An old saying goes, “Don’t wait until you need a drink to begin digging a well.” So why do people wait to learn to defend themselves until after they’ve been attacked? Or, they wait until they’ve heard about a home invasion in their neighborhood. Or, perhaps, a sexual assault story hits the news and stirs them to action. Don’t wait to learn self defense. Learn self defense now, while you can protect yourself and your loved ones.

Most people go through life with the attitudes such as: “I live in a safe community. Nothing like that would happen here. I don’t need to worry about becoming a victim of a violent crime.” While I don’t think we should live in a constant state of paranoia for our personal safety, we do need to be aware that anyone of us can become a victim. No one is exempt. No one ever thinks it will happen to them. We have to change our mindset.

For example, you could find yourself on a date that turns into a situation that gets physically or sexually violent. Normally, we don’t think about having to potentially defend ourselves from someone with whom we’d trust enough to go on a date or get in a car. Again, no one ever thinks it could happen to them. However, if that situation occurred, I’d want to have a solid arsenal of self-defense techniques at my fingertips. I wouldn’t want to wait until after I’d been assaulted to learn what I could have done to protect myself.

There is one simple thing we can do to keep ourselves from becoming victims, but many of us don’t do it!

Be aware of your surroundings!

• Don’t text on your phone as you walk, especially if you’re alone. Don’t sit in your car and text even if you’re parked. You’re a sitting duck to anyone who may have watched you walk to your car and knows you’re not paying attention to what is going on. Keep your head up. Be alert. Always be surveying the scene to see who and what is happening around you.
• If you’re going for a run, and you want to listen to music, only use one earbud. Allow, yourself the ability to hear the things going on around you with the other ear. You will be better able to hear footsteps or people talking which is especially important if someone was to try to sneak up on you.
• Always try to use the buddy system. You are less likely to become a target for crime if you are with another person. An attacker is usually looking for a target who will be easy to overpower. Two or more people in a group make for a less easy target. Don’t be afraid to ask a trusted person to walk you to your car. It’s a much better choice than being attacked because you walked by yourself.

So, let’s say that you followed these general suggestions for being aware of your surroundings, but you are physically confronted by an attacker. Just being aware that there is someone who is trying to hurt you is no longer sufficient at this point. Now, you have to decide upon your course of action. You have two options: 1) fight your attacker off, or 2) give in to your attacker because you don’t know what to do.

If you’ve been trained to defend yourself, you’re much less likely to let someone take advantage of you. No one has the right to take anything from you! You have the right and responsibility to protect yourself from those who would try to physically harm you!

Learn to protect yourself and those you love. We recommend Wing Chun training as a practical, real-world solution. No one deserves or asks to be a victim of violence, but nonetheless it happens. Prepare yourself to protect yourself! The time to learn self-defense is well before you need to use it! Remember: “Don’t wait until you need a drink to begin digging a well!”

You can start your training today at Sifu Och Wing Chun. Learn self-defense techniques that are applied to practical, real-world situations. Sifu Justin Och will show you effective ways to protect yourself and those you love.

Sifu Och Wing Chun Kung Fu Studio
World Ving Tsun Association Regional Director for the Southeastern USA
863.800.0171
116
East Pine Street, Lakeland, Florida 33801
https://sifuochwingchun.com
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