What sort of martial arts do you practice in and why? Judo? Karate?
Educating yourself in self defence seems very useful especially if you live in parts of a country that might be rough.
I’d like to get into it myself but I can’t hear well, I can lip read however. Did some boxing when I was very young but it was only practice on training bags : )
Kung Fu students and masters alike, let me know your wisdom!
I trained in Tang Soo Do for almost 5 years in my 30s, before I hurt myself (an injury not related to martial arts training). I’ve been wanting to get back into it in the years since, but haven’t been able to for various reasons.
I really enjoyed the training. I kept in good shape, and became very close with the people in my school… I still talk to them occasionally today despite having moved out of the area some years back. I enjoyed practicing the various techniques, pushing myself to my limits… I would highly recommend structured martial arts training to anyone.
That being said: martial arts are a LAST defense… they are NOT the go-to defense.
If you’re attacked, especially by multiple assailants, RUNNING is what you’re looking to do. Your self-defense skills are primarily there to CREATE an opportunity to flee, if you don’t have one immediately available.
Life is not a 1960’s kung-fu movie, and you risk a lot by trying to stand your ground when you don’t have to, so fight is rarely the correct answer when presented with a fight-or-flight scenario. It’s better to not be in that mindset.