South Manchester Self Defence

Anyone thinking of training to become a self defence instructor, or just to develop your own skills and confidence, I can recommend the MCQC Instructors course. It's comprehensive, effective and has been developed by people who have years of Police, Military and security experience. This is the course I completed, it was challenging but thoroughly enjoyable, it is a big confidence booster.

Introducing the level 1 trainers course which is scheduled to run from 9/10 and the 16/17 July 2022. Please feel free to get in touch if you require more details...

Friendly, small classes, teaching karate for self defence. Chorlton class is ideal for beginners, city centre class for both beginners and advanced level practitioners from all martial arts.

Thank you to everyone who came to the session yesterday evening. You are all stars, it was great that you got stuck in with so much enthusiasm, open minds and good humour. Sadly, I didn't get a group photo at the end but maybe next time. I'll post up some dates for the free refresher sessions in the near future.

Here’s some information I put together as part of the written supplementary information for the last course. I hope you might find it useful.

“To any person seeking an understanding of violence and competence in self-defence, your first and most vital task is to understand fear and the role it plays in violent assault.”

“It is the person’s capacity to process and work through fear that will decide the outcome of most violent assaults, not technique alone or lack thereof.”

Two quotes that sum up the importance of understanding fear.

Evidence shows that if the fear response, also known as the adrenal stress response or the fight or flight response is not controlled prior and during a violent confrontation then we are at high risk of ‘freezing’ both cognitively and physically.

There are however a number of strategies and techniques that can be used to help reduce the likelihood of freezing when confronted with a threatening and potentially dangerous situation.

Training a small number of simple physical techniques that can be recalled under pressure.

Training with increasing stress – for instance role play, multiple attackers, becoming used to being shouted at, verbal abuse.

Being mindful of breath control to help slow down heart rate ( a heart rate in excess of 145 beats per minute will lead to cognitive shut down)

Visualization exercises – used extensively in sports psychology. Imagine successfully defending your self in a number of different situations. Visualize what you would do, what you would say.

Have a plan. Plan ahead for different situations, what will you do if someone stops you when you’re walking home at night and you feel uncomfortable, what will you say, what will you do. Similarly, what if you suspect you are being broken into, what is your plan?, do you have a phone near by, an escape route?

Being situationally aware will help reduce the likelihood of freeze, research shows that becoming aware of an impending threat before it reaches you gives you time to prepare, physically and cognitively and greatly reduces the likelihood of shock and freeze.

In terms of controlling an increasing fear response, the self defence expert and author, Will James has devised what he terms – The Subjective Adrenal Map.

It is a tool he has used in post assault interviews to identify the effects of fear in terms of cognitive and physical functioning just prior to, during and after a violent incident. Different patterns emerged linked to the person’s success in fighting back. Generally speaking, awareness and pre-emptive striking were consistent factors in not freezing and successful self defence.

James designates a colour to each step or stage of the Adrenal Stress Response (in a similar way to the Cooper Colour Code Awareness Framework)

White – Not aware of any threat, not aware of surroundings

Green – Calm state of awareness and alertness. No immediate threat but aware and switched on

Yellow – Symptoms range from calm to moderate apprehension, an onset of adrenalisation felt as a sudden tension in the body. A raise in heart rate, butterflies, symptoms usually caused by awareness of a threat nearby, threat not yet immediate though.

Orange – State of moderate strong fear, stress reaction intensified, includes, shakiness, tightening in chest and stomach, dry mouth, sense of dread. Autonomic nervous system is activated, there is a narrowing of peripheral vision, auditory exclusion ad difficulty processing language. A state of cognitive deterioration begins, it’s difficult to make decisions. The symptoms are caused by nearby threat, in immediate personal space, strong possibility of violence.

Red – State of acute fear, loss of fine motor movement, loss of peripheral vision (giving tunnel vision) Sense of immediate and terrible danger. Physical contact made by attacker, pushing, striking, verbal threats, swearing.

Black – Frozen in fear, unable to make decisions, unable to act.

A benefit of becoming familiar with the different states described is that by recognizing where you are at at any one time in the hierarchy of adrenal reaction, it gives you the opportunity to use strategies to help you remain calm or at least to not rapidly escalate to Red or black states.

Strategies might include, conscious breath control, positive self-statements, consciously triggering an aggressive mind set, moving, escaping, verbalising aggressively.

Summary

Fear is a universal physical response to perceived threat, it can be used in our favour as it will increase strength, pain resistance, speed and aggression. It only becomes maladaptive if we lose control of it and it escalates to the point of cognitive shutdown and we are unable to think or act effectively or at all in some cases.

By understanding the symptoms of fear and how they escalate, we can find ways to control them. We can practice fear control in training situations and we can become better able to function effectively and reduce the likelihood of freezing.

Some photos from when Jimmy Kelly visited and kindly shared some of his self defence knowledge and experience. Jimmy is a renowned boxing and catch wrestling coach and teaches both at his fight club in Wythenshawe, South Manchester.

Even more than learning martial arts and reaching black belt level, attending self defence courses and latterly, training to be an instructor has worked wonders for my confidence and sense of personal safety.

Most self defence is and should be simple to learn.

It should primarily be focussed on awareness, and avoiding confrontation in the first place.

But, while being a last resort, the physical techniques have to be effective enough for a smaller person to stop and if need be, temporarily incapacitate a larger, heavier person.

Self defence isn’t about fighting or learning to fight. It’s about avoiding a fight, either by having been aware enough in the first place to see trouble coming and getting away or, if escape is not an option, by deescalation. However, if you truly believe you are about to be harmed, then you have to confidently and competently take the initiative and strike first and then get away.

If you want to find out more about our self defence sessions and whether they are right for you, feel free to email or message anytime.

If you feel ready to attend a session, we have one coming up on May 30th. 2 hours, covering all of the above and more. The cost is £20 with free future refresher sessions included.

Thanks for reading 😊