Sally was leaving work after a particularly long and draining day.  As she made her way to her car, her hand was feverishly searching her purse for her car key.  Halfway down the block, a strange feeling enveloped her, causing her to quicken her step and look around.  The sight of an empty street made her laugh to herself.  A grown, professional woman who has been trained in martial arts doesn’t just get the “eeby-geebies”!

As Sally finally approaches her vehicle, her hand magically lands on her car keys.  She breathes a sigh of relief at not having to empty her purse on the hood of her black Lexus…again.  She glances into the backseat, as is her habit.  All that is visible is the martial arts DVD that she bought to practice with at home.  She makes a mental note that the tool would do her much better in the house than in her backseat.

Sticking her keys into the door, Sally hears footsteps rapidly approaching.  The hair on the back of her neck stands up and she quickly turns toward the sound, ready to explode in a cloud of martial arts moves by instinct.  However, her attacker meets her swiftly and knocks her down to the ground.  Her hope is that all he wants is her car or her purse.  Perhaps he will grab her keys and take off, leaving her safely on the street.

No such luck.  Seeing this damsel in distress causes the bad guy to feel indestructible.  He turns to make his way to Sally….What should she do?  What would you do?

This type of a scene plays out in less than thirty seconds.  That is not much time.  Sally (or you..or your wife or daughter) needs to be able to think quickly.  The truth of the matter is that even with martial arts training and practice with a martial arts DVD, you need more in order to handle a situation like this.  You need applicable training and tools.  Tools, in this case, means weapons.

Weapons training used to be a large part of any martial arts training.  However, today we have quickie schools geared for sport or self defense.  Many of these schools teach ample hand techniques.  While this is great, and I myself teach plenty of hand to hand combat techniques; you can’t underestimate the power of weapons.  I’ve talked about this before, but I want to expand on it by offering up a short list of potential weapons.

Because Sally is at her vehicle when her attack occurs, she could use the following as a weapon:

•    Car Keys – Thrust or rake at soft tissue targets or pressure points.  Soft tissue will be more effective because you don’t have to think about where the pressure points are.
•    CD Case – Can be used for sharp edges to scratch the face or soft tissue
•    Flashlight – Every vehicle should contain a flashlight. The more accessible, the better.  That means right next to your seat or in your door panel.  A flashlight (especially a long handled one) makes a great stick with which you can inflict some blunt force on your attacker.

Now here’s the thing…I’m all for weapons in self defense.  The more you can improvise, the better.  Watch some news stories and see how many times you hear that a bad guy has the weapon.  How many times do you hear of an attack or robbery thwarted by hand techniques?

The question of weapons is how well can you use what is available to you?  The question is not whether or not you should; but how quickly you can identify a weapon and use it.  A street fight or attack is nothing like what you get into in martial arts class.  While you need to learn moves to get free, you also need to address the options of weapons and learn how to use as many as possible.

Whenever a high profile kidnapping case hits the airwaves, parents can slip into panic mode; wondering what they can do to keep their child safe.  The issue of child abduction – and prevention of it – is a big issue that families must face head on.  Through acknowledgement and preparation, you can increase your child’s awareness of their own personal safety and lead them to an ability to protect themselves.

The challenge with kids is that, well, they are kids.  Kids don’t have the same awareness that you and I have.  When you think of how many times you may take your personal safety for granted, it can be alarming.  Apply everyday scenarios to a child’s mind, and you can see why about 40% of child abductions are crimes of opportunity.  The bottom line is, we are just too caught up in the moment to maintain the level of alertness required for ample personal safety.

Ok, you know the why…you need to know the how.  Many parents turn to martial arts to teach their child how to “fight”.   Great.  This is good.  But you need to go further.  When it comes to martial arts training for children, you are going to find more sport than anything else.  This is good; but also bad.  You don’t want your child getting the impression that a bad guy will approach them in the same way as their cooperative sparring partner at the local dojo.  And believe me, many children do come up with this assumption!

Your child can learn martial arts for fun and fitness; but they also need to learn self defense.  A martial arts DVD will show them how to perfect moves and learn new ones; but it won’t necessarily teach them about the dangers they face and how to avoid or get away.  This is up to you to make sure your child gains knowledge.  It is also up to you to give your child practice.

Practicing personal safety for children begins early and continues throughout their life.  This is an important part of life that needs constant teaching.  Remember the kids I referred to the other day at Starbucks?  Ya..They needed further teaching in personal safety!  Here are some things that you need to do to increase your child’s personal safety.

•    Talk to your children about safety.  It is important first and foremost that your children learn to think about the subject.  Encourage them to tell you or a trusted adult if anyone or anything makes them feel scared, uncomfortable, or confused. Discussions about safety issues should be a regular occurrence with your children so they will understand the need for precautions.  These discussions will be relevant to your child’s age; but may be the same for older children.  It is important that you talk to them in terms they can understand.

With older children, it is important that you know their friends and their families. It     is also important that YOU build strong relationships with your children and give     them plenty of attention. If you don’t, someone else may. And others may have     ulterior motives.

•    Practice what you teach by role playing with your children.  This is a great way to show them how stranger danger works!  Kids are unfortunately easily fooled by “friendly” adults and can fall into traps if they don’t know what to expect or how to trust their instincts.  Set up scenarios such as being followed by a car and teach your child to run in the opposite direction to a place where they are safe (This doesn’t mean under a bush or in a strangers yard!).  Teach them what to do if someone comes to the door at your home; and how to play safely in your neighborhood.

Obviously, the safest way to parent is to never let your child out of your sight.  But his is not practical and just seems like everyone is scared.  You deserve freedom from fear; and so does your child.  Through proper education and training in self defense, you can create and confident and safety minded person in your child.

These are just two important tips in child safety.  There are more to follow!