Damage Control

Don’t wait until it’s too late.

There’s a lot of reasons people don’t want to participate in self-defense classes. They think it’s for sissies, that it’s ineffective and that [insert martial art of your choice here] will be better (It’s not). There’s still this stigma around self-defense that for some reason makes people think we teach you how to use pepper spray and to poke your fingers in someone’s eyes…

People also don’t want to do self defense because they don’t think they’ll ever need it. They’ve outsourced their safety, they believe the gated community and the hi-tech security system will save them. People still live in a bubble of “it won’t happen to me”. (Here I’d like to refer you to the thousands of people who believed the same and then had to go through trauma counseling, hospitals and funerals).

And then of course, people don’t participate because they’re lazy. They don’t think it can happen to them, so why should they bother? They’ve outsourced their safety so it’s all good.

I want to make this abundantly clear: NO-ONE is guaranteed that something terrible won’t happen to them. You may think it won’t, but that is only a reflection of the collective ignorance of society and not a reality at all. The reality is that it can happen to you – it can happen to anyone, at any time, regardless of age, sex, race, religion, social status or how expensive your security system is.

It may sound like I’m unsympathetic and harsh. I am not at all unsympathetic to those who have suffered violent and traumatic events in their lives. The reason we harp on this matter is because safety is an issue in South Africa, and being prepared is better than damage control afterwards.

There’s an old saying, rather safe than sorry. This is what I am trying to get across: rather be safe, than dead. Investing in self-defense is an investment in yourself, in your future and your wellbeing. Aren’t you worth that?

Yes, you may survive a hijacking or a home invasion without knowing self-defense. But then you will have to go through damage control – hospital, counselling, therapy. Nightmares, and dealing with them. Emotional scars. Physical scars. Self-doubt, anxiety, depression. These are things that can be prevented.

There’s another old saying – prevention is better than cure. For some, once an attack has happened, there is no cure. People’s lives are lost on a daily basis in South Africa in senseless, violent attacks that the police seem unable to prevent. For others, the “cure” involves a long road of, again, counselling and therapy, medication, depression, etc.

Crime and violence seem to be out of control. And you cannot control outside events. You cannot control the government, the police, or the security companies. But you can control your own life, your own actions and your choices.

Often we hear of people who, after going through a terrible ordeal, say they wish they had known how to better handle the situation. Or, people who say they’ve been attacked and now need to do self-defense to prevent it from happening again. But doing damage control once it’s happened is a lot less effective than doing something proactive, and preventing it from happening.

Now, I’m not saying that if you take self-defense classes you’ll be invincible, nor am I saying that you’ll never be attacked. I am saying that if you do invest in self-defense training, you will know how to handle a dangerous situation better. You will be able to disarm an attacker, injure the attacker in such a way that he won’t be able to hurt you or your family. You will be able to make better decisions and have faster reactions. You will also be more alert and aware and stay out of potentially dangerous situations that previously you hadn’t even noticed.

This is being proactive. This is taking control over the things you can control, and managing them effectively. Damage control is only an option if you fail to notice all of the above and let things lie until it really is too late.

Don’t wait until it’s too late. Don’t wait until you’ve been seriously injured, maimed or traumatized before taking action – because then your action will only be damage control, and you’re worth more than that.

There is no excuse for you to not be doing something proactive about your protection – not the stigma, not the idea of “It won’t happen to me”, not laziness, not being fit enough, being shy, not having time – nothing.

Your life isn’t a game, so don’t play with your safety.