It’s that time of year that I love oh so much. The time when teams from all around the country are showing what they’ve got; and individual players vie for their spot on the team they want to play for. You’ve got it! Time to pull out those chicken wings and watch some football!

So much of what we focus on when we take a self defense course or learn martial arts is about physical movement. Indeed, it is the actual strikes and kicks that deliver a blow to your attacker. Indeed, there is no self defense without physical movement.

When you are studying martial arts or self defense, you gain valuable assets – the actual martial arts moves or self defense techniques that you will use to stay protected in a violent situation. However, the effectiveness of your assets is not only dependent upon the individual moves; it is dependent on you and your overall power.

There comes a time in training when the proverbial wall gets hit. Anyone can hit a wall – those who study martial arts for recreation as well as elite practitioners. In fact, those who have gone farther in their art may have gotten themselves stuck a few times. When you are stuck, you feel as though you have reached to peak of your skill.

Something spiked my interest the other day. In Southern California, there is a predator on the loose (wishful thinking that it’s only one). This man has such a need to pounce on any unsuspecting prey that he cut off his ankle bracelet that held him “prisoner” and left the city where he lived.

In recent years, there has been a fear roaming around bars and clubs about drinks spiked with a drug of some sort. While this is a valid fear, the truth is that alcohol can set you up for a dangerous night all by itself.

Yesterday I talked about how tools like pepper spray go hand in hand with martial arts self defense. But I don’t want to hit that so hard that you make one of the common mistakes that could be made.

OK, so I beat a dead horse here, I know. But it is important that you get it through your head that you deserve to walk through the streets of your town with a feeling of safety. Not some pie in the sky lack of awareness “oh, I’m safe” perception. This does not exist. What does exist is your right to safety.

You have heard of the element of fight or flight that is built right in to our human nature. This is how we have been created to deal with stressful situations.

This list of headlines could go on and on. Perhaps you understand already the point I am going to make by collecting these and posting them for you to peruse.