Empowering Our Children Through Self-Defense

Anyone viewing the latest news stories can quickly figure out that we live in an unsafe world.  As our children get older, we have less control over them and they begin to branch out more on their own, spending more time away from us and with their friends.

This can be a hard adjustment.  We know that we would lay down our life for our children and would do anything to protect them.  Now that they spend more and more time away from us, we begin to realize that we will not always be there to protect them.

I am once again dealing with this reality.  I pray for safety but also realize that free-will means that others can choose to do evil.  I was recently blessed with the opportunity to sign my child up for self-defense classes.  We are both glad I chose to do just that.

We went together to a Jujitsu style self defense class that lasted for 2 hours.  We warmed up with some intense calisthenics including jumping jacks, squats, push ups, bear crawls and monkey walks. We still felt the affects two days later.

We moved into defense from a frontal attack, then a rear choking attack, and finally a mounted attack.  We were able to practice with trained partners and felt like we really gained some skills.  My teen was able to flip a grown man down to the ground and left feeling very empowered and wanting to continue training.

A real attack would happen faster and of course the perpetrator would be more intent on attacking.  This means we have to continue to practice until the moves become second nature.  The scenarios may not simulate an attack exactly, however, it teaches that we do not have to be a passive victim.  We can fight back and impact the attacker.  I believe that will instill a bit more confidence, make us walk a bit taller, and portray ourselves as a less then easy target.

If any of you have teens or even younger children, find a class and sign them up.  Go with them and then continue to practice what you've learned.  Hopefully, you will never need these skills, but as with any emergency, it is better to be prepared.