The Need For Self-Defense For Women

The experts in the field point to the very thing that's supposed to pump us up and protect us in times of fear and danger: Adrenaline. It's the hormone that plays a central part in the body's reaction to a stressful environment by dilating the pupils, increasing the heart rate, and raising the blood sugar level. Traditionally, it's been widely accepted that increased rates of adrenaline heighten our ability to respond to threatening situations, and that a good jolt of adrenaline increases our physical reaction times and strength. An adrenal reaction to a threat can't be stopped. Even an experienced black belt can do nothing to avert the hormone's effects during an attack. These facts tie in with most of the self-defense training for women.

Self-defense courses are common and try to teach women ways to fight off attackers. However, many of the techniques taught are being put to question. Professionals in the self-defense field are now saying pressure points and joint locks common in self-defense courses require too much training and are too complicated to use effectively when adrenaline kicks in. They argue these types of holds are useless against most attacks and take too long to learn.

So, defense for women has taken on a new tact. The latest courses available promote the art of using verbal and spatial skills in preventing possible aggressors from becoming physical. Self-defense has taken on a proactive angle. The new way even teaches the art of averting a verbal attack before it becomes physical and offers techniques for getting away from non-life threatening 'annoyance' attacks. The new systems even teach 'consistency training', or how to manage those adrenaline rushes so they don't get the better of you in a threatening situation.

Of course, these self-defense systems also teach some of the traditional lessons, like targeting strategic areas if all else fails, and the best way to use a strike that will stop even the biggest attacker dead in his tracks. These courses teach techniques handy in a modern world, too. They'll show women the best way to resist a car jacking and what to do if your attacker is on top of you with your back to the ground. What is most important to remember is that some form of knowledge is always the best defense against an attack.