What MUST be taught in a Self-Defense Course?

[Justin Chang]

Good idea...except for when it comes to what would be legal or not, I would not bring that up unless the person leading the class (1) is a lawyer or someone in law enforcement who knows the laws, or (2) is able to bring an attorney to address the class.

I like this advice, perhaps encourage them to look into the laws and explain that you are not a professional in that area so that you are not legally held responcible. I plan on discussing things like what is self-defense VS. fighting and here in NYS we don't have stand your ground laws so I plan on encouraging them to make sure they know what their rights and responcibilities are.

 

[wingchun100]

I like this advice, perhaps encourage them to look into the laws and explain that you are not a professional in that area so that you are not legally held responcible. I plan on discussing things like what is self-defense VS. fighting and here in NYS we don't have stand your ground laws so I plan on encouraging them to make sure they know what their rights and responcibilities are.

I covered "Stand your ground" laws briefly in a book I wrote, which is on Amazon, which no one buys. LOL

 

[Justin Chang]

I covered "Stand your ground" laws briefly in a book I wrote, which is on Amazon, which no one buys. LOL

I don't want to "like" this since your book apparently hasn't sold well, but at the same time thanks for replying.

 

[wingchun100]

I don't want to "like" this since your book apparently hasn't sold well, but at the same time thanks for replying.

I think it has to do with exposure more than it being a matter of a bad book. You can't expect something to sell simply because you put it on the interwebs.

Anyway it is called THE SEARCH FOR THE WARRIOR'S PATH. Some people have read it and left reviews, mostly good ones...either 4 or 5 stars.

 

[Gerry Seymour]

Good idea...except for when it comes to what would be legal or not, I would not bring that up unless the person leading the class (1) is a lawyer or someone in law enforcement who knows the laws, or (2) is able to bring an attorney to address the class.

Agreed. I normally only talk generalities with this sort of thing and provide some examples of what is probably NOT legal. Then I recommend they do their research and learn what IS legal. This way, I can enlighten them on the concept, without taking a change of mis-informing them (or exposing myself and my program to legal risk).

 

[Gerry Seymour]

I think it has to do with exposure more than it being a matter of a bad book. You can't expect something to sell simply because you put it on the interwebs.

Anyway it is called THE SEARCH FOR THE WARRIOR'S PATH. Some people have read it and left reviews, mostly good ones...either 4 or 5 stars.

I think he was saying he didn't want to "like" the fact that it wasn't selling. That would be harsh.

"My book isn't selling well."
"Yay!"

 

[wingchun100]

I think he was saying he didn't want to "like" the fact that it wasn't selling. That would be harsh.

"My book isn't selling well."
"Yay!"

Oh I know what he meant. I was just reflecting on why it isn't selling. lol

 

[Ironbear24]

Some of the responses here are in the right place but honestly, who goes to a self defense class to learn how to dial 911? That is a stupid answer because that is something we all already know how to do. What people expect from a self defense course is knowledge on what they can do while police are on their way or when they cannot be called.

They want to know how to fight back when someone is attacking them not learn how to run away and call for help. If this class is 2 hours long that is plenty of time but it would also have to be at least 3 days out of the week or something, these students might not really be able to even apply what they learned until they been there for at least a couple of months. That is just reality, many people can learn fancy moves and even simple ones but as soon as they feel threatened they panic and forget all their training.

This is why resistance training is important.

 

[Deleted member 34973]

If your end result is to avoid the "fight"..

Learning to run fast should work.

Take up track

I kid, I kid

 

[Juany118]

Some of the responses here are in the right place but honestly, who goes to a self defense class to learn how to dial 911? That is a stupid answer because that is something we all already know how to do. What people expect from a self defense course is knowledge on what they can do while police are on their way or when they cannot be called.

They want to know how to fight back when someone is attacking them not learn how to run away and call for help. If this class is 2 hours long that is plenty of time but it would also have to be at least 3 days out of the week or something, these students might not really be able to even apply what they learned until they been there for at least a couple of months. That is just reality, many people can learn fancy moves and even simple ones but as soon as they feel threatened they panic and forget all their training.

This is why resistance training is important.

The idea wasn't to just call 911, think of it like a CPR class. in this case learn various cues that can indicate and attack, target hardening tactics that help to minimize the chance of an attack, situational awareness concepts so you can be aware of avenues of escape and THEN call 911.

Sent from my SM-G920P using Tapatalk

 

[drop bear]

Some of the responses here are in the right place but honestly, who goes to a self defense class to learn how to dial 911? That is a stupid answer because that is something we all already know how to do. What people expect from a self defense course is knowledge on what they can do while police are on their way or when they cannot be called.

They want to know how to fight back when someone is attacking them not learn how to run away and call for help. If this class is 2 hours long that is plenty of time but it would also have to be at least 3 days out of the week or something, these students might not really be able to even apply what they learned until they been there for at least a couple of months. That is just reality, many people can learn fancy moves and even simple ones but as soon as they feel threatened they panic and forget all their training.

This is why resistance training is important.

So What information do you need in order to report a crime?

 

[drop bear]

If your end result is to avoid the "fight"..

Learning to run fast should work.

Take up track

I kid, I kid

Track is sport and so does not work in the street.

