My friend Scott Sonnon just put up an essay on his blog that is well worth reading.
It has been a while since I wrote anything on the subject of self defense and martial arts, especially understanding the distinctions between the two (for the main article see here)
Scott's article is one of the better expositions of what is needed to create effective self defense programs, and personally I think it is a must read for anyone who is interested in having a solid yardstick for judging the value of any self defense course you might be thinking about taking (or designing for yourself).
So jump on over to Scott's blog and take a read on 20 Quick Lessons to No-BS Self-Protection!
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
A Must Read
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
6 comments:
That was interesting. As a teacher of a martial art, how do you reconcile teaching a style with teaching how to survive a violent attack? Do you focus on the basics until the student is knowledgeable enough to move beyond the forms? Or do you warn the students up front that you are not teaching self defense, you are teaching a martial art? Or something else?
~ Jas.
There are more choices than the ones you enumerate. Think outside the box.
I've tried thinking outside the box from time to time. It doesn't go over so well in the corporate world. It's been my impression that corporations (and society at large) don't *want* people thinking outside the box.
Example: I was in a team building exercise in which we were asked to think outside the box. I came up with an option that wasn't covered in the rules of the game and was told flatly, "No, you can't do that."
Eventually, I got tired of people staring at me funny and stopped expressing opinions which weren't safely innocuous.
Still ... they can shut me up but they can't stop me from thinking. I'll consider some more options.
~ Jas.
First they ignore you. Then, they laugh at you. Then, they hate you. Then, you win, Jas.
Thanks for the support, Mushtaq!
Hello Scott,
Great quote. I googled it and found out that Ghandi said it. Cool.
Thanks for turning us on to that.
Ah yes. A fine article...thanks for the link.
Post a Comment