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Non-Physical & Psychological Elements
Violence relates to any violation of your natural rights. This could be verbal, physical, psychological, emotional or economic to name but a few. Real world violence in any form is a far cry from its portrayal in most films, games and media. It can be sudden or prolonged depending on the motivation. It is usually ugly, frightening, non-consensual and on an emotional level with potentially serious and always almost negative consequences. Violence though, does not discriminate. It does not care about your life, who you are, where you live, what skills you may have, whether you're rich or poor, old or young or big or small. It doesn't care about right or wrong or good or bad and it doesn't care who starts it and who finishes it.
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Sadly, most of us will have experienced one type or another during our lives. In Self-Protection training we meet people from all walks of lives who have had varying levels of experience with real life violence. However, whatever exposure you have or haven't had throughout your life, if you are reading this and looking at Self-Protection training then you probably realise there is a need to acquire some level of physical skills and a better understanding of violence psychology should you find yourself faced with a potential harmful situation for you or your loved ones.
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Whilst there are countless variables and permutations into how, where, why and when violence occurs, there are notable repeated behavioural patterns we can observe in order to reduce the element of risk the best we can for ourselves. However, anyone can be caught out and be in the wrong place at the wrong time, so we need to acknowledge there are no guarantees when dealing with violence. In fact, research shows that a high percentage of serious assaults, rapes and murders are actually committed by persons known to the victim and these attacks are delivered in the form of an ambush, which is a very different dynamic from the anti-social violence perspective for which most martial methods practice. Of course, random acts of violence, social and anti-social violence are very real and just as dangerous, but they are by far the more avoidable or resolvable option compared to the aforementioned 'known to' dynamic.
Distance Learning
There's nothing like in person training, but for some that's not always possible. Wherever you are on your Self-Protection journey, our distance learning options give you the advantage of being able to work and learn at your own pace, at a time suitable to you. We offer online training programmes in all areas of Self-Protection from individual informative downloads, lessons, demos and bespoke courses through to topical lectures/presentations, advanced teaching modules and Self-Protection student and instructor programmes.
The majority of styles/systems/arts that students undertake for the purpose of obtaining what they understand as Self-Defence skills will primarily focus on the physical response elements. If you look through most training options available, you will see that their training formulas consist of a syllabus of technical based responses to a variety of preset attacks, primarily with a compliant partner and from a reactive platform...i.e. The subject attacks you and you respond with a set technique. Now, of course, when learning a new skill set you will require a level of compliance from your training partner, however, in order to pressure test what you have learnt, you must progress you're training to introduce increasing levels of non-compliance and spontaneity, delivered in incremented stages as the student develops. Now you'll start to get a sense of what really works for you and what doesn't.
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Asides from this, research shows a fairly obvious recurring flaw inside of the majority of Self-Protection training where the fundamentally important non-physical options and resources available to you, are either not considered or generally neglected in favour of the 'fighting back' part. A good self-protection syllabus must include these and should, ideally spend as much time developing these skills as it does developing the physical skills. However, across the board the balance is way out and the majority of time is spent hitting pads or people, usually without the proper understanding and context.
Ask yourself this, how often do you see avoidance drills, conflict resolution or de-escalation strategies practised to the same levels as the physical? What about the psychological understanding of yourself, the way you think and feel which massively influences how you will respond and act. What about a psychological understanding of human behaviour, especially predatory when considering a would be assailant, or an understanding of the adrenal response, pre-threat cue behaviour, emotional state access or management, how to employ partial submission or how to mis-direct someone's attention to manifest an escape?
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This is a selection of topics that all fall under the banner of non-physical Self-Protection options and we should be striving to understand and develop them all to the same extent as any physical responses. Of course there are exceptions, but in reality, their practice, more often than not is few and far between. A successful cultivation of these options will massively increase your prospects of avoiding or resolving confrontation or aggression without the need for physicality, which in essence is the best option for Self-Protection. Either don't be there in the first place or resolve the matter peacefully, whilst being mentally prepared to take further action should that become the only option left for you.
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Our training includes cultivating a deep and proactive understanding and application of all the non-physical and psychological options available to you and combines them with the physical elements in order to equip you with the best chance of prevailing in the face of violation. We value both the non-physical and physical options in equal measures, as possessing a full understanding and ability to apply each when or where necessary is fundamental to an efficient Self-Protection toolbox.
Important Notice
Like any product or service there is good and bad Self-Protection So before you part ways with your time or any money, I would encourage you to do a bit of research before you start. Any credible form of Self-Protection should always emphasise the importance of prioritising your non-physical options including avoidance, awareness, conflict resolution and de-escalation prior to any physical applications. There should be teaching modules to include violence psychology, mindset, predatory behaviour, strategies and tactics and all should be presented with the correct context. What is taught should be based on research, evidence and statistics and when it comes to the physical components these should be gross motor, principle-based concepts and skill sets. You should feel free to ask questions, query things and disclose any prior trauma or apprehensions should you so wish without the risk of ridicule. All this should be the bare minimum you should expect from someone teaching Self-Protection claiming, their primary motivation is to help
others over any potential financial gains.
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