 

[Ironbear24]

So What information do you need in order to report a crime?

Whatever you witnessed that is against the law, but people don't go to self defense classes to learn that. They go to learn what to do when talking and running aren't options.

 

[drop bear]

Whatever you witnessed that is against the law, but people don't go to self defense classes to learn that. They go to learn what to do when talking and running aren't options.

Your location is first. Because if you get necked half way through the conversation the police know where to go.

 

[JowGaWolf]

I covered "Stand your ground" laws briefly in a book I wrote, which is on Amazon, which no one buys. LOL

It's the effort that counts... Selling a book isn't the easiest thing to do, but at least you can say that you wrote a book.

 

[wingchun100]

Some of the responses here are in the right place but honestly, who goes to a self defense class to learn how to dial 911? That is a stupid answer because that is something we all already know how to do. What people expect from a self defense course is knowledge on what they can do while police are on their way or when they cannot be called.

They want to know how to fight back when someone is attacking them not learn how to run away and call for help. If this class is 2 hours long that is plenty of time but it would also have to be at least 3 days out of the week or something, these students might not really be able to even apply what they learned until they been there for at least a couple of months. That is just reality, many people can learn fancy moves and even simple ones but as soon as they feel threatened they panic and forget all their training.

This is why resistance training is important.

Exactly. So many people get on their high horses. "Uh....yeah well MY self-defense course teaches de-escalation because WE are superior human beings and don't sink to the level of fighting like cavemen." Please. People go to these classes so they can learn how to hurt people who are hurting them. I can understand throwing in instructions like "Call 911" in a brief mention, but then if you go into talking about how to de-escalate, most (if not all) of the class will walk out. You can always mention de-escalation as one method and tell them it would be explained further if they kept training, but those people are there to do something physical.

 

[drop bear]

In two hours the best you could hope for is some preventative strategies. Not a physical skill.

 

[oftheherd1]

Some of the responses here are in the right place but honestly, who goes to a self defense class to learn how to dial 911? That is a stupid answer because that is something we all already know how to do. What people expect from a self defense course is knowledge on what they can do while police are on their way or when they cannot be called.

They want to know how to fight back when someone is attacking them not learn how to run away and call for help. If this class is 2 hours long that is plenty of time but it would also have to be at least 3 days out of the week or something, these students might not really be able to even apply what they learned until they been there for at least a couple of months. That is just reality, many people can learn fancy moves and even simple ones but as soon as they feel threatened they panic and forget all their training.

This is why resistance training is important.

So a group comes to you and they say they have all been robbed more than once, both by strong arm and by knife wielding robbers. They are tired of it and want you to teach them how to use their guns to kill the next person who tries to strong arm them or threatens them with a knife. What are your obligations?

Do you tell them to meet you at your indoor range where you will teach them specifically how to kill their next strong arm or knife wielding assailants by shooting them? Will you agree to only teach them other ways of defending themselves rather than putting themselves at risk of jail, knowing they may walk out on you since you aren't teaching them how to kill their next assailants?

As to two hours, that is what the OP said he had; not two hours several days a week. Isn't being able to summon help part of self defense? Would you like to let them know if they panic their response may not be what they think they would like it to be, and some ways to overcome that?

Maybe after that, then teaching physical self defense would be a worthwhile endeavor.

Exactly. So many people get on their high horses. "Uh....yeah well MY self-defense course teaches de-escalation because WE are superior human beings and don't sink to the level of fighting like cavemen." Please. People go to these classes so they can learn how to hurt people who are hurting them. I can understand throwing in instructions like "Call 911" in a brief mention, but then if you go into talking about how to de-escalate, most (if not all) of the class will walk out. You can always mention de-escalation as one method and tell them it would be explained further if they kept training, but those people are there to do something physical.

Are you sure that all people go to self defense classes to learn how to hurt people who are hurting them, or that even if they are, that they wouldn't prefer to learn how to avoid such confrontations?

 

[Gerry Seymour]

Exactly. So many people get on their high horses. "Uh....yeah well MY self-defense course teaches de-escalation because WE are superior human beings and don't sink to the level of fighting like cavemen." Please. People go to these classes so they can learn how to hurt people who are hurting them. I can understand throwing in instructions like "Call 911" in a brief mention, but then if you go into talking about how to de-escalate, most (if not all) of the class will walk out. You can always mention de-escalation as one method and tell them it would be explained further if they kept training, but those people are there to do something physical.

Not true. I talk about situational awareness, de-escalation, and those sorts of things when I teach SD seminars. Nobody walks out.

 

[wingchun100]

Not true. I talk about situational awareness, de-escalation, and those sorts of things when I teach SD seminars. Nobody walks out.

But do you agree that most people are there to learn that and ONLY that, or do you agree they are expecting to learn some kind of PHYSICAL self-defense techniques too?

The point I'm getting at is that some people act like they are morally superior when someone says, "I'm teaching a self-defense class. What techniques should I show them?" More often than not, "technique" in this context means something you have to do with your body, like repel an attack by hitting someone in the throat. While de-escalation and situational awareness are all good, there is nothing wrong with teaching the techniques you would have to use when running and/or talking an aggressor down are no longer an option.