By DAN ROMAND
[email protected]
The other day I was talking with a friend of mine (Let’s call her Leslie).
We were talking about how quickly it seemed to be getting darker each day and how she was nervous about leaving work and walking to her car because it was so dark out.
Leslie relayed to me how the other day she was walking to her car and noticed a man just sitting in his car.
She had never seen the car before and it caught her attention. As she said to me: “He probably was waiting to pick someone up from work but I just didn’t know”
The sad truth is she was right to be nervous.
On average more than 600 women are assaulted in the US each and every day. Think about it for a moment. It seems like every day either in social media or on the news we hear about a woman being assaulted.
The good news is that Leslie had taken a self defense seminar from me previously and because of it she had a better idea of how to handle the situation. In this case she chose to walk across the street to avoid walking by the car and also had taken some other measures that I had taught her.
As we continued to talk she relayed to me how thankful she was that she had taken the seminar and that she was surprised how much of what we had gone over came back to her. As she said:
“That hour I invested in the seminar may have just saved my life”
Sadly, however, many women don’t think they need to take a self defense course.
They feel as if it will never happen to them or that someone (husband, father, brother) will be there to protect them in the event it did happen.
However, that isn’t usually the case.
So I thought I would share my top 5 reasons why every woman should take a self defense seminar or workshop.
1. It helps build confidence: Many people lack self confidence in their ability to protect themselves when they are with a confrontation. By taking a seminar and learning ways to avoid the confrontation or how to handle it if you can’t avoid it you’ll feel more secure in your abilities should you find yourself in that situation. Studies have shown that the more confident you are in your ability to handle it the less likely you are to be in a bad situation or to get seriously harmed if you are.
2. Similarly, you won’t feel helpless anymore: Often when women find themselves in a bad situation they panic or freeze. Essentially they become helpless. Knowledge is power and in a quality workshop you’ll learn how to cope with the situation and learn techniques that can help you to escape
3. It will help you make the right choices on how to escape: Many women think they know what to do in a dangerous situation.
Ever said to your girlfriend if a man attacked me I’d just kick him in the “you know where”! Well, men learn to defend themselves at a very early age and will know how to protect themselves from that response.
In a self defense workshop you’ll learn other methods you can use to get away. Short, tall, muscular or skinny you can defend yourself against anyone if you are prepared for it.
You won’t become a black belt in a single workshop but, you don’t need to be.
More importantly, you’ll learn how to avoid getting into those situations in the first place.
4. It will educate you: All those scenarios you’ve run through your mind or all those questions you’ve wanted to ask but never did can be answered during a seminar.
What do I do if someone grabs me from behind? What do I do if I’m being choked? How do I get out of being pushed up against a wall or on the ground?
You’ll learn ways to handle all those situations and a few more and be able to get answers to those questions you’ve always wanted to ask but likely haven’t
5. It will give you peace of mind: Truthfully, no seminar or workshop can prepare you for every situation you might face but at the very least it will help prepare you and give you some guidance on how to handle a situation or better yet avoid it completely.
Like Leslie most women have thought about this topic at some point or had that moment when their instincts told them they were at risk.
The difference is Leslie took action to prepare herself and when the hair on the back of her neck raised up know how to avoid a possible bad situation.
Interested in taking a self defense workshop? See the news items on page B12 announcing a self defense workshop.
Dan Romand is co-owner and operator of Full Circle Fitness-NY in Colonie, where he is also a certified personal trainer. You can read his Health & Fitness column here and online at The Spot518.com.