Ho ho ho! Top Ten Personal Safety Tips for Christmas

HO! HO HO!

For many people, Christmas Day is the happiest and most festive day of the year. The whole season is one of joy, sharing, compassion and love. Regardless of what religious significance you attach to the holiday season, one cannot help but notice that the general feeling of good will does increase towards the end of December. Maybe it’s because we know we won’t have to go to work! Sadly, for some people, tragedy strikes to sour this most festive of occasions. Here’s how you can avoid it.

Self Defence Begins with the Self

The first time someone gets involved in a confrontation that spirals out of their control, their first thought is often “I need to learn how to defend myself.” With that, they will Google, they will read, and then will often end up at the local martial arts club, boxing gym or MMA academy. Convinced that learning how to fight better will solve their issues, they throw themselves into training. They attend class 2-3 nights per week, pay their money, sweat, bleed, cry and feel proud of their efforts. Next time when that bully/abusive  boyfriend/drunken idiot at the bar hassles them, they’ll teach him a lesson, right? Maybe.

Very rarely is a far more important question asked; “What could I have done to prevent this from happening in the first place?”

Video: Scenario Training

Another short video from the earlier years of Senshido. In this clip we see how scenario training with verbal dialogue and multiple attackers changes the training environment considerably. You also get a chance to see the Shredder in action in a live, no-compliance drill.

Video: Self Defence vs Fighting vs Martial Arts

In this short clip from a recent Progressive Defence seminar, our own Joe Saunders discusses some of the differences between self defence, fighting and martial arts. Enjoy.

Daily Video: 10.07.2010 - Gracie BullyProof

The following clip is taken from the Gracie JiuJitsu "BullyProof" program and addresses their use of the term "Verbal Jiujitsu" as it relates to schoolyard bullying. While we don't necessarily agree with all points made in this clip, it is still interesting and worth watching. Enjoy. :)

Daily Video: 07.07.2010 - "The Raw Directive"

Today's video contains some bad language, so once again, if you have kids or impressionable minds around, best you err on the side of caution.

It comes, once again, courtesy of the AIM Academy in Melbourne (see Resources section) and features RAW Combatives chief instructor, Jim Armstrong. While we do differ in choice of technique in that we advise against closed fist punching for those without high degrees of training, Jim's core message about "flicking the switch" and making a decision to attack is key to all effective self defence. And he phrases it in a way that only a Geordie can. :)

Enjoy!

Daily Video: How to Avoid Becoming a Victim

This is an oldie but a goodie. In this clip from the early 90's, Marc MacYoung gives some fantastic tips on how to avoid common violent crime. While some of this information has since been supplemented with modern studies and methods, there is a lot of gold in this clip. Enjoy.

Daily Video: 26.06.2010

Today's video is not directly related to self defence, but sound mind and sound control over our emotions are just as vital to good self protection as any kind of fighting skills. Here, one of the early pioneers of RBSD training, Geoff Thompson, talks about turning negative emotions into positive energy and the amazing things he's been able to accomplish as a result. Let us know if you enjoy it!