Protection Articles


As human beings, personal protection is right up there with food, water, and shelter as one of our primary needs. There are few feelings more disconcerting than believing that one is truly imperiled, and we will go to enormous lengths to avoid this. Even if the idea of complete personal protection all the time is an illusion, there are certainly steps we can take to take ourselves out of harm's way.

One of the most common ways we give form to our need for personal protection is through self-defense training. Not only can young, athletic types enroll in full-contact fighting courses, but so too can older, out-of-shape, and previously untrained individuals. And if the idea of full contact anything makes you queasy, there are plenty of "hands-off" classes as well that still give you a solid understanding of the principles.

Another way to increase your feeling of personal protection is to understand the nature of different threats and how we respond to them. A grasp of the human body's central nervous system, including its flight-or-fight response, is helpful in learning why we respond the way we do when we perceive danger. Many times, even the best-trained fighters "freeze up" and forget their techniques in the face of a genuine threat. Similarly, you may react to stress in ways you'd never dreamed of (some good, some bad) when challenged in a physical confrontation.

Aside from learning karate or krav maga and knowing your own psychological and physical limits, there are other measures you can take to increase your sense of personal protection. Pocket alarms, mace, and Tasers are but a handful of the consumer goods on the market that can help fend off would-be attackers. After all, even if you demonstrate common sense and good instincts, you never know when a situation may arise.