Could a Fitness Professional Teach Personal Safety & Self Defense

Introduction

Could a fitness professional teach personal safety & self-defense? The answer to the question is “Yes!” and the main objective of this article is to explain why a fitness professional (especially a personal trainer) could teach personal safety and self-defense. Before providing support information for that statement, the terms ‘personal safety’ and ‘self-defense’ need to be defined because they are oftentimes used interchangeably. From my perspective, the two terms have different meanings.

 

Definition for Personal Safety Training

Personal Safety training focuses on education – providing in-depth knowledge that should help an individual make better decisions regarding potential or real conflict or violent situations. Personal safety training provides detailed information that enhances an individual’s knowledge, skills, and abilities to recognize & avoid, de-escalate, and/or exit from potential and/or existing violent situations without the need for physical self-defense fighting skills.

 

Why Could a Fitness Professional Teach Personal Safety

Fitness professionals are natural educators! To teach personal safety, a fitness professional needs to learn, understand, adapt and be able to effectively deliver the applicable information to any audience! To become a proficient personal safety trainer, a fitness professional must:

  • Become educated through a reputable, credible training resource that provides comprehensive, accurate, and proven information, and
  • Possess the knowledge, skills, experience, abilities, and capabilities necessary to design and effectively deliver personal safety information to any audience!

 

Definition for Self-Defense

Self-Defense training involves learning, practicing, and improving the skills necessary to physically defend oneself. This could range from leaving a situation to fighting back against an assailant. Physical self-defense skill training does not make a person invincible – the training is more of a “discovery” experience for an individual. Participants discover what they are capable of, if confronted with potential or actual violence. Fitness professionals, especially personal trainers, through formal education, industry certifications and fitness training experience, are well-suited to become self-defense physical skills trainers.

Why Could a Fitness Professional Teach Self-Defense

Let’s put one myth to rest immediately. Acquiring the knowledge and skills necessary to teach basic level self-defense principles, methods, tactics, and techniques to the public does not require years of formal martial arts training or a Black Belt. Possessing a strong foundation of basic physical self-defense skills and fundamental personal safety knowledge is vital for teaching personal safety and practical, realistic and effective self-defense strategies and techniques. For this reason, fitness professionals can become effective certified self-defense trainers, if they commit to the time and effort required to learn and practice the skills and information. Here are a few reasons supporting this statement – fitness professionals possess the:

  • Knowledge needed to maximize training human movement and function (biomechanics/ kinesiology/ physiology).
  • Ability to teach, observe, correct, adapt, and/or modify movement to an individual’s abilities and capabilities.
  • Training program design experience based on individual abilities, capabilities and goals.
  • Understanding that training people also involves mental, emotional and environmental aspects of physical activity participation.

 

Following is a detailed explanation for each of the above bullet points!

 

Biomechanics/Kinesiology/Physiology Knowledge

Fitness professionals (should) have a solid understanding of biomechanics and kinesiology. While physical self-defense should always be the very last choice of action, it is still very important – it is better to have the training and not need it, than to need the training and not have it. Once the decision is made that physical self-defense is required in a situation, it is extremely important that the specific self-defense ‘action’ (exiting, evasion, re-direction, strikes, loosening techniques, escape techniques, control techniques, etc.) is performed in the most efficient and effective manner possible – meaning with the shortest possible reaction time and greatest possible power, speed, focus, repetitively, with no delay between techniques or movements. Teaching someone to achieve this level of skill requires a thorough understanding of biomechanics/ kinesiology, along with the ability to observe, evaluate, correct, adapt and/or modify the ‘action’, as needed. Fitness professionals (should) possess that knowledge, ability, and capability. To become a highly skilled personal safety and self-defense instructor, the fitness professional needs to learn, practice, and continually improve the execution of self-defense-specific movements and techniques, along with the situational application of the physical self-defense skills.

 

For example, a self-defense instructor must be able to teach a physically smaller client how to maximize the ability to generate power, reduce reaction time, strike with the greatest possible accuracy to the “right” target(s), under conditions of extremely high duress and an adrenaline rush that could possibly have a negative impact on a person’s ability to physically respond. Here are examples to consider:

  • An elbow strike is much more powerful if the client learns to execute it:
    • Maximize power by utilizing the full body to perform the strike, including pivoting the feet, driving the hips through the legs, and rotating the trunk while performing the elbow strike, instead of just swinging the arm through shoulder girdle and shoulder joint movement.
    • Maximize power by training a client to have the elbow joint fully flexed when contacting the target. If the joint is not fully flexed, there could be movement in the joint when impact is made, which will decrease the power of the strike.
    • Performing the elbow strike in a specific movement pattern because certain joint positions, during movement, are stronger than others. If the shoulder joint internally or externally rotates (commonly called ‘chicken-winging’) during an Inward Elbow Strike, the shoulder joint is in a less stable, weaker position. This compromises the power of the elbow strike. The most stable and strongest position of the wrist and elbow joints, during an elbow strike, requires both joints to move in the same movement path.

