Hey look, I'm necroing a thread!
Ask yourselves this. How often do you read in the news that these instances are resolved from the result of someone's martial arts training? Be honest with yourself. I'd bet not often or ever as you would expect. The promise of martial arts training seems to be lacking from its supposed purpose.
Now that you mention it...you're right. o_o I always hear from those who practice martial arts, especially women, that it's good for self-defense and yada yada, but not once have I ever heard of a woman in the news who was mugged and told reporters "I protected myself with karate".
I remember when my brothers used to love going to karate classes when they were teenagers as if it were half their lives and I also hated it when they kept begging me to go (which I eventually did but only attended for a few months). Where are those skills 15 years later? You could say we've never been mugged so we've never had to rely on them, but therein lies my point, why spend money and effort on learning something you'll most likely forget years down the road? The only way I could ever see it coming in handy is if you live in a high crime area. See my above paragraph for more info.
Let's face it, guns are what people will rely on for protection and they're what criminals will likely use too. Who in their right mind is gonna attempt to disarm a mugger with just your fists and feet during a stick-up? It takes all of a split second to pull the trigger.
No, the real way to counter a gun is either have your own gun or a really clever strategy--if you're in a car with a criminal and he's threatening you with a gun to drive, speed the hell up; it'll discourage the thug from wanting to shoot you since he'll end up getting killed too if he does, and there's the added benefit of getting the attention of cops on the road. Let the wheel be your weapon.
Getting back on topic, Mechadon said it best: if you hit back it's a fight--if you don't, it's assault and you can use that in your defense.
-- Sam the Methid ManNinjas scare off muggers:
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/national/ninjas-rescue-student-from-thugs/story-e6frf7l6-1225868928257seriously though,
Over in Sweden I've read quite a few articles where the attackee scared his/her attacker away using either martial arts or self defence, still not without battle scars though.
In a place where no one is allowed to carry any sort of weapon or realistic replica in public, and being caught with one has severe consequences, training basic self defence is probably the best option.
I guess it's differences in the legal system playing in as well though, since if someone attacks you in Sweden you have the right to defend yourself against the offender to the point of temporarily disabling them if needed.
Disabling is not endorsed though, and in such cases a thorough investigation will be done on the expense of the one deemed guilty of either assault or "excessive force in self defence". Sometimes both parties get fined.
anyway, that's all I wanted to say.
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