I had a gentleman come in to the dojo yesterday for a
private lesson on self-defense. I interviewed him first to see what exactly he
was looking for and what his character was like etc…
It became apparent that what he needed was a shift in
thinking. To escape and evade is the primary focus of self- defense not to
subdue or to pay back the insult with injury. He asked me several times what
would you do in this situation, I explained I would parry the attack and leave
to escape the situation. He was puzzled by this, the client asked me again
wouldn’t that make you weak? or how could your ego allow you to not answer back
when confronted. I again explained that
as soon as the immediate threat was neutralized I cannot engage someone with
becoming the aggressor and facing possible charges and jail time myself.
I offered to show him some basic drills and footwork to
increase his balance and reaction times, after a ½ hour I thanked him for
coming in and again explained I don’t teach people how to fight I teach them
how to escape and avoid dangerous situations this is a far more valuable skill.
The gentleman thanked me and signed up for 2 months of private instruction.
I changed his mind and shifted the paradigm of what is
self-defense and what is just being another aggressive person in a volatile
situation.
