Self Defense and Your Daily Life: 5 Questions to Ponder

Essentially, self defense training is about you getting home safe.  Being unpredictable, assaults can happen anytime over the course of a day. 

With this in mind, we suggest you develop a dialogue - a dialogue between your daily life and your self defense training.  By doing so, training becomes easier to understand and more relevant.

Here are some questions you can ask yourself:

1. How do you travel?  Do you drive to work?  Do you walk, run, or bike a lot?  Is the subway or streetcar your preference? Are you a frequent flyer? Do you use underground parking?  Self defense situations can arise in all of these situations.  Think and/or read about possible and actual scenarios.  Ask your instructors for advice.  
2. What is Your Vocation/Daily Activity?  Are you a police officer or security guard?  Do you teach?  If so, what age group?  Are you a taxi driver, TTC driver who deals with many people some of them less than pleasant.  A student who spends most of your time on campus? 
3. What do You Wear?  A suit, high heels, casual clothing......?  What you wear effects how you move.  Fleeing an attacker in heels. Not easy.
4. What do You Carry?  Briefcase, backpack, coffee?  Objects can hinder (overloaded grocery/shopping bags) but some common objects can be used for self defense.  
5. Company/Solitary? Do you walk with a dog?  Run by yourself?  Spend a lot of time with family, groups of friends.  All of these situations have self defense implications e.g. assailants generally target solitary people. 

Assaults occur during the course of peoples' daily lives.  Consider yours and ask your instructor to address potential problems and scenarios. 


Stay Safe,

Christopher Gagne
Lead Instructor, International Krav Maga Federation, Toronto
torontokrav@rogers.com
416-657-1028

Ikmftoronto.com