There is no question that self-defense is important to both men and women, however there is a particular form of protection that was specifically designed for women back in the early 1970s by a group of martial artists. This type of personal safety training is called impact self defense.
The group of martial artists thought about the specific requirements that women would have when it came to self-defense. They acknowledged women’s issues, capabilities and then used particular training methods that gave better results and more realism in the process. In fact, the group designed impact self defense by looking over police records and talking to survivors and perpetrators of crimes. They also coordinated with experts in psychology, education, sociology, physiology and martial arts.
The main goal of impact was teaching personal safety. The course needed to allow students to learn realistic and useful protection skills. The program is taught by a specially trained team of male and female instructors. Real-life situations are addressed such as boundary violations and even the worst-case scenarios of being assaulted.
These courses are often highlighted on television programs by showing how they involve full contact, full force interactive fighting using a completely padded pretend assailant. Using the impact self defense training method, students will learn not only how to defend themselves but to also overcome those moments of terror so that they can manage their anxiety and fear even during the most intimidating situations.
Because the impact self defense training program has become so popular, there is now an international affiliation of independent chapters. This means that students can find a chapter in their local area to learn all of the skills and techniques necessary.
One of the major components of impact self defense is teaching verbal skills and the proper use of the voice. Teachers will emphasize using particular communication strategies such as assertive communication, boundary setting skills and verbal de-escalation. They also teach full force physical techniques to allow students to protect themselves by hitting vulnerable areas of the attacker’s body as hard as they can.
Impact self defense allows students to learn these skills in a supportive environment where they can feel physically and emotionally secure. It also helps people to gain the needed self-confidence so that they can have a sense of personal power when it comes to self protection. Sometimes, women who experienced some kind of trauma or violence will come to the classes as almost a healing experience. Impact instructors are trained to be sensitive to these kinds of issues.