Runt
Well-Known Member
This is the first draft of a report for my English class. I posted it here in hopes that I could get some feedback. Any and all comments are appreciated!
The Effectiveness Of Martial Arts As Systems Of Self Defense
Introduction
One would think that when Vishven Chandran--a black belt in Taekwondohad to defend himself during a drunken brawl in a bar, he would win. The average Taekwondo student receives their black belt after two years of training at three hours per week, and Vishven, a student of four years who trained six hours a week, had received four times that amount of practice. Yet despite his intensive training in blocks and counters, he still received a broken nose while trying to defend himself. When I heard this, I immediately called martial arts training into question. If Vishven, no beginner by Taekwondo standards, had still managed to get hurt in an unarmed fight, did this indicate that his martial arts training had no application in the real world? How effective, really, are the martial arts as systems of self-defense?
Self-Defense: A Definition
Most people consider self-defense to be the use of physical responses to counteract a threat, i.e. a block to counteract a punch. Yet there are many other ways to protect oneself. I believe that self-defense consists of more than just physical techniques used to counter a threat; it also includes of preventative measures used to stop danger from occurring, physical responses used to counteract an attack if one does occur, and additional actions used to stop a situation from escalating into something uncontrollable once an effective physical counter has been made.
Dispelling The Myths Surrounding Crime
Before the effectiveness of martial arts techniques in real life situations can be evaluated, it is important to first determine what kind of threat a martial artistor anyone for that matteris likely to face in the real world. In order to do this, one myth about crime must be dispelled.
Myth: Im most likely to be attacked by an armed assailant. When I was first brainstorming questions I wanted to answer with this topic, I asked myself, How useful can the unarmed defensive techniques taught in martial arts possibly be against knifes and guns? It was my belief that most violent crimes involve armed offenders. However, this simply is not the case. Only 26% of all violent victimizations occurring between 1993 and 2001 involved an armed attacker (US Bureau of Justice, Weapon Use). This means that in a real life situation, you have about a three out of four chance of encountering an unarmed attackergood news for the well-trained martial artist. Therefore, in this paper it is going to be assumed that all attackers are unarmed, and the effectiveness of martial arts will be evaluated with that in mind.
The Effectiveness Of Martial Arts As Systems Of Self Defense
Introduction
One would think that when Vishven Chandran--a black belt in Taekwondohad to defend himself during a drunken brawl in a bar, he would win. The average Taekwondo student receives their black belt after two years of training at three hours per week, and Vishven, a student of four years who trained six hours a week, had received four times that amount of practice. Yet despite his intensive training in blocks and counters, he still received a broken nose while trying to defend himself. When I heard this, I immediately called martial arts training into question. If Vishven, no beginner by Taekwondo standards, had still managed to get hurt in an unarmed fight, did this indicate that his martial arts training had no application in the real world? How effective, really, are the martial arts as systems of self-defense?
Self-Defense: A Definition
Most people consider self-defense to be the use of physical responses to counteract a threat, i.e. a block to counteract a punch. Yet there are many other ways to protect oneself. I believe that self-defense consists of more than just physical techniques used to counter a threat; it also includes of preventative measures used to stop danger from occurring, physical responses used to counteract an attack if one does occur, and additional actions used to stop a situation from escalating into something uncontrollable once an effective physical counter has been made.
Dispelling The Myths Surrounding Crime
Before the effectiveness of martial arts techniques in real life situations can be evaluated, it is important to first determine what kind of threat a martial artistor anyone for that matteris likely to face in the real world. In order to do this, one myth about crime must be dispelled.
Myth: Im most likely to be attacked by an armed assailant. When I was first brainstorming questions I wanted to answer with this topic, I asked myself, How useful can the unarmed defensive techniques taught in martial arts possibly be against knifes and guns? It was my belief that most violent crimes involve armed offenders. However, this simply is not the case. Only 26% of all violent victimizations occurring between 1993 and 2001 involved an armed attacker (US Bureau of Justice, Weapon Use). This means that in a real life situation, you have about a three out of four chance of encountering an unarmed attackergood news for the well-trained martial artist. Therefore, in this paper it is going to be assumed that all attackers are unarmed, and the effectiveness of martial arts will be evaluated with that in mind.