Practice Does Make Perfect

A few years ago I was enrolled in a FREE Tae-Kwon-Do class at a local gym. I mastered the still up to up to Green belt, and then life happened. You can probably identify with this. Life get busy, priorities get shifted, and I could no longer attend the class. There are something's about the art that I remember, but many things I forgot. It's like my calculus classes from college, there are some things I remember, but most of it I have forgotten. Why? I didn't continually practice those skills. A few months ago I decided that I needed to be more active in my middle age, and enrolled in a Tai Chi class and a Karate class. I can honestly tell you that this stuff was a lot easier 15 years ago. Anyway, these classes have lots of repetition. You can do the same moves for hours, and classes on end. Why? One simple word - Practice. By continually drilling the movements into to the students, these techniques will become second nature.Imagine just how useful it would be to want to become proficient at karate, and buying, reading and studying karate books. How prepared would you be when the time comes to use karate? Imagine an assailant coming at you, and you nervously fumble in your pocket for your "Karate for Everyone Pocket Guide". Do you think you honestly think you'll have time to flip to page 7 which you have to know addresses this case? Of course not!Do you remember those scenes from The Andy Griffith Show, where Barney Fife was trying to show of the Judo skills he just read about in his Judo book, an d right in the middle of wanting to show off what he thought he knew, he told Andy to stop, and went to consult his book. Just how well would this work in a real combat situation? But Barney did have one part right.. he did try to practice those skills instead of just thinking he was ready when the time came.Our military spend lots of time training and becoming condition for combat. There are whole facilities built for nothing but combat training, and mock wars. When the time comes.. they are ready.The same is true for you. -practice, and train so that when the time comes you can quickly pull out your pepper spray, aim it, and shoot it correctly, without thinking about it.Learn How to Use Your Personal Protection ProductHaving a personal protection product and not knowing how to use it when you need it can is a dangerous combination. By not knowing how to effortlessly use your pepper spray, stun gun or whatever your self-defense product of choice is, can injure you as easily as it can hurt your assailant. Once you have selected a personal protection ask for instructions and learn how to effectively use it. Then PRACTICE using it over and over and over until it becomes second nature. If you watch old westerns, you may have seen where cowboys would practice there quick draw, or their shooting skills so that they could shot accurately when the time came.What would you do.. IFThe actress Robin Curtis once told me that when she was little, she would practice hiding in the dyer just in case someone broke into her home, and was going to rob the place. While this may seem a bit strange, at least she had a plan and knew how to execute it. You can learn from this by training using your protection product or self defense methods for different scenarios. What would you do if your approached by strangers in your car? What if someone is following you in a parking lot? What if your date tries to rape you. What would you do if your smoke alram when off at 3:00 AM and there was a fire? What if...Will you be ready when the time comes.How will you respond? Practice -Practice -Practice.Did I Say "Practice"?Remember an assailant may try to get the stun gun or pepper spray or whatever away from you, if possible. This is why it is so important to practice so that you can react quickly, reflexively-in an instant to successfully protect yourself. The time you have to recognize an assault and bring the protection product to action may be less than three seconds!When you are out walking, especially in the dark, in an isolated area carry your stun gun or pepper spray in your hand ready for use. It is not a bad idea to have one in your car, your home, place of work, and of course with you to cover any contingency. I've always suggested that people who buy pepper spray should purchase two. One to practice with, and one to use.According to US Crime Statistics, women are more likely to be crime victims, especially those who work late at night and those who live alone. They in particular need non-lethal personal protecton products such as an effective stun gun or pepper spray. Check with your local police department. Literally thousands of police departments carry and use stun device or pepper spray. Why wouldn't you?No matter what you choose as you means of self defense, learn how to use it, and practice practice, practice.Don't become the next individual or statistic on the growing list of crime victims.