Karate

Karate and Self Protection from John Titchen

physical

Creating and delivering self defence courses for women

Every year I deliver a number of single sex and mixed sex personal safety and self defence courses or lectures. A moderator on the online forum Martial Arts Planet recently approached me to write a short article about how I approach the subject of female self defence. The subject is far too large to sum up in a single article, but what I can do is give my opinions on the starting points for creating a worthwhile course.

 

Planning and Preparation

  1. Know your audience.

This is crucial for creating course content. The age group (or groups), ethnic mix and general social background will determine both content and approach. Regrettably there is a high probability that within your group you may have women that have suffered some form of violence or abuse, and while the participants will normally have opted to take part, they have not done so to get traumatised by off the cuff remarks or generalisations, nor may they wish to share any experience. The audience determines both the content and teaching style of the course.

  1. Trainers and the elephants in the room.

(i) Experience. I believe that honesty is the best policy. A trainer should give a very short summation of their background to help put things in context. A trainer should be open about their experience (or lack of experience) and knowledge and the basis on which the course is designed.

(ii) Gender. Can a man deliver a self defence course to women, as he is not a woman? Yes. I know some exceptional self defence trainers both in the UK and abroad of both genders. Their knowledge, experience and ability to empathise and teach are far more important than their gender. Some men will only listen to men talking about self defence and some women will only pay attention to a woman (or have suffered a degree of trauma that makes a same-sex instructor a better option for participation and engagement), but that does not mean that a trainer of your own gender is always the best teacher on this subject.

  1. Teaching style.

Teaching style is a very individual thing and I have seen a range of different styles used effectively. Although self defence is a very serious subject, humour can be used, although I would advise against poking fun at students that you barely know. A good self defence course should be driven and paced by the instructor but provide the opportunity to include the students as what you say may encourage them to share something that has been weighing on their mind and such sharing may benefit both them, the other attendees and you.

Regrettably the length of the course (and each session) is often decided by the host rather than the trainer. Most trainers still take on constrained courses on the basis that providing some training is better than no training, but in doing so there will always be compromises on both teaching style and content. As a result it is important to prioritise. The mental aspects of self defence are more important, more useful and more permanent than any form of physical training and should be prioritised.

 

Personal Safety and Self Defence – the mental framework

The mental side of self defence is about empowering your audience through knowledge and personal motivation. What needs to be covered will depend upon the age and social background of your group. The following list and order is flexible as in forming a course certain elements will naturally tie together and cross-pollinate.

  1. Use of force and the law.
  2. Accurate crime picture (including risk) based on government, police and ED data (where available).
  3. Natural human reactions to actual or potential abuse, aggression and violence, both in anticipation of, during and after events.
  4. Rationales and motivation for action or inaction in self defence both before, during and after events.
  5. Avoidance strategies.
  6. Deterrence strategies.
  7. Awareness – common tactics and patterns in abuse, sexual crime and violent crime.
  8. De-escalation and no contact escape strategies – body language, use of voice, phrasing.

The list above is very much tied in with your credentials as a trainer. Being a martial artist or having personal experience is not enough. There is a huge body of high quality literature available for research (too much to recommend one single text) based on the experiences of large numbers of people.

 

Self Defence – the physical framework

Once again what can be delivered will depend upon the age and ability of the group and the time allocated. In my opinion the mental training is the key to unlocking the maximum potential of the physical training.

There is an elephant in the room when it comes to physical training. Realistically not everything works all the time, no matter how good a technique is. Skill, motivation, adrenaline and the element of surprise give an edge but so do aggression, experience and strength. With that said it is important that what is taught is material appropriate to the context of real scenarios and relative positions, is simple to do (even under pressure) and has been shown (to the training deliverer at the very least) to be reliable under pressure.

The following elements should form the basis of the physical part of the course.

  1. Biomechanics and weak points of the human body.
  2. Gross motor strikes that utilise otherwise natural and everyday movements.
  3. Impact training.
  4. Paired or group work based on HAOV (habitual acts of violence) to build confidence.
  5. Optional participation in scenario training.

Targets

Targets seem to be the bane of anyone who works these days.  Whatever line of work you’re in, I’d be surprised if you haven’t been set either a sales target, efficiency target or an energy saving target and so the list goes on.

Targets have been around for a long time in the martial arts too.  What are gradings, certificates and belts but targets for students to achieve – indications (in theory) of progress.   There are a number of students who covet their belts and focus all their training towards them, students who love the gradings, students who covet belts but fear and dread gradings, and students who couldn’t care less about rank and just want to train.  After all, isn’t the journey more important than the goal?

What is the goal?

If your goal is to become fitter or healthier, then the set targets of gradings can help you achieve that aim by pushing you harder.  If your goal is to gain ‘a black belt’ then gradings and their targets are pretty essential in that you can’t achieve your goal in most systems without them (although you could just buy a belt).  If your goal is to become imbued with self knowledge and self discipline there are possibly better ways of spending your time, but the targets set by your syllabus and the lengths you will have to go to achieve them will certainly improve your self discipline.  If your goal is to become a zen warrior – you probably need to get out more.

