I wanted to thank those who attended our self-defense meetup yesterday. We decided to create a meetup group in order to reach out further into the community and help people become more aware of the need for self-protection. What is startling to me is the fact that every group we have ever talked to, since we began talking in front of groups, has been touched by violent confrontation, either directly or indirectly. This shows a dire need for awareness! Martial arts training, in general, almost always addresses what to do once you are in the battle, but a very important question is this: how did you get there in the first place? How can you avoid it most of the time? People do need some basic fighting skills, but knowing how to avoid confrontation is just not addressed as much. Nor is confrontational management that involves tactical communication. When I say awareness, I don’t mean simply acknowledging that violence persists, although so many shove it far away in the darkest recesses of their minds that it may as well not exist to them. I mean that people need understanding about pre-incident indicators, setting proper boundaries with others, body language, how manipulators operate and their interviews of potential victims, looking for and developing escape routes and plans in times of emergency, the physiological effects of survival stress, developing cover stories and learning when and how to be more protective of personal identity, and generally informing their intuition so it serves them in times of need. Something we talked about afterward was the fact that a lot of people do have some pretty awesome physical skills, but if they don’t learn to develop the proper winning mindset, those skills don’t mean diddly squat. Truly. We had many good questions yesterday, and we learn so much from talking to people, especially women. Again, we are grateful for them taking time out of their off-day to come and hang out with us!
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