This weekend we will hold another women's self defense seminar at the school. As with all safety and health issues, prevention is the key. Recognizing potentially dangerous situations and removing yourself from them is the first lesson in self defense.
Women practice all kinds of preventative measures to ensure the health and safety of their families. We teach about fire safety, stranger safety, electrical safety, street safety and water safety by teaching our children to swim. Parents warn their children against smoking, drugs, and alcohol. Good meals, monitoring water intake, visiting dentist and doctor regularly, are all preventive measures to ensure good health and safety.
These measures are a type of psychological insurance so that as parents we can rest a little easier. We take insurance out on our life, health, homes and cars. We're willing to pay huge sums for these insurances and at the same time, hope we will never have to use them. We are willing to pay because they offer us some peace of mind.
But for women I think there is one more preventive measure that should be undertaken. Teaching ourselves and our daughters what it means to defend ourselves. I feel personally that it is a responsibility that needs to be addressed.
When confronted with a potentially dangerous situation, you have options. Do you know what those options are? Do you have any idea what course of action is recommended by experts or law enforcement?
Should I get into the car? Should I run? What if he is holding a weapon? What if my child is with me? Should I be passive? Should I fight? What if it's my date? How will my family cope? What should I do?
You need to understand what is happening quickly, to weigh your options, and decide according to the situation, what is your best course of action. And... if you choose to fight? Then you need to know some solid incapacitating techniques that will give you the seconds you need to get away and get help.
With that in mind, the Women's Self Defense Program at Ambrose Academy is designed to be more interactive. We have some wonderful people willing to volunteer their time and their bodies to this event. Women get to test out what they have learned on the "suits." This way they get a more realistic understanding what kind of energy it takes to incapacitate an assailant.
As with all health and safety issues, what you have learned must be revisited and refreshed, that's why schools revisit regularly fire safety and have fire drills. They invite local law enforcement to talk about drug and crime prevention programs. Self-defense skills are something you must revisit to ingrain the information you have learned. This practice shortens the decision making process at a time when seconds really count.
We need to show our families that we care about our safety, that we are worth defending, and that our ultimate goal is to come home safely to our families each and every night.
Because you are your family's first line of defense.
Who is looking out for you?
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