Behavioral Self-Defense: A More Realistic, Usable, Preventive Method of Self-Defense

By Ed SJC Park

Behavioral Self-Defense is a revolutionary self-defense method that focuses on realistic and safe preventive techniques. It is a considerable departure from traditional self-defense. Martial arts focuses on teaching students to react to violent confrontations. Law enforcement agencies focus on simple safety advice like locking all your doors and walking along well-lit streets. Social service, victim, and women’s advocate groups offer advice on dealing with rape or safely leaving an abusive relationship. Undoubtedly, many of these methods have helped people get out of bad situations. The most important lesson, however, is not how to get out of a bad situation but how to avoid getting into one. Although, it is important to know how to get out of your car if you get in an accident, it is much more important to know how to avoid getting into the car accident in the first place.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Jun 28, 2012
• ISBN: 9781105904639

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Behavioral Self-Defense: A More Realistic, Usable, Preventive Method of Self-Defense

BEHAVIORAL SELF-DEFENSE

A More Realistic, Usable, Preventive Method of Self-Defense

by Ed SJC Park

Copyright © 2012 by Ed Park

All rights reserved.

No part of this eBook may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the author. The only exception is by a reviewer, who may quote short excerpts in a review.

First Edition: 2012

ISBN 978-1-105-90463-9

Cover photo: © Andresr | Dreamstime.com

In Honor of Beverly

INTRODUCTION

You are about to study a revolutionary self-defense method.  This method focuses on realistic and safe preventive techniques.  It is a considerable departure from traditional self-defense.  Martial artists were the first to teach self-defense.  Their focus is teaching students to react to violent confrontations.  Law enforcement agencies and personnel then began offering self-defense instruction.  Their focus was on simple safety advice like locking all your doors and walking along well-lit streets.  Social service, victim, and women’s advocate groups entered the arena offering advice on dealing with rape or safely leaving an abusive relationship.  Undoubtedly, many of these classes have helped people get out of bad situations.  The most important lesson, however, is not how to get out of a bad situation but how to avoid getting into one.  Although, it is important to know how to get out of your car if you get in an accident, it is much more important to know how to avoid getting into the car accident in the first place.

The Reality of Crime

Street crime is not the biggest threat to us.  The media inflates certain types of crime like it inflates the dangers of air travel by covering every single major air crash.  It is still safer to travel by air per passenger mile than it is by car.  (More than 30,000 Americans die from automobile accidents every year compared to 485 air fatalities in 2011 [Source: National Transportation Safety Board].)  This is not to say that street crime is not a serious threat, but there is an even more serious threat that is often ignored.

These crimes occur in and around our own homes committed by people we know.  According to the US Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, in 2010, 73% of rape and sexual assaults were committed by a nonstranger (intimate relation, relative, friend, or acquaintance).  From 1976 to 2005, 88% of female homicide victims were killed by a nonstranger (where the relationship of the murderer is known).  Many self-defense and martial arts classes will tell you what to do when a stranger attacks, but how do you protect yourself against your own spouse, significant other, friend, relative, co-worker, or date?

Beyond Self-Defense

The first part of this book will focus on street crimes and physical tactics.  The second part, however, will focus on protecting you from nonstrangers.  Often times, when nonstrangers attack, there is an escalation pattern of abuse and manipulation.  You do not have to