So what does spilled tea and wet pants have to do with self-defense training? You can do as much as you can. So here is the story.
My family and I drove back from South Carolina yesterday after visiting with people for vacation. We decided to stop at our favorite road trip restaurant, Cracker Barrel. everything was going well. We enjoyed our meal and had an enjoyable family meal.
In an instant, everything changed. I “heard” my 9-year-old’s large glass of iced tea shift and then slipped out of the chair just as her glass fell over and the entire contents of the iced tea spilled across the table and onto the chair. it fell. In my case, I kept my pants dry for the rest of her six hours of driving time. She was in shock and awe that I was moving so fast and not getting wet.
So what does this have to do with self-defense? One of the first lessons I teach at the Women’s Self-Defense Institute is that self-defense is 90% awareness training. If you are aware of your environment, you can “sense” danger before it occurs, thus increasing your response time. Paying attention to your environment requires all your senses, not just your eyes. I sensed the potential for threat by “hearing” the change in sound as the glass hit the table.
The second lesson we teach is to trust your instincts. Your instincts are only allowed to do the job of protecting your subconscious brain. By paying attention to your instincts, you can react quickly to your surroundings. For most women, instinct takes precedence because they don’t want to look disrespectful, offend, or be seen as silly. If I was wrong, the worst thing was having strangers stare at me wondering what was wrong with me. I’ve learned in her 44 years to care less what other people think, and that’s fine. Best case scenario, of course, is that you’ve made sure you don’t get your pants wet.
The third lesson we teach is reflex training. Reflex training focuses on using the body’s innate sympathetic nervous system response mechanisms to deal with potentially violent situations. will not kill you or seriously damage you. Do you have the reflexes to react and move out of the way?
The moral of the story is that learning self-defense allowed me to recognize and respond to potential threats and avoid getting my pants wet. It doesn’t take years or months to learn proper self-defense training. Good self-defense training skills can also affect everyday situations like spilled tea.
If it takes less than a few microseconds to respond to a potential threat, are you completing your self-defense training?
Find out more about our upcoming classes and join us to increase your self-defense awareness and response time.
Angie M. Tarighi is the CEO and founder of the Women’s Self-Defense Institute and has taught women’s self-defense programs for over 20 years. She is a tireless advocate for independence and responsibility and encourages women to actively save lives through awareness and education.
Angie has the following qualifications: โข 3rd Degree Black Belt & Certified Instructor in Kempo โข 1st Degree Black Belt & Certified Instructor in Combat Hapkido โข Certified Instructor in Rape Aggression Defense (RAD) โข Certified Instructor in International Police Defense Tactics โข Certified Specialist in Workplace Violence Prevention โขCertified Certified Child-Safe Network Agent โขCertified Women-Safe Network Agent โขProfessional Speaker โขPublished Author – โข- “Practical Self-Defense and Safety Tips for Today’s Busy Women” โข- “5 Easy Steps to Becoming a Reiki Master” Reiki Master
Angie founded the Women’s Self Defense Institute to share safety and survival information, resources, products, training and advice with women at home and abroad dealing with a dangerous world. Angie brings humor and real-world examples to training that empowers women to leverage their strengths and become the best self-defense advocates.
Return to the Women’s Self-Defense Forces homepage
