Do you know self defence?

Last week I found myself in a dangerous situation.
In front of me stood a person with a knife, angry and desperate and unwell.
Behind me was the hallway leading to where my girls lay awake in their beds.

Basic self defence moves allowed me to deflect an advance and remove the knife from the equation. I came out of that dangerous situation with two stitches and three scared, but otherwise safe children.
It could have been much worse.

When you learn self defence you hope that you never actually need to use your skills, but it is always better to be safe than sorry.
As a woman, self defence is an empowering skill to have for yourself.
As a mum it could be crucial for your children's safety.

So do you know self defence?

10 comments:

Pencil Writer said...

SCARY!!!! So grateful you know self-defence!

Unknown said...

Oh Alison, that sounds horrible! I learnt some self-defense after I went through an unpleasant thing some years ago - never had to use it thank heavens - and I am not really sure how much i remember now I think about it ...

So glad you are all safe now

Anonymous said...

OMG. A, I am so sorry that you have had to contend with that but I am very grateful that you were able to diffuse the situation and keep the babies safe. My gosh, you must have been beside yourself.

Your level headedness and whole of life attitude toward protection has shone through again. Congratulations and I'm so glad you knew self defence for personal protection.

On a lighter and more flippant note....some home schoolers will do anything to create a teachable moment! :)

BB said...

Holy Toledo Batgirl... are you serious? More to the point, are you OK? This is what happens when I get too busy to check on y'all!! I am quite sure I would be hopeless in this situation - I would resort to threatening to castrate them (which I DO know how to do!). Probably would not be advisable though...

Hugs

BB

jeanie said...

I did self-defence at Uni - it was a free course available to all students.

Unfortunately I failed, as I knew the "attacker" and all I could do was giggle.

He didn't have a knife, though. I am glad you did get through okay.

Alison said...

PW - It was scary. The self defence part was so simple though. Knowledge EVERYONE could be grateful for.

Mountaingirl - Sorry you had an unpleasant experience - Good on you for taking action! I wonder if they do self defence 'refreshers'?

Megan - I LOVE your flippant notes. LOL! Now that I think about it, it's pretty typical of us to go and create the ultimate teachable moment. Good thing we're not into repeating lessons.

BB - We're OK! No way we were going to miss out on more puppy pics!
I don't think she would have been to scared of the castration threat. I'm quite sure you would NOT be hopeless if it came to protecting your children. I wonder, do they have self defence lessons in the bush?

Jeanie - I was going to be all serious with the 'please go and learn self defence' message, but with the image of you giggling in the face of your 'attacker' my resolve totally melted.

Unknown said...

Oh, man. How scary and unsettling for you. I am so sorry you had to go through something so traumatic :(

Anonymous said...

Wow that is a very freaky experience. I hope you are healing well. How have your girls been since, okay I hope?

Anonymous said...

That sounds terrifying! I hope you and the girls are all OK.. And no, I don't know karate. Your post has made me re evaluate my present unfit self, however.

Alison said...

Thanks Alice - It could have been worse. A little self defence knowledge can really go a long way.

PQ - We are all healing quickly. We are lucky to have wonderful and supportive people around us. Like Megan said, it was the ultimate teachable moment!

Preschool Mama - Thanks for your concern :) You can learn self defence separately (as I did), not just as part of martial arts. And while fitness is always a good thing, a little self defence smarts can be even more important when running isn't an option.