Self-defence training is a life-skill that is vital for any
person to learn and practise continuously. Some might say that in this day and
age of civilisation and technology, there is no longer a need for it. However,
the reality is that we need it now more than ever. Never in the history of
mankind have we been faced with the human threats that we have now. From terrorist
organizations threatening global warfare; to organised crimes such as shopping malls
shootouts and cash-in-transit heists; to increases in home invasions, murders,
rapes and other hideous and violent crimes. Combine this with the global
recession that still looms in the air, forcing more and more once-decent people
to descend to a more barbaric survival means of stealing and plundering, it
only fuels this vicious circle of crime and fear.
Many people have also become frustrated of crime and have
resorted to throwing their hands up in the air and remark that that their tax
money is supposed to be paying those law enforcement official to protect them
from criminal elements; or they have gone to the other extreme of becoming
apathetic towards crime by just pretending that it does not matter anymore
because there is nothing that can be done anyway and are just prepared to
become victims.
The truth is, most victims of crime are victims because they
let themselves to be. They have not prepared adequately or rely on others to
protect them. As a life-skill,
self-defence educates the individual on how to minimise the possibility of an
attack, as well as empower themselves with relevant and effective physical skills.
Although the physical skills are important, they are but a mere drop in the ocean
of mental skills and preparedness one must undergo - It is fundamentally about
developing the correct self-defence attitude.
I read an enlightened quote recently that said, "Many victims
are victims not because they lack the capacity to fight, but because they have
never had any exposure to the violence, and training to deal with that
violence". How true is that statement! In my many years of traditional
martial arts training, nothing could have prepared me more than the combative
training I have undergone. Some of the highlights include: being hit in the
face, groins, legs, chest and arms, just to see what the most effective
combinations would be to elicit an incapacitation; being shot at with
paintballs, airsoft pellets, and blank bullets filled with play-dough, to feel
the fear of when someone is shooting at me; having being stabbed at with FULL-FORCE
with rubber knives, leaving behind bruised ribs, to see if I really could catch
a knife that was moving at that speed and being wielded with that intent to
stab me to death; having had attack-dogs
set on me, dealing with them, and still having to accessing my weapon to deal
with another human opponent;
bare-knuckle sparring with bigger and stronger opponents who just want
to knock-out the little Asian guy; grappling with someone twice my size to
emulate what it would be like to ground-fight with someone who knew what they
were doing and would be willing to choke me to death or break a few bones; to
trying to free myself from my opponent’s grip, while being held under-water in
the sea to see if I could still fight in this oxygen-deprived, fear-inducing
environment.
I admit - I do put myself through some rather extreme
training methods. And yes, some people might
call me a sadist (as I do actually enjoy the training)! However, I will be the
first one to admit that each time I do combative training, I am scared $h!tless! Not because of the training methods, but because of the pain that I
might (and inevitably do) incur. It is this fear of pain that makes me train
harder so that I can minimise the pain. This fear gives me the edge above many
of my opponents, because I am willing to do WHATEVER it takes to not feel that
pain. I manage that fear of pain by training as hard as I possibly can to
ensure that I don't get hurt. This is my self-defence training.
To take it to a higher and broader level, there is also a
greater pain than my own pain, which is the pain I will feel if anything bad
were to ever happen to my loved ones. THAT alone makes me train even harder so
that I, should I have the opportunity to, will be able to prevent those bad
elements from reaching them. However, I do still insist that they also undergo
some self-defence training. After all, there is only so much I can do.
At the end of the day, it’s all about the choices I make. As
I have said to many of my students, there is no right or wrong choices when it
comes to self-defence decisions. The only proviso is that you need to live with
the consequences of those choices.
So let me ask you again, how are you building this essential
life-skill?
Get EDUCATED and EMPOWERED. Live a positive and fully ENGAGED life.
* Just random news clippings while paging through a newspaper yesterday.
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