Martial Arts and Disaster Preparedness
Learning a martial art is an excellent starting point for a basic level of self-defense and hand-to-hand combat knowledge. When in relation to disaster preparedness however, even if you start practicing your choice martial art now too much time learning may pass before your knowledge becomes useful in a practical, real-life situation. What you should do is find a martial arts instructor that can put together a multitude of useful techniques from many different systems and teach you in the quickest and most effective way for self-defense purposes. I recommend getting your children in Jiu Jitsu to help them in the future in case they ever need to defend them selves.
Being proficient in these special techniques ensures you can at least properly attempt to fight off attackers and hopefully walk away unharmed no matter your gender, age or social status. You may be a sharp shooter on the range, but you would do well to have some general knowledge of martial arts as well. There may come a time when there is no weapon to be had other than your hands and feet and nowhere to run to. With a plethora of styles to choose from you should be able to find one that suits your needs. Listed below are some of the more popular fighting styles.
Kickboxing
Kickboxing is a devastating martial art an excellent choice of self-defense. It’s a fast-paced style that hits your opponent with a barrage of body parts, not just your hands and feet. A good kick boxer can also employ his knees, elbows and even his head.
This style of self-defense would have you on the offense, advancing quickly and Striking with an element of surprise. A quick kick aimed at your attackers job for example could lead to substantial damage, and hopefully a one-sided fight in favor of the prepared.
Karate
Karate is an ancient martial art, dating back to the thirteen hundreds. In Japanese, karate means “empty hand” as there are no weapons at use. Rather than weapons, the trainees legs and hands become the primary tools for self-defense. Karate is one of the most common forms of self-defense. Karate is extremely repetitive as well as meticulous.
There is a very limited set of techniques and no individual variation. What that means is when training you place your hand at a very specific spot and move along a specific path, turning it at very specific angles. Same with your feet and the rest of your movable body parts. You practice each move over and over until proficient without variation.
Krav Maga
Krav Maga is an intense martial art that includes a combination of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, jiu jitsu, grappling and throwing, boxing, Karate kicks, Greco-Roman wrestling and bursting.
Its purpose is plain and simple. Street survival. It is Israel’s National martial art, develop originally for the Israeli military.
It was developed for soldiers fighting deadly opponents so the majority of its techniques involves beating your opponent to a near-death state.
Taekwondo
Some call Taekwondo the original mixed martial art. It’s a Korean martial art that uses techniques from a wide variety of other Martial Arts.
Taekwondo incorporates joint locks, holds, take downs and a multitude of different strikes with your hands and feet. It requires a fast pace of striking as well as the flexibility needed to kick high in order to be proficient in this form of martial art.
Boxing
While boxing does lack the at times practical need of attacks (zero) involving feet, elbows, knees among others, it’s an excellent form of self-defense, teaching you to protect your face and head, with your hands.While techniques are limited to just a handful of moves, one conditioned enough for Speed (with power) can be quite hard to defend against. Don’t be put off by its simplistic introduction, boxing is a great skill set to add to your Martial Arts resume.
Pick one
These are just some of the martial art forms you will find if you are serious about picking up a self-defense course. A few others are Brazilian jiu-jitsu, Kung Fu, Aikido, Jujitsu, Chin Na, Muay Thai and Judo among others. From a disaster preparedness point of view, it’s a very good idea to know at least one form of self-defense. Not only do disasters bring out the worst in people (and sometimes the worst people) some of those people require less Force needed than let’s say a bullet.
A martial art may help you safely apply that lower level of force. Before picking a martial art figure out what suits you best and Ensure they teach a level of practicality needed when dealing with a strong attacker, intent on dealing you great physical harm. Do this by making a thought out and informed decision, with this you won’t be wasting your money and more importantly your time.