The Embodiment of Self-Protection

Whether you call it self-defense or personal protection there are a few considerations one might keep in mind. All of these should be made a part of your mindset and daily rituals applied to live a longer, healthier, happier, and safer life.

One might ask what exactly it means to protect yourself? As martial artist we often think about combative techniques we can use to protect ourselves against violent attackers and criminals. The intent of this type of self-protection or self-defense is to keep us safe from physical harm caused by others or from other external causes of injury (projectiles weapons etc.)

But what else might fall under the broad category of self-defense?

What about internal causes?

We must certainly consider health an important factor to safeguard and therefore practice self-protection of our body and our mind. We can do this very easily by following a few simple guidelines.

First, eat and drink wisely.

Second, exercise daily.

These two things will keep you healthier than most of the current population.

Remember, it is hard to protect yourself if you are physically unable to respond, ill, mentally unaware, or preoccupied with other distractions.

For example, consider self-protection from stress from our jobs? Stress has been shown to cause a multitude of both mental and physical disorders such as ulcers, obesity, sleep disorders, depression etc. One should consider the various ways to protect ourselves from that.

One way is to keep doing what you should naturally do. If your work requires physical strength, then the goal of your effort should be to exercise every day. For office pr desk jobs it is important to reduce the mistakes you make through repetition and secure yourself a set time to do accurate and productive work.

For more creative jobs, expand your interests and keep seeking new ideas. If you make fewer mistakes at work, the longer you will have your job. When you discover the joy in realizing something about yourself, and take pride in your work, promotions and salary increases will automatically follow.

And let’s not forget self-protection for our mind. How do we accomplish this?

There are three simple things that you can do to have a stronger mind.

First is to meditate daily to clear stagnant thoughts and negativity.

Second is to practice deep meditative or power breathing, because when we oxygenize our blood and energize our system we can think more clearly.

The third thing is to read daily. I personally like to read positive affirmations to strengthen myself mentally and to read the biographies of successful people so that I can see the struggles that they overcame to achieve greatness in their field. This inspires me to strengthen my self-discipline to push beyond the difficulties in my own life.

There are also some questions that you should ask yourself to become stronger mentally. ethically, and morally.

• Are you a respectful person?
• Do you use polite words?
• Can you control your anger?
• Can you control your violence?
• Do you happen to make too many enemies?
• Do you happen to give unfair advantages to your allies?
• Are you polite and disciplined toward the opposite sex?
• Can you humbly except advice from your seniors?

If you answered “No” to any of those questions, then you should work on developing strong character to have a healthy mind and spirit.

Are you aware that you are protecting your family by practicing these things daily because you are fighting a battle you cannot lose.

Your family is counting on you to be their protector. Realize that in the power of basics, there is attack within defense.

About the author: Richard Hackworth is full-time professional Hapkido teacher and a natural medicine and nutritional research specialist. He is the President and Founder of Haemukwan Hapkido and owner / operator of the American Dragon Martial Arts Academies in Ocoee, Florida. He can be reached at www.facebook.com/worldmartialartsmedia you can visit his website at https://haemukwan.com and join the conversation at www.facebook.com/groups/koreanmartialarts