When I look at the world of self-defence training, I see two issues.
- The vast majority of people are stuck in the early 90’s
- The vast majority of people are teaching for the types of attacks that took place in the early 90’s
Well, WAKE UP!
Like it or not the world has moved on and in today’s article we will tell you about 5 important self-defence issues that you may not know about.
The thing is, you need to look around and see the changes going on in the world and think ‘how is this going to change my training?’
Hopefully, after reading this, you may start to have a few ideas of what you can do.
Ready? Let’s do this:
1. Cocaethylene
The above word is terrible to say but even tougher to deal with.
So what is it? Well, Cocaethylene is the substance that your body creates when you mix cocaine with alcohol, and the substance is formed in the liver.
What does it do?
The substance encourages a ‘more is better’ approach to drinking and allows the user to drink excessive amounts of alcohol.
How does this affect you?
The nature of alcohol and drinking a lot of it means that people end up getting into issues, either health-wise or due to actions.
However from personal experience, I have witnessed people under the effects of Cocaethylene, and they have been extremely violent. People with zero previous convictions have assaulted police officers for no reason.
For you this could mean that you face an aggressive individual who has high pain threshold and if they are a group affected by Cocaethylene you might find yourself having serious issues.
2. Steroid Use Has Increased over 600%
We have all seen the pressure on young men to look ‘great’ and in an age of Instagram and ‘if you haven’t got a six pack then you are not normal.’
However behind that has seen a 600% increase in steroid abuse but just one visit to a local gym will tell you that, the numbers just reinforce what you already know.
So why should this matter to you?
Well, steroid abuse causes aggression, and when you start to mix aggression with the enhanced strength, you have issues if you apply your self-defence skills.
I have had a chance to grapple with steroid users, and it is true they are exceptionally strong!
Your techniques need to match this extra strength, and you need a plan!
3. There Are Less Police Now
A global recession has meant that most of the world has had to decrease their police numbers due to budget cuts.
Violent crime in the UK rose by more than 27% in 2014- 2015, and there has been a steady decline in some police officers with around 40,000 fewer officers between 2010 and 2016.
What does this mean to you?
Well, it is tough to say, but less police is never a good thing, but potentially you might have to wait longer for officers to come to your aid. Although this is guess work, I think it is fair to say that less police is always going to have a backlash with crime and potential increases in crime.
4. Kids Are Better Fighters Than Ever Before
Like it or not we are in the internet era, and people have the ability to ‘self-teach’ a lot of things including violent techniques.
Just because a street thug won’t go to an MMA class does not mean that they will not be watching YouTube techniques and learning arm locks and rear naked chokes.
If you go online, you can see school kids fighting in parks using MMA techniques. Now these kids will grow up into young adults!
Schoolyard brawls are one thing but as these kids age you will have a generation of 18 to 25-year-olds who know the difference between a triangle choke and a rear naked one.
The question is, if you get taken down do you know what to do?
5. Potential Reduced Prison Sentences
Prison across the world are bursting at the seams, in fact in 2016 in the UK prisons are going to have to reduce their populations
Now although this is once again ‘speculation’ we recently saw a female given a suspended sentence for stabbing a male in the eye with a shoe causing injury.
So speculation or not, a rise in crime and reduced spending on prisons could spell trouble.
There are a lot of nasty people out there looking to make a reputation for themselves by inflicting harm upon another human being and most are prepared to do a little time to ‘grow’ that reputation.
Conclusion
You may be wondering what this means for you?
In essence, it means that you need to train with the understanding that you might be attacked by someone stronger, with higher pain threshold and intoxicated.
They may be skilled, and if you think the police will automatically get to you in a short amount of time, you may be very wrong. Also, deterrents like prison sentences may be less powerful as prisons look to reduce their populations.
In basic terms, you need to take responsibility for your safety and the safety of people who are with you.
You need to ask yourself ‘can I protect myself’ and if the answer is no, you need to go out and change this.
That is what Defence Lab is for. We provide the knowledge and skills that will help you to become successful in self-protection.
Thanks for reading.