Totally Tae Kwon Do Magazine - Issue 20 - Usadojo

shouting and name calling. There are no
guns on the streets, and gang violence,
I’ve been told, involves sticks and knives,
but is something seldom heard of and only
a problem in certain parts of a small
number of cities. Violent crimes involving
the general public in Korea are quite low.
(It could be that crimes are under reported
for appearance sake. Saving-face is an
important concept in Korea.) Unfortunately
many parts of the world are not as safe as
South Korea; South Africa being a prime
example.
When we talk about self-defence are we
talking about women and children learning
to defend themselves against abusive
husbands and fathers? Are we talking
about high school boys meeting each other
after school for a brawl on the rugby field?
Are we talking about young men fighting at
pubs and outside of night clubs? Are we
talking about attempted date rapes? Are
we talking about muggings? Are we talking
about high-jacks? Burglaries and raping of
the women? Farm-attacks and murder?
The thing is, all of these scenarios require
different types of self-defence, levels of
defence, ways of training, ways of thinking,
and even legal considerations. Two guys
vexing for the same girl at a night club,
whom have decided to walk outside and
have so entered into a mutual agreement
of physical prowess, is a completely
different kettle of fish from someone
ambushed in a parking lot, and this is
again far removed from farmers
overwhelmed by ruthless murderers on
their farm.
I do not take the view of some people that
suggests that martial art gyms cannot
teach self-defence and that self-defence
and martial arts function in two completely
different realms. They are different, yes,
but they also overlap enough for a martial
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