Part of being a Martial Arts instructor is more than just teaching your specific art form. (I'm not even going to talk about what I teach.) Part of being a good Martial Arts instructor is being able to teach self-defence principles that can be applied.

So you are going to teach a Self-Defence class, what are the 10 things or areas you need to consider:

1. Street Smarts - A lot of people get right down to teaching people how to fend of a physical attack. Slow down, think about it. If you really want to teach Self-Defence you need to teach people how to avoid a situation. For example, a woman wearing a mini-skirt walking through an unlit park late at night - wouldn't it be best to avoid the location, and if you cannot avoid, perhaps wear something a little less provocative or get a friend to join you. Street Smarts are most important. Ok, so you're in the situation, next:

2. Evasion & Overcoming Strength - This is simple! Only think about evasion, if you can avoid the situation, that is half the battle. If someone does grab you, don't fight strength with strength, I could talk about this for a full day.

3. Escapes - OK, they have you. How do you escape from their grasp.

4. Strikes - Where is the best place to hit someone for the most effective self-defence strike.

5. Pressure Points - Especially for women, hitting can be a hard thing to do. Pressure points will hurt 98% of the population without much effort. (My speciality)

6. Ground Attack - Avoid the ground at all costs, get up as soon as possible.

7. Self-Defence Weapons - Many people carry weapons as part of everyday life. Is that a pen on your desk, or perhaps a nail file. Learn how to use them.

8. Weapons Defence - Of Course, you have to teach then how a weapon will be used and how to defend yourself.

9. Work Case Scenarios - The title explains itself!

10. Self-Confidence - So many Self-Defence instructors forget to teach this. People with intent to steal or sexually assault someone are predators, they stalk their prey looking for weakness. The ability to project a self-confident, self-aware, state to those around you can make a world of difference. (I've been told that I intimidate people just by my presence. I'm not a big person, I could lose some weight, I don't even tell people I'm a Martial Artist, I'm just self-confident in the way I present myself - I had to work on this at the start!)

Considering how violent and dangerous a lot of society is becoming, I don't advocate training someone on the art of killing or hurting. I believe that avoiding a situation is the best policy.

If everyone knew a martial art, do you think there would be as many fights? I don't, because you wouldn't know who was going to be able to fight back.

I hope that this article helps with your thinking, and if you haven't done any self-defence before, you strongly consider starting.