 

Fitness professionals (should) have basic knowledge about training physiology, which includes:

  • Exercise science principles such as FITT (Frequency, Intensity, Time, Type), Progressive Overload, SAID (Specific Adaptation to Imposed Demands), and more. These principles should be applied to designing physical self-defense training in the same way they are applied to the design of safe and effective fitness training.
  • Nutrition – to maintain the necessary energy levels and to maintain health and function, the body needs to be properly fueled for the specific physical self-defense training activities.

 

Teach, Observe, Correct, and Adapt/Modify Movement

Self-defense training, like fitness training, must be individualized – adapted and modified to meet the clients’ goals. Each client has unique abilities, capabilities, strengths, weaknesses, physical attributes, emotional experiences, etc., all of which will impact how the client should be specifically trained in physical self-defense skill performance.

 

Training Program Design

Fitness professionals are experienced in designing individual workout routines based on observations of, and information about clients. Self-defense training requires the same skills because it is not a “one plan fits all” deal, either – just like fitness.

 

Training program design should include two levels:

  • General skill training – skills that would apply in all potential situations (stance, evasion, re-direction, striking, loosening, exiting, etc.), and
  • Scenario-specific training – training activities that are related to specific situations or environments in which a client functions. Examples include flight attendants, real estate professionals, security professionals, bank employees, etc.

 

Mental, Emotional, and Environmental Aspects of Personal Safety & Self-Defense Training

Today’s fitness professional also understands that there is more to training people than just the physical aspects. This also applies to self-defense training. In fact, the initial and what I consider the most important part of this training is not physical, at all! Awareness training is the most important part of personal safety/self-defense training because the best self-defense is to avoid situations where personal safety is threatened or compromised. While it may be impossible to eliminate the potential, it is imperative to try to minimize the risk. Awareness training includes 4 types: Mental, Emotional, Environmental and Physical. These must be included in any quality personal safety/self-defense training program.

 

Conclusion

All you martial artists out there – calm down! I have studied and practiced martial arts since 1977, earned a 7th degree Black Belt in the Kajukenpo system, competed as an amateur kickboxer, and have taught personal safety/self-defense on a national basis since 1984. I value the thousands of hours (and every drop of blood and sweat lost) I have spent training to perfect my skills and knowledge – it is a never-ending process. So, please understand that I am not suggesting a fitness professional can achieve the same level of knowledge and skill that we martial artists achieve through thousands of training hours. Not at all! The level of skill and knowledge gained is commensurate with the time and effort dedicated to the learning and practicing process. I would hope that anyone who wants to become an instructor/trainer of a specific skill would continually work to improve that skill! I am not a fan of ‘weekend’ certifications!

However, my philosophy is that if you have more knowledge about a subject or a greater level of a specific skill than others, you can teach others that knowledge or skills.

  • A fitness professional leading a 45-minute personal safety lecture that legitimately educates the audience is a good thing! The audience walks away smarter and safer!
  • After a fitness professional completes adequate training, being able to teach a 3-hour basic physical skills course with personal safety training is a good thing! Participants leave the training with basic physical skills and personal safety ‘smarts’ – smarter, safer and stronger!
  • After a fitness professional expands his or her knowledge and enhances skill performance through additional training and practice, teaching a more advanced level of physical self-defense skills with personal safety is an even better thing!

You get my drift? A fitness professional should continually work to expand his or her knowledge base and improve skill performance and instructional abilities and capabilities. The more training – the better. But some training is better than no training!

 

Final comment! Self defense training is like fitness training, regarding maintaining the knowledge, skills and conditioning levels achieved. The phrase “Use It or Lose It! applies! If you complete a personal safety/self-defense training program once and never again, the knowledge, skills and conditioning will gradually decline as time goes on. Fitness professionals are experts at motivating clients to commit to training on a consistent basis. They have 2 options:

  • Recommend that clients participate in physical self-defense skills training periodically, as well as review personal safety information on a regular basis, or
  • Design a practical, realistic, and effective physical self-defense skills training and personal safety information review, that also includes general & self-defense-specific fitness and conditioning routines implemented through exercise science principles! This is NOT a kickboxing fitness class! EmpowerUSA has exactly what you need for this option – check out our SAFE & STRONG! program at www.empower-usa.com!

 

More people are willing to participate in a fitness program or periodic personal safety/self-defense training than in a long-term martial arts program. This is just a fact, proven by participation statistics, not a statement as to which program is better. Fitness professionals could positively impact the quality of life for a larger segment of their local communities by improving personal safety, along with health and function. In today’s world there is a huge opportunity to “make a difference!” This leads to the next article which covers why a fitness professional should become a certified personal safety and self-defense trainer. It also describes what curriculum should be included in a quality personal safety and self-defense instructor training program.

 

“One Body, One Life, One Choice – Be SAFE & STRONG!