By Head Coach Travis Davison
SBG Ireland Head Coach John Kavanagh tells his students to train for what is most likely to happen.
For everyday people like you and me, that is not acts of terrorism or someone holding a gun to your head.
If you’re in law enforcement or the military, then your chances are higher, but for the rest of us, those scenarios are unlikely. So why would you prepare for something that is least likely to happen?
Self defense is driving safely to prevent a car accident. It’s exercising and eating well to prevent a heart attack. It’s not texting while driving to prevent a car accident and not drinking a gallon of soda a day to prevent diabetes.
These overweight dudes smoking cigarettes and talking about terrorism? They’re going to die of a heart attack.
How interested in self defense are they, when they clearly don’t care about themselves? It’s insincere.
I had a discussion about this with my friends SBG Illinois Head Coach Paul Sharp and Andy Stumpf on the Cleared Hot Podcast.
Paul served on the Chicago police force for 20 years, so he’s seen his share of action, and one of the things we discussed was how the more you practice jiu jitsu the least likely you are to use it.
You feel like you can actually handle yourself in a fight, and you don’t feel like you have anything to prove.
Paul made the point that when you’re in those situations you carry yourself with confidence.
You’re constantly in the gym, working against resistance, being in miserable positions, and realizing you can get out of them. Soon, you feel indomitable and it shows in how you carry yourself.
At the end of Paul’s self defense workshop, he said, “Our focus is making better communities and making ourselves safer to make our communities safer.”
Do you want to protect yourself and the ones you love?
Do you want your community to be a better place?
Take care of your body. Challenge yourself. Put yourself in uncomfortable situations so you gain the confidence to deal with uncomfortable situations.
Be a better person for yourself, your loved ones, and your community.
