Martial Arts Classes in Evansville and Mount Vernon Indiana

Archive for the ‘self defense’ Category

Women Need To Learn Self Defense

I read an interesting article today that while it is a ‘racey’ topic, I felt that the overall story was something to mention.

Exploited women in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu are learning self defense.

You can read the story here http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8093946.stm

What is interesting is that these women (prostitutes) are being beaten, taken advantage of unfairly, robbed and degraded. It saddens me that women still have to sell themselves on the street in order to make a living. However, I am happy to hear that organizations are standing up for them and giving them the much needed training they need in order to survive.

Here in the United States, women are still being taken advantage of. Aggression, lack of respect and degradation, along with unfair prejudice is still haunting the female population. Being the father of three beautiful girls, it pains me to think of what they will have to face as teenagers and young women.

With the rise of teenage pregnancy and a society that is more open to sexual contact as a form of ‘expression’ I feel that this leaves women at risk. That is why I believe that women need to be taught self defense. The problem is that people believe that once you ‘learn the moves’ you are alright.

What statistics show is that women who actively practice self defense are nine times more likely to survive an attack versus those who merely went to a couple of classes. You see that the difference is an active and continual ‘practice’ outweighs a few lessons.

If you know of someone who is at risk, or you have a daughter about to turn into a teenager, I highly recommend them getting into a self defense program. If you are in the Evansville or Mount Vernon Indiana area, I highly recommend my two schools (http://www.communitymartialarts.com).

Master Jeff Barnes

It is time to up the intensity

Testing is around the corner…

Are you ready?

One of the biggest things I have noticed and has been commented by the other instructors is the lack of intensity we see when students do their forms.

It isn’t that the students do not understand what we are saying or haven’t observed us putting our all in our forms, it comes down to just not doing it.

When we practice, it is important to put our heart and soul into it. It has often been said that the way you practice is the way you will respond in real life.

So if you were ever faced with the situation where you actually had to use your self defense skills, how would you fare?

If the old addage is true and you practice like a slug on sleeping pills you might not come out of the confrontation the way you invisioned. You might come out much worse!

Upping the intensity is the key. When you practice striking or kicking, do it with power and intensity. Do it with the mindest that if someone was attacking you, you could defend yourself. Practice as if your survival was at stake.

Here are some key indicators as if you are practicing in class with the right intensity:

• Are you sweating?
• Do you feel like you got a workout at the end of class?
• Do you feel confident with your abilities?
• Do you feel know deep down you can defend yourself?
• When you leave class to you feel you left your all on the mat?

Take this into consideration as it will dramatically improve your performance in class. If you are discouraged that you are not advancing as quickly as you would like (a key indicator), take some time and really put yourself to the test. Push yourself in class and get the absolute most out of it.

While it is the instructor’s job to teach you, it is your job to put it to use in your own way.

– Master Jeff Barnes

[youtube RCypeMzP0Mw Community Martial Arts January 26, 2009]

Tonight in the Evansville Community Martial Arts school we focused on self defenses. Master Barnes shows an example of overloading an attacker with pain causing them to ultimately shut down and collapse. The students learned simple and effective techniques from their basic techniques.