So here’s a fact: a good self-defence class does more than just provide you with the knowledge and skills to defend yourself, it empowers you. Empowerment gives you the means to achieve more and the opportunity to become stronger in yourself, both mind and body. When you feel stronger in yourself, you become more resilient and more capable of dealing anything, even a threatening situation.

Many women and, yes, plenty of men feel they don’t have the strength or power to make choices or be decisive. Not surprisingly, this can have a detrimental effect on self-confidence. This becomes an issue in circumstances that set off one’s internal alarm, highlighting that something’s not right.

We’ve all had that feeling, maybe on more than one occasion, and many of us won’t actually respond to that alarm. Because we all too often ignore our instincts, listening instead to a highly critical internal voice – “It’s my fault this is happening”, “I got it wrong”, “I’m to blame” and so on and on and on.

Victims of crime often blame themselves for something that wasn’t their fault at all. The error, for want of a better word, is that we generally want to believe that everyone shares the same moral principles. Sadly, that’s not true of every person. We are all different with different perceptions of what is right and what is wrong. People who attack or mug others play on that exact notion and use it to their advantage. If you’re walking down a dark street and someone approaches you in such a way that your internal alarm starts ringing, you really need to listen to it!

So what does that have to do with self-defence?

Self-defence training empowers and builds self-esteem because you can feel at ease within a safe environment and learn to react and defend against attack. The beauty of Krav Maga is that you don’t have to be physically big or even fit. The skills you learn are within anyone’s capability and, believe me, everyone that trains in Krav Maga feels more capable physically, mentally and emotionally. You stand taller and feel more confident and that means you become less of a target when you’re out and about. When a person feels vulnerable, they often try to avoid being noticed, almost trying to make themselves smaller. But that only makes them a bigger target – a bully, and that is essentially what an attacker is, looks for those who are vulnerable, smaller and weaker than themselves.

Krav Maga enables you to identify the resources you have around you, common objects that would be useful in a threatening situation. You look at your surroundings with greater clarity and you’re more alert to what is going on around you. Greater awareness means you’re better informed to make decisions if you need to defend yourself. Krav Maga also helps you learn to drop inhibitions – like not feeling embarrassed to take action or, something many of us are reluctant to do, to use your voice. Rather than staying quiet you’ll automatically shout, draw attention and make other people aware that you need help. It’s all about having the confidence to be assertive and being equipped with skills to eliminate a threat as quickly as possible.

You may never need to use the skills you gain from Krav Maga, but that feeling of empowerment will filter into so many other aspects of your life – why not try it and see for yourself?!