day cultural conditioning’. Personal safety is less about the extremes of being oblivious or over-paranoid and more about making sensible steps to maximising the luxury of ‘distance’ so that for as long as possible, the ball can be kept in your court.
Of course, nothing is ever 100% assured, thus any good self-protection system should always include effective physical strategies. However, this is the component that while making up only a small part of the overall process, is the one that carries with it more hazards. Therefore, if a physical response is all you are trained to address then doesn’t the fact that you are limited in this way pose a much greater threat to your survival?
"A true martial artist is one whose smile will warm the hearts of little children, and whose anger will make tigers cower in fear" – Master Azato
