INTRODUCTION

In a previous article, I defined personal safety training and self-defense training and identified why you should participate in both types of training. This article provides guidance about what personal safety information and physical self-defense skills should be included in a training program. This valuable information empowers you to effectively evaluate and select the best possible personal safety and self-defense training program in which to participate.

A quality training program should include two major subject areas:

  • Personal Safety – training focuses on education by providing information and strategies that should help a person recognize & prevent, avoid, de-escalate, or exit from potential or real conflict or violent situations. It does NOT involve physical skills training.
  • Physical Self-Defense Skills Training – provides the opportunity to learn, practice, and improve the simple, practical, realistic, effective physical skills necessary for a combative situation. Physical self-defense training does not make a person invincible – it is a “discovery” experience. You, through the training progressions, discover your current and potential abilities and capabilities for handling potential or existing violent situations.

Personal Safety Training – What Should Be Included

Personal safety training can be effectively delivered as a live event (in-person seminar or virtual webinar), or in an online format. Personal safety training provided in an online format is effective and provides many benefits over live training, including:

  • Convenience (time and location) – training can be completed anytime and anywhere.
  • Content/information accessibility – training information should be accessible (audio/video recorded, online or hard copy) to participants so that the training content can be reviewed at any time. Remember, information retention may be limited if it isn’t reviewed occasionally!

A comprehensive personal safety training program should address several subject areas, some of which include:

  • Awareness Training
  • Legal Liability of Self-Defense
  • Confidence & Fear
  • Assailant Identification
  • Preparation for Conflict
  • Principles of Personal Safety
  • Pre-emptive Self Defense
  • Martial Arts Training and/or Fitness Training versus Self Defense Training
  • Interpreting Body Language
  • Recognition & Avoidance and/or De-escalation Techniques & Strategies
  • Situational Personal Safety Tips
  • Predator Lures
  • Personal Safety ‘Weapons’ – What You Can Use & How to Use Them

A comprehensive Personal Safety training program MUST cover the 4 Types Awareness – mental, emotional, environmental, and physical awareness.

  • Mental awareness – this type of awareness is necessary to be able to effectively use the other types of awareness. It provides the ability to interpret and analyze input from emotional, environmental, and physical awareness. Mental awareness enhances the ability to make quick and smart decisions during highly stressful situations.
  • Emotional awareness – two parts:
  • Awareness of your own emotional state, providing you with the opportunity to control the external symptoms of emotions like fear, nervousness, etc. If you appear confident and in control, you are less likely to be a target of random violence.
  • Awareness of the emotional state of other people. If you learn to recognize the external symptoms of other people’s emotional states, then you can respond appropriately.
  • Environmental awareness – awareness of the physical environment you are in. Comprehending and evaluating environmental “situations” and/or conditions could impact decisions needed for a potential or existing personal safety situation.
  • Physical awareness – two-parts:
  • Awareness of your own physical abilities and capabilities.
  • Awareness of the potential physical abilities and capabilities of an aggressor.

Awareness training is extremely complex and is covered in much more detail in EmpowerUSA’s Personal Safety Handbook (https://empower-usa.com/product/personal-safety-handbook/).

Physical Self-Defense Skill Training – What Should Be Included

For the best possible outcome, this training should be performed live! Learning and practicing skills by watching videos, with no feedback from a trainer, does not provide an optimal learning environment.

  • Trainees should see an instructor perform the skills in 3 dimensions, from as many angles as possible, for the best possible learning experience.
  • Instructors should observe trainees performing the skills in 3 dimensions from multiple angles so that accurate evaluations, corrections (if necessary), modifications, and/or praise can be provided.

It is understood that live training is not always possible. If the training cannot be performed in-person, trainer feedback on physical skill performance SHOULD still be part of the training! This would require some type of online video format – not optimal, but better than no training!

Physical self-defense skill training should involve a partner to practice with and include the following components:

  • Positioning & Distancing – non-aggressive, ready stance while maintaining proper distancing (based on various situations) from an aggressor.
  • Evasion movements – how to effectively and efficiently move away from an attack.
  • Re-Direction techniques – how to properly deflect or block an attacker’s grab or strike attempt.
  • Striking techniques – how to execute strikes (maximizing power, speed, and accuracy), what body parts can be used for striking, and identification of the most effective target areas for the various strikes.
  • Loosening/Escape techniques – how to loosen/release various types of grabs and holds.
  • Self-Defense against weapons.
  • Ground Defense Skills – how to apply physical techniques while engaged on the ground.
  • Environmental & Situational-specific considerations – how can the specific environment you are in, impact your ability to defend yourself. Subjects could range from objects in a specific environment that could be potential defensive weapons to how a specific environment (small room, elevator, airplane cabin, car, ground surface, weather conditions, etc.) could impact your ability to move and perform self-defense actions.
  • How to exit, safely and effectively, after physical self-defense actions are performed.
  • Identification of everyday items that could be used as self-defense “weapons” and how to use these weapons.
  • Physical Conditioning for Self-Defense

A quality physical self-defense skills program progressively teaches easy to learn, simple to master, practical, realistic, and effective physical strategies and techniques. It should provide the ability to proficiently learn and practice the skills with a partner. A program must consider the following:

  • The limited time that most people will typically commit to self-defense training.
  • It is better to learn, repetitively practice and become proficient at performing a few techniques than it is to learn, but not perfect dozens of different techniques.
  • Training should be progressive – gradually increasing in complexity (single techniques progressing to combinations of multiple movements and techniques) and intensity (speed of movement, power of movement, resistance to movement, etc.).
  • Technique performance should be taught in such a way that you will achieve your maximum potential for technique performance speed, quickness, power, accuracy, etc.

A quality self-defense program provides live practice time against (intensity progressive) “realistic” attacks. Participants progress through physical skills training in the following steps:

  • Learn/practice physicals skill by performing them with low resistance and slow movement.
  • As coordination and form improves, the speed and power of skill performance are increased. For example:
    • Striking skills are initially performed in the air (no resistance), then performed against soft foam, hand-held pads (low resistance).
    • Striking skills are then performed against a light-weight heavy bag, progressing to a heavy-weight heavy bag (each step is an increase in resistance to the strikes).
    • Skills are performed against a Trainer dressed in a fully padded body armor. The initial attacks are executed slowly with low force. Attack intensity increases as skill performance improves. Eventually, attacks are performed at full speed and power to provide a ‘realistic’ experience.
      • This final training step provides experience in the effects of the “adrenaline rush” and how to better handle it.

CONCLUSION

Physical self-defense should be the last choice for action, but training for it is necessary to gain the greatest possible level of confidence. Physical skills training provides the best chance for a successful outcome if physical self-defense becomes necessary. It is better to have the skills and not need them, than it is to need them and not have them!

Here is one final training recommendation – the training program should be enjoyable. Yes, this is a serious subject and should be presented as such. But, if a training activity is enjoyed, the information and skills will be retained better! And, if you enjoy this training, you might discover a whole new fitness activity in which to consistently participate! But please understand that fitness-specific training is not self-defense training. However, self-defense training can improve fitness.

I hope I have provided:

  • The motivation to complete a training program that includes both personal safety information and physical self-defense skills instruction.
  • Practical and useful guidelines for evaluating and choosing a training program that meets your specific needs and expectations.

If you are interested in participating in an EmpowerUSA Personal Safety & Self-Defense training program, please contact us at https://empower-usa.com/contact-us/

Remember, “ONE BODY, ONE LIFE, ONE CHOICE!”