Can Fitness Pros Teach Personal Safety & Self-Defense?
Introduction
You read Part 1 of this 4-Part article series, so you have a clear understanding of the difference between personal safety training and physical self-defense skills training. Now you are ready for Part 2, which answers the question – Can a fitness professional (especially a personal trainer) gain the knowledge and skills required to effectively teach comprehensive personal safety information and basic level physical self-defense skills?
The answer to the question is an emphatic “YES!”
Martial artists – 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 I 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 that a fitness professional can or will reach the same level of knowledge and skill that we martial artists achieve through thousands of training hours (unless, of course, the fitness professional invests in and commits to that level of training!).
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 subject matter knowledge or a greater level of a specific skill than others, you can teach that knowledge and/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 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 continues to expand his or her knowledge and expand/improve 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 must continually work to expand his or her knowledge base and improve skill performance and instructional abilities and capabilities. The more training – the better. But we all had to start somewhere, and some training is better than no training!
Fitness Professionals Can 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 his or her target audience!
Fitness Professionals Can 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. However, it does require more training than simply reading a book and watching videos. To become a proficient physical self-defense instructor, the fitness professional must also apply the physical skills through hours of practice – preferably with a partner, under some level of observation by an experienced trainer!
Possessing a strong foundation of basic physical self-defense skills is vital for teaching practical, realistic and effective self-defense strategies and techniques. For this reason, fitness professionals can become effective self-defense trainers, if they commit to the time and effort required to learn and practice the skills. Here are a few reasons supporting this statement – fitness professionals possess the:
- Knowledge needed to maximize the training of human movement and function (biomechanics/ kinesiology/physiology).
- Ability to teach, observe, assess, correct, adapt, and/or modify movement to maximize and optimize an individual’s current and potential abilities and capabilities.
- Training program design experience based on clients’ abilities, capabilities and goals.
- Understanding that training people also involves mental, emotional and environmental aspects of physical activity participation.
The following is a detailed explanation for each of the above 4 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 skills and not need them, than to need the skills and not have them. Once the decision is made that physical self-defense is required for 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,
- Greatest possible power, speed, focus, and
- Ability to perform 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 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 power generation, 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 impair the ability to physically respond. Here is one example to consider:
- Executing an elbow strike:
- Maximize power by utilizing the full body to perform the strike, instead of just swinging the arm through shoulder girdle and shoulder joint movement. Full-body integration includes pivoting the feet, driving the hips through the legs, rotating the trunk, and maintaining balance while performing the elbow strike.
- Maximize power by training a client to fully flex the elbow joint when contacting the target. If the joint is not fully flexed, it will be ‘forced’ into full flexion when impact is made. Movement in the elbow joint at impact will decrease the strike’s power.
- 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 less stable and weaker, which compromises the strike’s power. The strongest, most stable position of the joints involved in the elbow strike is when the wrist and elbow joints move in the same movement path during the elbow strike execution. If the wrist/hand is higher (shoulder joint is externally rotated) or lower (shoulder joint is internally rotated) than the path of the elbow strike, the power of the strike is lower.
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 designing safe and effective fitness training.
- Nutrition – to maintain the necessary energy levels, good health, and maximal function, the body needs to be properly fueled for the specific activities that are included in physical self-defense training.
Teach, Observe, Correct, and Adapt/Modify Movement
Self-defense training, like fitness training, must be individualized – adapted and modified to meet the clients’ abilities, capabilities, and personal goals. Each client has unique abilities, capabilities, strengths, weaknesses, physical attributes, emotional experiences, etc., all of which influence how a client should be specifically trained in physical self-defense skill performance. Like in fitness, the goal is to optimize and maximize your client’s personal safety knowledge and physical self-defense skills!
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, like fitness training, it is not a “one training plan fits all” situation.
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 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 never being in a position 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.
Use It or Lose It!
Self-defense training is like fitness training when it comes to maintaining the knowledge, skills and conditioning levels achieved. The phrase “Use It or Lose It! applies! What happens if you complete a personal safety/self-defense training program once, but never practice the skills or review the information? The knowledge, skills and conditioning gradually decline over time.
Fitness professionals are expert motivators when it comes to getting clients to commit to on-going and consistent training. There are 2 potential options:
- Recommend participation in physical self-defense skills training periodically, as well as review personal safety information on a regular basis, or
- Design a longer-term practical, realistic, and effective physical self-defense skills training and personal safety program, that includes general & self-defense-specific fitness conditioning routines (check out EmpowerUSA’s SAFE & STRONG! program)!
More people are open to participating in a fitness program or periodic personal safety/self-defense training rather 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. For this reason, fitness professionals could positively impact quality of life for a larger segment of their local communities by enhancing personal safety, while improving health, fitness and function, simultaneously. There is a huge opportunity to “make a difference!”
Fitness professionals, especially personal trainers, through formal education, industry certifications, fitness training experience, and quality physical self-defense skills training are well-suited to become personal safety and self-defense trainers.
Hopefully you are convinced that you, as a highly educated and trained fitness professional, can become a knowledgeable and skilled personal safety and self-defense trainer.
Part 3 in this 4-Part article series provides answers to the question, “Should a fitness pro become a personal safety & self-defense trainer (personal and professional benefits)? https://empower-usa.com/should-a-fitness-professional-teach-personal-safety-self-defense/