There Are Alternatives…But Not What You Think!
Alternative Items for Protection
Over the years I have taught both personal safety and rape defense classes for men and women. The people who attend my classes are generally curious about self-defense and martial arts, but are for the most part unsure of what it entails. I have found that most individuals have trouble understanding the concepts used in martial arts, but are willing to learn self-defense.
During many of the courses I teach there are a few who have had some form of formal training that ranges from novice practitioner to elderly master. All who join me for class are curious for their own reasons and wish to learn. Every session is different and the questions are many, but I have found that it doesn’t matter if the students are untrained, novice practitioners or on occasion an elderly master, all who come will share one goal…to not be a victim.
In the world of personal protection it is often inferred that you are only as safe as the equipment you use. The industry for protective devices such as Pepper Spray, MACE and TASERS use this idea to market their products across a diverse demographic segment. However, I pride myself on using common items found at home which are legal for anyone to carry. The use of these items in classes is often met with everything from disdain to outright wonderment. Perhaps it’s the idea that we use these items every day, perhaps not, but it is the presentation of how to use them that changes their minds about personal protection.
In my rape defense classes I teach my students to carry a sharpened #2 pencil in their hand when walking to their vehicle, or in a vacant or darkened area. The students learn that the pencil isn’t used to scare a perpetrator away; it is used as a deterrent in the instance of attack so that they have time for escape. During my studies I have come to realize that if an object can be used for protection, why shouldn’t it. The use of a pizza cutter has come to be a running joke with many of my friends who are also practitioners. The pizza cutter is a kitchen item that can easily be carried in one hand and be readily wielded either in a sweeping arc or as a jabbing weapon. When you pull out the pizza cutter in class you often are treated with befuddled looks from the students. After a short demonstration on the effectiveness of the pizza cutter on a would be assailant, it becomes clear, even to my most skeptical students, that personal protection is definitely, interesting. After the demonstration and many an ooh and ahh it becomes my sincere pleasure to teach self-defense to laughing and smiling people who are awakened to the possibility that even they can learn self defense.
Open your mind to what is possible, then train to be efficient with what you have learned.
Matthew Atha
2nd Dan Aikido Master
