For those of you that take self-defense/karate, etc.

[JennifersLost]

Do you feel that you could "defend" yourself better now in the event someone attacked you? Do you feel that you walk around with more confidence so that people are less likely to pick on you?

Which "brand" of self-defense - karate, judo, tae kwon do, etc, do you feel best translates to actual street-smarts?

[Karin]

Here's what I've learned from people in the know (after putting money into Tai Kwon Do, not all to loss.) For self-defense, go with a grappling martial art as opposed to a striking martial art, and I think that would apply to "street-smarts". That said, everyone who teaches this will say that their's teaches self-defense, and since the element of surprise is the most important weapon someone can have, I'm sure they've all helped people. But as a judo instructor told me (but he teaches too far away for us), if someone were to kick or punch him, it would probably just make him mad (think strong abs and good training to deflect here!)

They did teach release methods in the Tai Kwon Do class, but if and when my kids go back to martial arts, it will be a grappling one (I know that judo is grappling, but I really don't know all of each kind.)

[JudoMom]

Do you feel that you could "defend" yourself better now in the event someone attacked you? Do you feel that you walk around with more confidence so that people are less likely to pick on you?

Which "brand" of self-defense - karate, judo, tae kwon do, etc, do you feel best translates to actual street-smarts?

I definitely feel that I could at least have a chance at defending myself now that I've been in Judo for 1.5 years.

Judo focuses on throwing people to the ground, choking, and arm bars. It also has taught me to be calm and not to panic if I end up under a 200+ pound man, and to think through what I can do. Jujitsu is more focused on ground work-choking, arm bars, leg bars, etc.

I'm out of time now, but Judo is one of my favorite things to discuss :), so let me know if you'd like more information.

[King Alfred Academy]

Absolutely! I take as many self defense classes I can. I really feel "empowered"...I hate that term, but it's true. The class I took last month trained me to use a Kubaton (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kubaton). It's attached to my keychain and easily accessible. He also teaches us that our main objective is to break free so we can run away to safety. Not smart to stay and fight. I am also starting classes in Jeet Kun Do (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeet_Kun_Do). It is a lot of "trapping" and "grappling". More of a "street smart" martial art. Along with that I am learning a Filipino Martial Arts (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filipino_martial_arts).

In this day and age it is important to be able to take care of ourselves and our kids. I feel it is my responsibility to learn what I can do be able to do that.

Hope that helps! The links can explain it better than I can.

[Amy in Orlando]

My sons tae kwon do school offers special self defense classes for woman. I've taken a couple and I do feel safer. This will sound nuts, but the hardest thing about the whole class for me was yelling. If you have something like this available, it's definitely worth the expense, imo.

[JennifersLost]

finding (and have always found) that half my reticence to take a class is having to be reminded of past ugliness. I'm kind of afraid that the whole fighting/struggling thing will bring some stuff back up to the surface in ways I don't feel like facing.

The other half of my reticence is time/money. But my daughter is getting older and I can see that she's going to get a lot of attention during her life. I like giving her an example of strength and healthiness through the way I eat, the amount I walk, stretch and how I'm striving now to jog and take exercise classes. But I've never done anything along the self-defense line.

Maybe I should try a short course first and see how it goes...

[King Alfred Academy]

If you want to move into something slow, maybe try Kick boxing. Not the Tae Bo punching the air type, but the boxing glove punching focus mits kind. I do this and LOVE it. Good for fitness and if you have a good trainer, you'll learn a little bit of self defense. Then you could possible move onto something more intense.

[Kris]

I don't know if I'm more confident or not, but one thing that our teacher pounds into us is to go full out *all* the time. The kids have no problem with that, but the grown-ups do. The adults are more worried about hurting someone, I think -- and that's the point. We all look like Michelin men when we're sparring, so we have plenty of protection, and he doesn't want us "pulling our punches" if it comes to it in real life. We also learn basic self-defense techniques -- not just the forms, etc.