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Hopefully, you will never need to use your taekwondo training in self defense. If you ever do, though, it’s not the strikes and kicks that will be your best defense against coming out on the worse end of the fight. Though this may surprise you, the breathing techniques you use in taekwondo may actually be far more helpful than the aspects of taekwondo that are purely physical.

Most of us will not be in a real fight, where our opponent is seriously trying to injure us, very often in our lives (thank goodness!). This means our bodies are going to react the same way they would to any unexpected situation that is extremely aggressive – by launching into severe symptoms of fear. These will include increased adrenaline, a rapid heart rate, and, in most cases, shortness of breath.

Why shortness of breath? Most people, when they’re afraid, tend to hold their breath. We think of breathing as something we do when we’re relaxed for a reason. When we’re stressed out, we breathe more shallowly and rapidly. And when we’re under attack, “stressed out” is a mild term for what we’re feeling. The adrenaline rush we get is not helping matters either. It encourages your body to take short, shallow breaths so that you can run away from whatever is scaring you so badly.

You may have heard of the term “fight or flight response”. Your body’s initial reaction to anything that makes it afraid is to run away from it. If for some reason your body cannot run away (say, for example, your attacker is impeding you), then your only recourse is to fight.

Your body doesn’t realize this, though. Right now, it’s still giving you all this adrenaline that’s causing you to take shallow breaths. That’s why, when you’re in a situation where you need to use taekwondo in self defense, your breathing training will help you immensely.

Your taekwondo training will teach you how to control your breath and re-oxygenate your blood. This will do several things: it will relax your tense muscles, allowing you more freedom of movement and better agility to strike back with. It will help you clear your head and think more coherently, so that you can think of ways to outwit, out-maneuver, and ultimately get away from your attacker. And it will make you feel more in control of the situation. In any attack situation, feeling in control is much of the battle.

The rest of your taekwondo training will, of course, also be very useful, because you’ll know where and how to strike your opponent so you can escape. Without that presence of mind and ease of motion that the correct breathing technique gives you, though, you may find that you never get to use those tools of striking and kicking. That’s why breathing is such a critical part of taekwondo training as a self defense tool.

If you want taekwondo training that will ensure you have all the tools you need to handle yourself in a self defense situation, come see us at Master P’s Taekwondo academy in Chester County, PA.

Many of our students come to taekwondo because they’re interested in this form of martial art. Some of them come because they’d like to be stronger and more disciplined. Others come because they have friends in the class who have recommended it to them.

And many of them come because they would like to be able to defend themselves in case of a dangerous situation or an unexpected, unprovoked attack.

Taekwondo is an excellent martial art to know if you are interested in learning a good self defense technique that applies to the real world. You will quickly learn strikes, punches, and kicks that you can use against an attacker, as well as the proper breathing techniques and mindset to ensure you have a good chance of keeping your head in a dangerous situation.

No matter what, though, training in taekwondo in a safe environment, with fellow students who you trust, and instructors whose primary objective is to make sure you don’t get hurt, is never going to be the same as getting attacked by a stranger who wants to hurt you. So how can you make sure you can rely on your taekwondo training to kick in when the situation is completely different and hostile?

If you’re worried about self defense, you might ask your instructor or some of the other students if they’d be interested in working on situations that are unexpected. Usually, when students train and spar with one another, each student knows that the other is practicing a specific technique. Without realizing it, we often automatically allow a certain space between us to make sparring easier, for example. An attacker set on hurting you is probably not going to give you that accustomed space that makes a strike or a kick so much more effective.

If you want to make sure you’re going to be able to handle such a situation, ask your instructor if it would be possible to try using taekwondo techniques against an attacker who is not using traditional taekwondo attacks. Many martial arts studios offer classes that are specifically designed to set up this sort of situation. This way you will learn to adapt to the sort of situation you are most likely to find yourself in when you need to call on your taekwondo skills for your own self defense.

It will also help you minimize the shock you will likely feel when someone attacks you. If someone is attacking in earnest, you will feel afraid and you will need to learn to minimize the effects that fear will have on your ability to defend yourself. Lots of practice will help you get there!

For wonderful self defense training and instructors who want to be sure you feel confident in your ability to defend yourself, try Master P’s taekwondo studio in West Chester, PA.

Self defense is often very basic, but those basic moves can be the difference between getting out of a potentially dangerous situation and getting seriously injured or worse.

Self defense isn’t difficult to learn. While martial arts often have complex moves that are only effective when executed properly, self defense consists of very basic defensive techniques that can help you avoid a blow, get out of a hold, or scare off an attacker.

While formal training is best for self defense because you will be able to try out what you’ve learned over and over again until it becomes second nature, there are a few techniques that you can put into use immediately. Remember these tips the next time you’re in a situation that doesn’t look right to you – or if someone outright attacks you.

An Ounce of Prevention

The best way to avoid getting into a dangerous situation is to avoid places and circumstances where those situations are likely to occur. Don’t walk alone late at night, and avoid areas of town that are known to be dangerous, especially those where violent crimes have taken place. If at all possible, bring pepper spray or mace with you wherever you go, and trust your instincts. If you feel strange about a situation, get inside and call a cab or a friend. Don’t take the risk.

Don’t Play Nice

Your best chance of getting out of an attack is to make your attacker understand immediately that you are not worth the effort. Most attackers are looking for easy targets, so don’t be one. Lash out right away and don’t play fair. Poke at their eyes, pull their hair, bite, kick or knee the groin, and anything else you can think of. Don’t be afraid to do serious damage. For example, it doesn’t take much force at all to pull off an ear – but you can bet your attacker isn’t going to want to keep fighting once you do it.

Be Loud

Attackers are generally criminals, and they are not looking to get caught. Draw as much attention to your situation as you can by yelling, but don’t just scream – use coherent sentences and give directions. Often people don’t react not because they don’t care but because they don’t know what to do. Yell “Call 911” or “Get the police” or “Help me!” Be specific and people will help.

For formal self defense training, come join us at Master P’s Tae Kwon Do in West Chester, PA.