Empower Your Self-Defense in Clarksville, TN: How Jiu-Jitsu Training Prepares You for Real-World Threats

First Written in 2017 by Coach Don

Why do I train in the martial arts?

In a world where gun violence remains a top-of-mind threat how does hand-to-hand combat training remain relevant?

As we recount the mass shooting incidents of the last several years, it is important to realize that physical assaults, strong armed robberies, carjackings and other violent acts occur at an alarming rate as well. Regardless of the threat, martial arts training can be extremely relevant.

Specifically, training in martial arts which includes realistic, modern self-defense tactics can mean the difference between life and death. However, self-defense training is more often the difference between being a victim and being bypassed as a target.

One of the most meaningful events which underscored the importance of training in a martial art resulted in my companion and me not having a physical confrontation with a potential assailant.

It was the holiday season. Shoppers were bustling around a parking lot in a crowded strip mall. We had just made some purchases at an alcoholic beverage store. As we were walking toward our vehicle, we noticed a man walking through the parking lot. He appeared to be assessing people.

The reason for his scrutiny is only supposition on my part in the aftermath, but he looked at the two of us and began to walk towards us.

At the time I was carrying two bottles in the crook of my arm. As the stranger seemed to be moving towards us, I handed one bottle to my companion. Each of us was now gripping a glass liquor bottle by the neck. I made direct eye contact with the individual. He made a nearly immediate 90 degree turn away from us.

I don’t know if he actually meant us harm.

I don’t know if our change in posture or our focus on him intimidated him because he was not intending ill toward us, or if he had a thought of robbing or assaulting us in some way and thought the better given our reaction.

However, I do know that as a result of our situational awareness and our adoption of a pro-active posture for protecting ourselves, we were not the victims of any violence or ill will on that night.

What’s the significance?

We train to deal with physical confrontation every day.

Therefore, in the presence of the possibility of violence, we are prepared.

We train to assess the intentions of those around us.

Therefore, we can infer from stances, approaches and gestures when someone may have the intent of harming us.

What’s the result?

While it’s impossible to say whether the individual in question actually had an intent to do us harm or not, the end result is we sent a clear message that we were aware of the potential threat and that we were willing, ready and able to deal with it. As a result, this individual redirected his path to avoid us.

If you are not currently training in a martial art, I encourage you to investigate a few.

If you are training in a martial art, I ask you to evaluate your training in terms of how well it teaches you to deal with the real-world violence that threatens us.

If you are not confident you can deal with neutralizing an attacker’s ability to strike you or dealing with ending up being tripped or thrown to the ground, I strongly encourage you to find a school which trains students to do so. Any art which does not address positional hierarchy on the ground is not dealing with the reality of combat.