Teaching children self defence is a delicate matter: on one hand you need to educate them to the dangers they are likely to face and at the same time you don’t want to turn them into scared or paranoid individuals.

I belong to a generation that played outdoors and benefited from the experience of not being chaperoned everywhere I went. This taught me independence and allowed me to develop my own skills concerning risk assessment. I also learnt to listen to my own instinct and gut feelings concerning fear and danger. These are skills we need to develop in our children.

I am a parent and all too well aware of the real dangers that exist to my son (the media has done a fantastic job of scare-mongering parents) as well as the ‘imagined’ ones, that I sometimes listen to. I have a Honours degree in Psychology & Sociology and have researched violent, sexual and aggressive predatory behaviour, so I have an idea of what is fact and ‘fiction’, though as a concerned parent I have been found guilty of listening to the fiction at times: over-protectiveness is our natural state as parents.

I have also taught martial arts (mainly Judo) to children for over 15 years and understand the difficulty of communicating the ‘truth’ in a non-alarmist way.

Family Self Defense

I now don’t teach children self-defence. Instead I teach them a martial arts system called Rough ‘n’ Tumble. This is a predominantly grappling system (striking introduced from age 10), that teaches them martial arts skills, such as balance, co-ordination etc through drills and games - without creating overt aggression. What they learn is techniques that will help them deal with the types of attacks we most fear e.g. grabs, being picked up etc but in a way that is presented as a fun game.

Parents are invited to take part in these classes (they are taught their own system) and it these who receive the education about child safety etc. Parents know their children best and know the best way to communicate the truths to them. My role is to act as an advisor/consultant/resource to them. What is taught to the parent is taught through associated games to their child.

This is all done in a non-heavy handed, fun manner – however ‘heavy’ the reasoning behind it all is.

The Rough’N’Tumble system is great way for children to develop athletic and social skills that will help them deal with aggression be it from other children or even adults. They will learn the importance of competition and how to behave when losing as well as winning.

They may also as some of my students have done, go on to take medals and cups in regional competitions!

For more information about children’s self defence please contact me by clicking here.