Self Defence Classes

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Looking for some advice. What kind of a self defence class would be best for someone who is clumsy, short, pretty thin, not very muscular? Martial arts? Kickboxing? Tae-Bo?

for decades, the late bill underwood taught a modified version of Defendo to the elderly and infirm. as he demonstrated on the tonight show [with johnny carson, in the early 80s] the techniques enabled him to fend off any attack even at his advanced age of 85. so it should work for you just as well if not better. the key thing is that you are using your opponent's weight and momentum against them.

I've seen people of all shapes and sizes ages and genders succeed at Tae Kwon Do at my son's dojo.

The key seems to be having a great teacher at the dojo, not the student's size. Observe some classes and interview them. Ask about their teaching methods and philosophies. If there is no community building and mental development components to the program, look elsewhere. It's as much about believing you can as the physical components.

One of the guys in his class seems to have a pretty severe ASD like disorder (I'm not a doctor, just going on his stiffness and how he acts). It took him slightly longer and you could see he had to work harder than others, but he reached black belt and it was a sweet victory for all (Tae Kwon Do has a strong sense of responsibility towards helping your classmates). His movements in general improved over time for fluidity as did his confidence and social skills. He even started bringing a girlfriend to the annual picnic and field trips eventually and started smiling when he said hi.

I took many years of Karate and it did wonders for my self-confidence, coordination and eye contact. Some schools emphisize competition and tournements - the one I went to did not and I would highly reccomend such a school to anyone with AS.

Look for a school that has people of all types, younger, older, fatter,skinnier, more and less coordinated and a mix of men and women. Most schools will let visitors come and watch classes, that's a good way to see what is going on. Try a few classes at one that looks good and do not be afraid to move on if something doesn't work for you.

Also, some schools require that you sign-up for more than one month at a time or pay other membership fees etc. Avoid those and look for a place that lets you pay month by month.

Thank you for the advice. You were all very helpful.

Relative to this subject, you all may have seen this story on Yahoo the other day ...


63-year-old holds off robber with rear naked choke

By Maggie Hendricks

A robber messed with the wrong man in Florida on Thursday night. 63-year-old, 5-foot-7 Fred Kemp used a foot sweep and a rear naked choke to disarm a robber who pointed a gun at Kemp and his wife.

The couple was getting into their car in Boynton Beach when a man came out of the darkness and approached them with what turned out to be a pellet gun. Wanting to keep his wife safe, Kemp returned to the skills that he learned as a wrestler for Hofstra University.

"He started to hit me, so I reacted from there," a bruised but smiling Kemp said Friday. "I got him out into the street and held his arm. I foot-sweeped him down and I was trying to get a hold of the gun. He banged me up a little bit but my main concern was the gun."

Kemp's quick thinking led him to apply a rear-naked choke, then when the robber was weakened, he took the gun from him. The police report mentioned that Kemp held the robber down until the police arrived.


http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewr ... mma-wp5794

One good article I found regarding self defense training is called "The lioness method." I think I found it on the NFA (Cdn. version of the NRA) site a couple of years ago, but cannot currently find the document (it should be linked to from here, but the .pdf links are broken on the page: link). Here's a link to a text version containing some of what I read (it is abridged from what I remember, though): link
You might be able to find a better link to the original .pdf somewhere; if so, check it out instead.

This method sounds a lot more practical in terms of actual possible incidents than most of the other methods out there. Most of these defense techniques involve escaping from the assailant rather than fighting back, so they suggest various ways in which to do so. Many of the suggested techniques do not involve practicing against other people, because they are intended to cause actual damage to the assailant so that you can get away (e.g. stomping on the foot to damage the instep so you can't be effectively chased, or scratching the eyes). They suggest that it is important to not practice these methods against people (and they seemed to be against general self-defense classes) because if you practice gently against people, then when it comes time to attack in self-defense, you would still be subconsciously in gentle mode. Rather, attack a shoe stuffed with newpapers or a punching bag.

If you have the option, try out different things. The muscle you need for basic training will develope rather quick, anything beyond that is up to you. Just do yourself a favor and ditch real self-defence classes (things like self-defence for women, and - just from my personal experience, I know there are very skilled and capable practitioners - things like Krav Maga or stuff like that). From my personal experience, while being capable of developing a better level of awareness and simply presence, they tend to develope a feeling of false security. In general, as someone who does have experience in quite some different styles, just don't draw any false security from what you do, and you'll be good. Recommending a certain style is really... not possible for me, it hast to fit with you, you know? The teacher, the class, the location, the style, the didactics, you just need to try it out. If you really think that your physique will be a burden at first, maybe you should start out with things like Judo or Brazilian Ju Jitsu. It is demanding in training, while being relatively secure, and you learn something very important: falling. This skill has saved me from really bad injuries two times in my life, so you should learn that.

Tai Chi, see all those senior taking it in order to improve their balance, backs and stature? Well it really is a self-defense system;; but you have to find a person that teaches it fully and not for exercise.

It is one of those soft martial arts that puts the enemies power against them. But for this you do not have to be a big 200pound jujitsu master. A person of any strength can pull off most of what it teaches. Also, it is known, when incorporated into 1-handed sword fighting, as one of the best one-hand sword style to learn.

You will learn to strike and to deflect attacks in tai chi. My favorite part, Tai chi instructors will teach lessons specifically on how to keep your balance in many situation, from walking to receiving a hit. In other martial arts, most of this balance lessons are never taught; and you are expected to figure them out over time with talent. Since Tai chi will teach it, talent won't matter and you can learn it with effort.