Anyone that takes a self-defense class is taking an active step toward protecting themselves in the event of a dangerous situation. Whether we’re talking about a robbery or attack, self-defense classes are supposed to arm ordinary people with the tools to get themselves out of danger – in theory. However, self-defense classes only guarantee one thing to a person and that is knowledge. The power to act and react during a dangerous situation lies within a person’s mental state at that time. Simply knowing how to defend yourself is nowhere close to actually reacting quickly and using that knowledge. Therefore, self-defense classes have on major flaw in them: they can’t teach a person how to actually react and use self-defense techniques in a dangerous situation.
When a person takes a self-defense course, they are usually taught a few basic things. This includes various techniques for both offensive and defensive self-defense situations. Obviously, everyone knows some self-defense moves, such as eye gouging, crotch shots, pressure points, and others. A person might even be told repeatedly during the course that the key to escaping a situation unscathed is to react quickly and efficiently. Sadly, an instructor can repeat such words millions of times, but it won’t help a person actually react during a dangerous moment.
Still, self-defense classes are a good idea for just about everyone. The techniques that a person learns will help them if they are able to use them. In fact, many of these techniques work amazingly to disable an attacker. However, these same classes will always have the same issues. A person who takes the class, which may only be a few hours long in most cases, may feel a bit more in control of a situation if one should arise. People who take these classes still need to remember that they only took a class and have no actual experience handling dangerous situations. Unfortunately, plenty of people become arrogant after they take a self-defense class and think that they can handle any situation under any circumstances. Should they actually run into a bad situation, then their arrogance could get them hurt or killed.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with a person wanting to take a self-defense class in order to arm themselves with knowledge and a little bit of power. However, they must always remember that a class is just a class and cannot teach them to react to danger in an instant. Undoubtedly, these courses do teach invaluable information to individuals, but they do not teach everything there is to know about self-defense. The true key to self-defense is to react quickly and simply get out of danger. No class should teach a person to stay and assault the attacker if they can get them to the ground. In fact, staying in a dangerous place is the worst thing a person could possibly do when it comes to self-defense.
Do not ever be fooled into thinking that you are invincible, even if you have taken multiple self-defense classes. Until you experience a situation that involves defending yourself and you react well enough to get out of there, you should always be wary about being put into danger, whether by an attacker or an animal. Sadly, arrogance is the very thing that gets people hurt during dangerous moments, so you should never believe that you are impervious to injury or even death. Take a self-defense class because it’ll give you great benefits, but always remember that you need to be able to put that knowledge into action in the blink of an eye.
