“Our aim is to get you out of there as safely as possible, not to teach you to fight”

Flight, not fight

Here’s a simple truth, fighting is nasty and it is dangerous. There are many martial artists out there that teach people ‘self defence’, but what they often teach is far too complicated to remember and doesn’t always take in to account the size and strength factors, the affects of drugs and alcohol and how they inhibit pain and of course they don’t always take in to account the fact that most people have no martial arts or fight training at all, so many of the techniques are dangerous and could get them hurt.

Then you have the military approach- simple but lethal. The military teach you to attack soft targets like the eyes, which we don’t disagree work (we’ve had a poke in the eye or two, it works) but as a result you could land yourself in prison, even though you were the one being attacked!

So it leaves us a problem. How can we teach people simple and effective self defence that will stop an attacker and get the victim out of harms way quickly, without ending up in jail as a result?

The first thing that you need to remember is that self defence isn’t about fighting, and learning techniques is only one part of the puzzle.

Your brain and your mouth are your first line of defence. If you can learn to be aware enough to avoid harm in the first place, then we have done our job correctly. Your next best option is learning how to talk your way out of trouble. We will teach you about how heightened emotion can be affected by chemicals and hormones and the psychology of dealing with an angry person. You will learn tactics on how to diffuse the diffusible.

Your first goal should always be your escape and getting out of a situation in one piece. We teach you how to avoid violent confrontation and awareness as your primary form of self defence, and violence as a secondary last resort.

We will teach you how to use appropriate force for various kinds of attacks and scenarios, so that you use enough force to get away, but not too much so that you get put away!

You will learn about the different types of violence and how to respond to each, including social, asocial and anti-social.

As for stopping a serious violent attacker, we accept that if you are dealing with a really violent person whose only intent is your harm, then you can’t always afford to hold back. We will provide you with the skills and knowledge you need to stop them in their tracks with any means necessary, and how to deal with the aftermath, including looking after yourself and talking to the police.

In those situations we teach you to use your common sense. Do what you have to do and justify your actions afterwards. But there is a key point - it has to be your last or only option.

We will also teach you about how your body responds to threats and how to deal with ‘fight or flight’ and overcoming your fear in a confrontational situation.

Remember the key thing about self Defence is your personal safety, and the safety of your family and friends. We don’t want you to fight, in fact we sincerely hope that you never have to use what we teach you, but at the end of the day, our goal is your safety.

Click here to find out if our self defence classes are suitable for you.