SELF-DEFENSE

Self-defense is the act of defending oneself, one's property or the well-being of another from physical harm. While the term may define any form of personal defense, it is strongly associated with civilian hand-to-hand defense techniques. Self-defense defines a civilian activity as opposed to Hand-to-hand combat in a military context. Many styles of martial arts are practiced for self-defense. Judo, for example, has many self defense techniques. Some styles train almost exclusively for self-defense, while some martial/Combat sports can be effectively applied for self-defense. More complete self-defense training not only teaches how to physically defend against attack, but also includes personal safety tips and techniques that increase awareness and improves the ability to avoid confrontation and potential dangers. Self-defense is legal in most countries.

To provide more practical self-defense, many modern day martial arts schools now use a combination of martial arts styles and techniques, and will often customize self-defense training to suit the participants' lifestyles, occupations, age groups and gender. The practice of combining martial arts styles for competitive sport is most often referred to as Mixed Martial Arts or MMA. In order to assist people in learning self-defense techniques, dojos and self-learning videos have sprung up. Self-defense courses are intended to give the layperson some instruction in self-defense in a short period of time, but the effectiveness of these is debated. In some countries, it is legal to carry weapons (for example knives, firearms or pepper spray) for purposes of self-defense. In other countries this may be illegal or may require a license, or some items may be legal to carry without a license, while others, most commonly firearms, are not. Limitations on the use of weapons for personal defense are a source of controversy in some countries, pitting self-defense rights against efforts to combat violent crime via restricting access to common weapons.

Everyday objects, such as baseball bats or body spray, can also be used as improvised weapons for self-defense, however they are not likely to be as effective as purpose built weapons. Some non-lethal weapons as the Kubotan have also been build to resemble everyday objects, such as keychains. The other aspects of weapons is that unless a person is well trained under adrenal stress in the use of the weapon, they are frequently at a disadvantage using them in an adrenalized situation where cognitive and fine-motor movement abilities are lowered.

Furthermore, one of the legal concepts behind self-defense is that one is defending oneself; using a weapon means the police often view the one wielding the weapon as the aggressor. Awareness is defending yourself by avoiding danger altogether by thinking ahead, or making good decisions. Examples include parking in a well-lit area, not wearing music headphones while jogging (so you can use your sense of hearing to pay attention to your surroundings), or looking under your car/in the backseat before entering to ensure there is no one waiting for you.