Are you training Kata to know its meaning or to look good?  Both can benefit your confidence but only one can benefit you in self defence.

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What if the goal is to become a better fighter or improve your ability to defend yourself?

I separate these two because to my mind they are distinct entities that can overlap.  The psychological and physical training needs  and goals of a person wishing to successfully fight in a ring or competition differ from those of someone wishing to successfully negate, survive and escape violence.   Both actual events, when they occur place physical and mental demands on the individual, but the emotional, psychological and physical environment and consequences of each are very different.  There are elements of training common to both, but there are also significant differences and this is where the goal becomes more important than the journey.   If you aren’t fixed on where you are going, how can you select the best route and means of transport to get there?

You must decide if karate is for your health or to aid your duty. Anko Itosu

If you are training for a fighting competition then there are a number of targets that you will set for your physical  techniques when determining your repertoire:

  • competition appropriateness – there’s no point in you drilling an item that will get you disqualified.
  • attack specific – the rules and previous fights mean that you know what is going to be coming your way, you can thus take steps to drill how to evade and counter combinations of these techniques.
  • adrenaline tolerant – physical movements that your body can do using predominantly gross motor skills,
  • Initiative – keeping/gaining this until the round/fight is over
  • speed – how fast can you execute a technique
  • power – is the technique going to do what you want?
  • redundancy – does the technique leave you with options if it doesn’t quite go to plan?
  • transferable skills – when learning one thing helps develop something else you are doing,
  • unbalancing – taking control of the other person’s balance,
  • multiplicity – learning individual things that can work against different attacks,
  • multi range – being able to use your body to hit and escape no matter what position you find yourself.

Ground fighting is more commonly trained by a broader group of martial artists these days and most rule sets make it a sensible strategy.  But rolling on the pavement with someone who might take the fight to a new level may not be so effective.  It’s an important part of a rounded self defence arsenal, but generally we should be training tactics that are proven under pressure to enable us to avoid it.

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In addition to this as a fighter you will have combat related targets such as your strength, stamina, weight, diet and conditioning.

If we now look at the technical physical development targets you would set yourself for a self defence repertoire, we see overlaps but also clear differences:

  • habitual acts of violence – training is focused on what are statistically the most likely attacks,
  • adrenaline tolerant – physical movements that your body can do using predominantly gross motor skills,
  • speed – how fast can you execute a technique
  • power – is the technique going to do what you want?
  • predictable response – the knowledge of how people think and talk and move,
  • initiative – keeping/gaining this until the danger has gone,
  • redundancy – knowing and training what to do if something doesn’t work,
  • low maintenance – easy to learn and easy to do without much practice,
  • transferable skills – when learning one thing helps develop something else you are doing,
  • unbalancing – taking control of the other person’s balance,
  • multiplicity – learning individual things that can work against different attacks,
  • ballistic response – predominantly using striking as your physical means of escape if verbal strategies fail,
  • multi range – being able to use your body to hit and escape no matter what position you find yourself in,
  • vital points – knowing the weakest points of the human body.
  • verbal strategies – appropriate speech, tone and body language and behaviour patterns to negate danger or distract,
  • legally underpinned – appropriate responses that keep you and others safe, but reduce the likelihood of post event prosecution.

Force on force threshold and pain management training is important for both competition and self defence training.  If you haven’t experienced it you don’t know whether it will challenge or threaten you.  Is pain management on your list of targets?

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Compared with the competition fight your strength, stamina, weight and diet are less significant.  A real encounter is not likely to last as long as a competition one.  Although there would seem to be many similarities between the two sets of targets, the first target in each will separate the paths considerably.

These are merely targets to help you chose what to train.  You can then just pick some techniques to work with, but again – if you want to get the psychological benefits of realising improvement, you need to set yourself targets.  How accurately can you hit?  How much can you stretch?  How much can you move the bag?  How long can you sustain a high aerobic level?  Your targets should always be SMART, that is: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Rewarding and Time limited.

  • Specific: Make clear and unambiguous statements about what it is you are going to achieve.
  • Measurable: There must be some way to determine when the objective has been met. Make a statement that describes how you will measure success or failure of the objective.
  • Achievable: It must be possible to reach the objective. It is important to understand in advance whether or not the objective is achievable. It is important to remember, however, that many tasks when first approached seem impossible, so it is important to set the bar at the right height initially, you can raise it once you’ve achieve it.
  • Rewarding: The goal should bring sufficient reward that it is worth undertaking. There is always a cost / benefit ratio to consider. Every task has its cost. It is always important to consider what the cost and benefit will be before initiating a task.
  • Time limited: There should be a clear time frame set out for when the target will be achieved. It is important to approach tasks consistently rather than sporadically. Breaking the goal or target down into sub-targets and estimating time frames is essential if you are to understand the cost of the task.

Sometimes I wonder whether the lack of clear goal setting by instructors and students is responsible for the high drop out rate in the martial arts.  Without clear objectives and recognisable, understandable and achievable targets towards that objective how do  we measure our success and gain mental satisfaction and confidence from our training?